Alex's Asian Adventure

I want to visit Tibet. That's not a secret.

Last night I received an email from my Lhasa-professor-friend, Murray, who said in no uncertain terms that it'd be best if I managed to make it to Lhasa before the May 1 holiday. Apparently, May 1st is a big celebration for the Chinese, lasts a week, and tens of millions of people go here, there, and everywhere. Flights are tight and hotels are hard to book.

With this alarming development, the tentative plan for visiting Lhasa has moved up in the schedule. The new schedule is:

April 21st: Arrive in Beijing
April 24th: take an overnight train to Xian
April 25th: morning arrival in Xian, spend a three days in Xian
April 27th: take an overnight train from Xian to Chengdu
April 28th: morning arrival in Chengdu, and spend a day there
April 29th: fly to Lhasa

I've contacted my Tibetan travel agent, Lobsang, and asked him to figure out a way to get me to Lhasa on the 29th of April, although I think the 30th would work also.

I want to spend a bit of time in Lhasa, certainly until May 5th. According to Wikipedia, May 5th is the Buddha's birthday, and I can think of no better place to observe Siddhartha's birthday than the Jokhang (right) in Lhasa. Clearly, Wikipedia knows everything, is totally free from bias, and never has a factual error.

Anyway, after I spend a bit of time in Lhasa (and perhaps the immediate surroundings) I'll look into trying to organize a landcruiser transport to Rongbuk. Whether or not that happens depends on weather, time, cost and the availability of a suitable travel companion. I'm sure I won't be the only backpacker in Lhasa at the time.