5.30am We arrive at the designated meeting point, still half asleep but pumped for our trip to Tibet. Our small group, has grown to 38...not such a small group after all. Wearily, we board the bus, and soon we are thundering away from Kathmandu, horns blazing.
The bus trip to the border is interesting to say the
least- we get stuck on a one way road with truck carrying bricks. Once we get away from the city, the going is a little bit easier, and the scenery is breathtaking. We reach the Tibetan border at around 3pm. For a Tibetan border, it looks distinctly Chinese- a premonition of things to come?
The bus trip to the border is interesting to say the
least- we get stuck on a one way road with truck carrying bricks. Once we get away from the city, the going is a little bit easier, and the scenery is breathtaking. We reach the Tibetan border at around 3pm. For a Tibetan border, it looks distinctly Chinese- a premonition of things to come?
The friendly Chinese spray our bags with some mysterious liquid (pesticide??), take our temperature (SARS), and before we know it, we are inside Tibet.
We commandeer a Land Cruiser with Merein and Jorien,
a couple from Holland, and embark on the first leg of our journey to Lhasa. The scenery... well the pictures speak for themselves, WOW! The land is cold and desolate, but it holds a special energy which transcends the barrenness and is amplified by the isolation. We have million-dollar views from our guesthouse 
window- prayer flags flanked by snow capped mountains. But at 3900 metres above sea level, the altitude in Nylam hits me hard and I spend most of the next day sleeping in the car.
window- prayer flags flanked by snow capped mountains. But at 3900 metres above sea level, the altitude in Nylam hits me hard and I spend most of the next day sleeping in the car.
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