Day 4 Fly to Lhasa, Tibet

---

Happy New Year!! Apparently it is 2072 in Hindu Nepal. If today was happy, I would hate to experience a sad day. A 1 hour plane ride took 9 hrs + 2 hrs time loss difference to get from Kathmandu to Lhasa due to very slow clearance through border security at both ends + a backlog of delayed flights. No food between early breakfast & dinner. The flight views over the Himilayas can be spectacular but today was cloudy & regardless nothing to see from the middle section of the plane.

Lhasa sits at 3650 meters with considerably less oxygen in the air but surprisingly no noticeable change in breathing. Decided not to take Diamox based on previous altitude experience seemed like a good decision.

Arrival in Lhasa was a massive contrast compared to Kmd. Cool, no smog, few people, very clean & wide streets. On the approach to Lhasa a whole new town is being constructed where many completed appartment towers seem close to empty yet dozens of new towers are well under constructed. China's influence is everywhere with new wide highways & tunnels through mountains for car & rail.

A brief walk through the old town to dinner promised a more exciting day tomorrow.

---