"My religion is very simple; it is kindness." DL

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kinda strange to find oneself in Tibet... what started out as a joke onboard the boat on halong bay as we drifted into the heart of darkness has transcended into realism. So that's nice!!
Due to a lack of sleep over the last few days today my excursions having checked in were to get lunch and take a nap!!!! The place looks amazing though and I can't wait to go exploring tomorrow!!!
Of course getting here was quite bothersome - China has so much mis-information & DISS-information about getting anywhere especially here. When we got our visas for China we weren't even thinking of Tibet & we had our proposed location as only Beijing - all the blogs say dont say you want to go (the form explicitly asks you is it on your itinerary) or you won't be issued with a visa!
& all this from a country that they "liberated" from themselves in the 50s!!! strange!!

So today the first train linking China to Tibet was launched from Beijing - takes 48 hours - scenery would be amazing (as I type fireworks are hastening its arrival!!) - so in trying to book this (you have to do it through an agency) we were told that the first two weeks of tickets were sold out - we went somewhere else they said no hass if you show me the money - then they come back and say that the government is not issuing tickets to foreigners - so we decide to fly - the scenery as we were landing was amazing - Lhasa is like 4000m above sea level!!!
We flew from Xi'an; we wanted to enter from Chendgu though we missed our train - what an extremely chaotic & stressful experience...

Last i wrote i was about to board the train to Xi'an - no probs there - actually the train was so mod - individual TV screens for each sleeper in each compartment including plush headphones, loadsa nice touches!!!
Anyway get to Xi'an - what a cool city!!! i loved it!!! The city centre limits are enclosed by four walls and apart from grounding you if you not the best cartographer (which through experience some of you might know that's not my bag...) it also encapsulates such a romanticism about the city and harks it back to its dawning - which of course paradoxes the modernism of the city beautifully...

Having alighted from the train we headed straight out to unearth the Terracotta Warriors - how amazing are they!!
Trekked up the bell tower - there are better Bell Towers - its Brisbanean counterpart houses a clock; closer to home Beijing rings out truer and of course Gotham's got bats in its belfry... Though if you time it around 2pm you are greeted with a sextet of traditional Chinese instruments mellowing majestically... Joanna Newsom / Arcade Fire if youre reading this - seek em out for that "difficult" sophomore album...

Reinvigorated by this we lose ourselves within the Muslim Quarter and meander back to the hostel to collect our baggage. Whilst waiting on a cab panic ensues - we have 20 minutes before our train disembarks. Officially doors close 20 minutes before departure - so technically we have already missed it - sh!t
Eventually we arrive at the station - not helping things is the fact that the platform for our train is only listed in Chinese.... so it transpires that our soft sleepers have left us behind. However we decide to take the option of a hard seat on the next train outta town. Queuing for this torture (16hr journey) we realise its ridiculousness and vow to fly thus reaching our destination before our initial mode steams into town - it's our f**k you to the xenophobic rail system and it tastes sweet...

We decide to book into a nearby hotel, turns out there's one seat left on the flight out that night and though we try to bribe them another seat is not manufactured. Another benefit in hindsight!
We casually say we want to go to Tibet and get down & drrrrty with some pandas - amazingly they retort that they can arrange all this.... As it turns out if you were paying attention to the above their route to Lhasa (Tibet) is by air not rail. Let's not dwell on the journey/destination matrix though...
Xi'an's nature reserves' star attracion - the giant pandas negate the neccessity to drop into CHengdu. Hoping to see some giant pandas roam around in a somewhat natural habitat proves futile as the lazy bastarts just slept in their houses when we were there!!! However the mosquitoes decide that I am a perfect abode for their swarm and I get literally bitten alive so much so that I end up resembling a leper - not a good look!

Having arrived here we realise that we could traverse the Lhasa - Kathmandu Friendship Highway stopping off at the Everest Base Camp for afternoon tea or summit but the near certainity at such high altitudes of acute mountain sickness, coupled with the still unstableness of Nepal & impending flights meaning everything would need to run rather smoothly we decide to revert to our last plan (i think its Q at this stage...) & chill with the hippies of Laos. Having booked flights outta here, we now only have to wait on Laos Airlines to confirm our reservation... so hopefully they're not too chilled....

Until then, Tibet awaits for our discovery. Zen!

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