Dhood Gu Lhasa

... here: Summit<br>Cafe. It's owned by an American and is very Starbucks-esque: nice<br>comfortable seats, art on the walls, very good music, great coffee<br>(amazingly good vanilla latte)&#8211; but here's the biggest selling<br>point for us: the best bathrooms we have been in since we left<br>Bangkok. Spotlessly clean, with toilet paper, soap, and a nice smell<br>&#8211; Hallelujah! It's been our oasis! Sometimes it's all about the<br>little things! <br><br><br><br><br>

... China....<br><br>Enjoy the pics!!! I've included a bunch since this land is soooo enchanting!!!<br><br>ALSO, A HUGE SHOUT OUT to my dear friends Oliver &amp; Nandita Keswani-Koehler for their incredible travel tips and endless patience in guiding me on this trip. It ain't often I find someone who has traveled to region I haven't, and their knowledge &amp; attitude were a gift.

... a bit woozy sometimes. Michael is a bit heady, he calls it. He is asleep in the bed as I am doing this blog, and it is only 5.20pm. They are not pushing us too much at this part of the tour, so we have been resting since 4.30.<br>Tonight all we are doing is dinner and bed, resting ready for another climb tomorrow.<br>So I wont add anymore to this blog, not much more to add.<br><br>By all, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

... the sidewalks, not just in temples. Many people kneel and then slide their bodies forward (like an inch worm or the ab roller). They either stay stationary or stand up and move forward. I pointed out to Bill that they are doing this on the sidewalk where people hork. We both gagged a little. We had lunch at Lhasa Kitchen. Pasang recommended Yak Momo's (dumplings) and yak salad (lettuce on the bottom, marinated cold yak slices, tomatoes and onions). They were both ...

... they got bigger and bigger ears listening to our plans and finally decided that they would like to join us. Not only was our troupe of 4 people a good way to reduce the cost of our endeavour. We also gelled well and were excellent company. It is a bit of an adventure to organise any trip into Tibet nowadays, especially since the borders were closed until late summer after the March uprisings in Tibet. You can only enter Tibet in a group (which is at least 2 people ...

... of lanes to get onto the overpass to get to the train station. The station is on the outskirts of town and of course it is new, I think it opened in the summer of 2006 or 2007 (check it out at seat61.com and click on China down the left hand side there are pictures as you scroll down). We left the driver and guide on the parking lot and walked past several military guards and then through security and into the nice new huge train station where we had to go and fill out ...

... hidden deep inside the two rings of snow mountains mentioned in prophecies. The armies of Shambhala were crushing hordes of barbarians; an elephant scythed the ranks of the deluded materialists. In the warm and airy summer palace - which the Dalai Lama had fled in 1959 disguised as a common Tibetan soldier to escape Chinese troops, before crossing to India and setting up his government in exile - there was another round painting of Shambhala, directly across from his final throne ...

... permit. 7.Travel agency mail the original paper of your Tibet permit to you(please note,you cannot use copy to pass the security check right now),then youwww hold the paper to get on the airplane to Lhasames more click: http://www.tibettravel.org/