As part of our typical winter training on the swim team at Carleton, we take a trip somewhere outside Minnesota, somewhere warm, to beat the living hell out of our bodies. This year, we went to Puerto Rico and swam twice a day at the University of Puerto Rico pool. Practices each day were from 6-8am and 2-4pm. Time in between was usually spent taking a nice long nap and some fun time at the beach. Outside of training and napping, the team was able to make it to the old town of San Juan, Luquillo beach, and El Yunque rain [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Lhasa the afternoon of August 3rd. After much debate and members of the group having to come to terms the fact that the chinese bureaucracy owned us, we decided to stay at the Kirey Hotel off of Beijing Zhonglu near the Barkhor and Jokhang. While in Lhasa, the majority of my time was spent wandering around town and talking with locals. I visited a few temples, bought some cool souvenirs, and took plenty of pictures. Although the development in Lhasa is incredible, the majority of locals (99%) were very happy with it...both tibetans and han chinese immigrants. [View Full Entry]

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We decided to ride our bikes west to Ganden monastery for a day trip today. The total round trip distance i think was around 120 kilometers...with one very difficult climb up to the monastery. Ganden Monastery is the central monastery of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It was built in 1409 under the supervision of Zongkapa. A large number of pilgrims are attracted by many naturally formed manifestations of the buddha, the lush shrubbery and the beautiful sceneries surrounding Ganden Monastery. By law, we were required to have a guide come with us to the monastery. The agency we were [View Full Entry]

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Namtso in Tibetan language means 'heavenly lake' wit an altitude of 4,718 meters above sea level and the surface area of 1940 square kilometers. Namtso is a salt lake with the highest altitude in the world and the head of Tibet's three biggest sacred lakes. The number of tourists from that arrive around 10am and linger until about 4pm is astounding...there must have been at least 1000 native chinese tourists wandering the beaches and taking pictures. Once these people left the small peninsula we stayed on quieted down and tranquility was achievable. [View Full Entry]

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We decided to do our longest ride yet...145km worth from Amdo to Nagqu...one rather large tibetan town to the second largest city in all of Tibet. The rides in tibet have been much more spectacular and interesting in comparison to our rides in the Qinghai province (although historically all of this land is Tibet). New experiences include: -monasteries -tibetan horse races -tibetan parties -the first shower & bath of the trip -joining up with our guide and driver (required by chinese law in tibet) -finally being allowed to play basketball at a police station more to come in the very near [View Full Entry]

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12 days after departing Golmud on bike, we are now in the tibetan city of Amdo (Anduo in chinese). Tomorrow morning we will meet our guide and driver (required by Chinese law...im honestly surprised we haven't encountered any bureaucratic problems yet, since we are technically in the Tibet Autonomous Region). To recap some of the events of the past couple of weeks, i would have to include: -the wonderful people we have met -the multiple 5000+meter high passes -the hail storms -the lightning/thunder storms -the rain storms -the snow storms -the cold nights -the sun that hunts to kill -the lack [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 Distance: 90km Locations: Golmud to Najitai Highest Altitude: 3200m Golmud is situated at an altitude of around 2700m above sea level. On our first day of cycling we were able to rise up to an altitude of 3200m and ride about 90km. We departed Golmud (as well as the last western style toilets we will see until lhasa) around 11:00am. I am keeping this journal short, because i just lost about 500 words i typed up. Hopefully the pictures load! [View Full Entry]

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After a 32 hour hard seat train ride from Beijing, I finally arrived in Golmud...The gateway city to Tibet for millions throughout history - specifically, for the Chinese Government who built both the freeway and railway to Tibet starting at this location. The group gathered together at the Tianlong Hotel, and we will set out on the morning of the 16th. [View Full Entry]

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So my friend Alan, who is interning here in Beijing and swims with me at Carleton, did some research and found out that it is now possible to swim at the pool that was used during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. So, naturally, we checked it out... [View Full Entry]

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While i was writing my last entry at an internet cafe in Xining, China, a young man decided to steal my back pack. That back pack had in it my passport among other important belongings. After realizing my bag was gone, I immediately contacted the local police and filed a report. After the officers arrived we watched the security camera video, and i was actually able to watch how my bag was stolen. I had to then go to the police station and file an official report. Understanding my new predicament, i knew that i would not be able to join [View Full Entry]

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