Home » Tibet Nepal China » Intrepid Season 2005 - China, Tibet, & Nepal (part I)

March - October 2005

Intrepid Season 2005 - China, Tibet, & Nepal (part I)

Brett Voegele
2005-11-19 14:15:37

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with local friends. It was great to see them, and to be back in that environment. It was definitely cooler than Chengdu - it was spitting a few flakes of snow when we first arrived. Nice.

We spent the first 3 days in Lhasa checking out some of the main sites - Jokhang, Potala, and Sera, while also visiting the hospital, a project supported by the travel company, and learning what to look for in Land Cruiser transportation. The next day we hopped in said Land Cruisers for the scenic drive to Gyantse via one of Tibet's four holy lakes - Yamdrok Tso. In Gyantse we climbed to the fort when we arrived, and then checked out the Kumbum the following morning before embarking on the short drive to Shigatse. In the afternoon we visited Tashilhunpo Monastery. I've never liked Shigatse as a city, but I've always enjoyed visiting the monastery. However, it really has to be done in the morning when all the pilgrims visit. It was too eerie to have the place essentially to ourselves in the afternoon. Plus only a handful of the normal chapels were open to us.

On the 7th we took the 8-hour drive back to Lhasa via a route I hadn't traveled before, and it provided us with some great views. The next day it was time to end our all-too-short training trip to Tibet, so I made my way down here to Hong Kong, while the others headed to Beijing. At least this time I left Tibet pretty sure that I'll be able to return in 5-6 weeks time, so that's a great feeling. I do love it there.

Here in Hong Kong I've simply been trying to catch up on some sleep to get over this chest cold, and have turned my passport in for a new visa. I'm hoping that all will go well with that and I'll be able to return to China soon. In the meantime I'm trying to get everything organized for leading my first trip with Intrepid, which will start in Kunming on April 25. I'm looking forward to it.

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