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Once again, an early wake up: 0400. I was too excited to care: I am going to Lhasa, the forbidden city, protected by the most inhospitable terrain and some of the highest mountains in the world, the magical city by definition. Explorers have always been tempted by it, reaching it constituted a major achievement. Very few explorers have made it, many have tried and perished on the way, 12 different expeditions tried in the late 1800 and early 1900 to reach Lhasa, none made it, few survived to tell the tale. It took the British Army, led by Colonel Younghusband and 3000 troo0ps, over 2 years to finally reach Lhasa. He was the first foreigner to ever set foot in the Forbidden city. Very few others have had the pleasure. Lhasa has always held a very mystical feel, everyone has dreamed about it, everyone has heard the stories of the Dalai Lama escaping the Chinese Invasion (or peaceful liberation, depending on how you see it), of Tintin searching for his friend Tchang in a land populated by Yacks and Yetis (the story actually happens in Nepal), the tales of the large Russian expeditions ordered by Nicolas the 2nd. Tibet became the key for power in the region for many super-powers: the British, the Russians, the Chinese and, to a certain extent, the French. None succeded to govern it, only the British and the Chinese made succesful invasions (the British retired after 40 days, the Chinese are still here). Even the story of those American aviators during the 2nd World War who had to jump out of their B25 over Tibet, as it was on fire - they landed in Lhasa and were savagely attacked by the crowds, as no mortal could possibly look down upon the Dalai Lama.
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Lhasa, Wednesday the 20th of July

Degrubenc
2005-12-09 18:27:55

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Once again, an early wake up: 0400. I was too excited to care: I am going to Lhasa, the forbidden city, protected by the most inhospitable terrain and some of the highest mountains in the world, the magical city by definition. Explorers have always been tempted by it, reaching it constituted a major achievement. Very few explorers have made it, many have tried and perished on the way, 12 different expeditions tried in the late 1800 and early 1900 to reach Lhasa, none made it, few survived to tell the tale. It took the British Army, led by Colonel Younghusband and 3000 troo0ps, over 2 years to finally reach Lhasa. He was the first foreigner to ever set foot in the Forbidden city. Very few others have had the pleasure. Lhasa has always held a very mystical feel, everyone has dreamed about it, everyone has heard the stories of the Dalai Lama escaping the Chinese Invasion (or peaceful liberation, depending on how you see it), of Tintin searching for his friend Tchang in a land populated by Yacks and Yetis (the story actually happens in Nepal), the tales of the large Russian expeditions ordered by Nicolas the 2nd. Tibet became the key for power in the region for many super-powers: the British, the Russians, the Chinese and, to a certain extent, the French. None succeded to govern it, only the British and the Chinese made succesful invasions (the British retired after 40 days, the Chinese are still here). Even the story of those American aviators during the 2nd World War who had to jump out of their B25 over Tibet, as it was on fire - they landed in Lhasa and were savagely attacked by the crowds, as no mortal could possibly look down upon the Dalai Lama.

Still to this day, only very few lucky ones have reached it. I was to be one of the lucky fews, and could not wait an instant more.

We arrived at the airport and, after much checking of passports and permits, we made it to the departure gate. Sadly, I did not get any stamps in my passport. ...

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