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Published: September 29th 2008
Day 7 - Kathmandu to Lhasa
Our drive to the hotel was probably one of the quietest journeys we had made, and it only took us 15 minutes to get there. Armed with our precious Tibet Group Visa, we paid the departure tax and queued up to check in. If we thought we might struggle with baggage, this was nothing to the group next to us that were checking in bicycles and all their kit. They were cycling from Lhasa to Kathmandu!
To say that security was tight was an understatement. I think we were each frisked on 4 seperate occasions, had the bags x-rayed 3 times, and were even checked again on the tarmac outside the plane, after what had been the shortest bus transfer from the terminal to the plane all of about 200 yards!
When we landed at Lhasa airport, we were again asked on a number of occassions for the Visa form, and we were personally escorted from the terminal building by an Army chap to our waiting guide.
The airport is not in Lhasa, but approx. 60km away, so it was a journey with a new guide and driver by Toyota Landcruiser
to the centre of Lhasa. On the way, we got our first glimpse of the Potala Palace, which was every bit as impressive as we thought it would be. We did have a slight delay however, as we needed to pay for the entrie holiday, and we had been told to bring the balance in US dollars, which we had in travellers cheques, but found that our tour organiser wanted the money in RMB. The bank took ages to process this, and the girl dealing with us counted the same money 4 times in the automatic counter, filled and stamped at least 8 forms, before the transaction was completed. When we reached our hotel, we just had time to shower and change before it was out for dinner with the Guide to a traditional Tibetan evening of food and dancing.
We were the first to arrive at the restaurant which was just down the road, but it soon filled up with other foreign parties, and being first in meant we got first pick of the buffet. We all tried the Yak, which tasted just fine. The evening concluded with a variety of dances in different costumes from different parts of Tibet.
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