Last Day in China

  After a night of good, oxygen full rest, I felt fantastic for my last day in China.  The extra red blood cells I acquired at high altitude appeared to more than make up for any fatigue from my challenging travels in Tibet.

  I went exploring and shopping with Andrea and Hannah.  We decided to take taxis around instead of taking the subway because the taxis were cheap and the subways didn't go anywhere near where we wanted to go.  I think I was most scared in the taxi than any other place driving.  We were going really fast with lots of near collisions and no seat belts.  I swear one black mercedes had us on a hit list or something.  They kept cutting us off and swerving into us.  Good think the driver knew his stuff!

  We first stopped at the touristy market.  There were lots of fun souvenirs and handicrafts to look at there.  

  Our tummies were rumbling so we stopped at one of the few non-western places to get some food.  I chose the creepiest looking thing on the menu, a whole dead chicken which I described as, "that thing looks like it died horribly."

  Tasted good though!  Not much meat, but other than that, no complaints.  My friends and the food vendors laughed at me, but they don't know that I got my training from Bizarre Foods.

Our second stop was to the bootleg market where I definitely didn't buy anything because that would be wrong.  :0P

Moving on...taxi ride back to the boat was as exciting as the first.  We had to stop a few blocks before the ship because the meter was rigged and the driver would hike up the price when he thought we were distracted and we ran out of money.  Oh well, it allowed us to walk through the nice spring day.  :0)

Mother-In-Law bush!

Back on the ship we had some burgers, took some pictures at the city at night, and then the roomie and I settled down to watch The Help.  Excellent movie by the way!  It was a nice day and a nice way to leave China.  I will definitely have to be back for some more exploring as soon as possible!

Tibet (Day 3 Part 2)

We arrived at the summit of the pass and stopped to get a nice view of the lake from above.   It was cool to think that this was the highest elevation I had ever been to in my life.  (Excluding in an airplane.)

Me being mesmerized by snow.  I hadn't seen any in over five years!

There were also people there who let us take pictures with their animals for a few dollars.  I couldn't resist.  :0) 

Yack!

Then we drove down to the lake and had a half an hour go go exploring.  It was a bit of a hike to get down to the water, but I managed by taking it slow.  I stopped halfway down to make a pile of rocks in memory of some people I miss.  

I finally got down to the lake and dipped my hands into the freezing water.  Having my hands outside the gloves unfortunately made them swell up and get hives, but it was worth it.  :0)  I spent the rest of my time enjoying the beautiful scenery and then slowly, slowly, hiking my way up to the bus.  

Yack poo and snow.  :0P   Don't worry, I didn't eat it.  haha

I got some additional nice pictures as we were driving away from the lake as well.

Just in case you don't know, the flags are prayer flags and they are found all over in Tibet.  They represent different aspects of spirituality corresponding to the different colors.  

Now about the road.  I was thinking it was going to be a scary drive, but the roads were actually really good, as was the bus driver.  It was a bit narrow and the drop-offs were sheer, but I felt safe the whole time.

Tibet (Day 3 Part 1)

   I really can't get over how beautiful Tibet was!  I'm looking back through the pictures and it seems to perfect to be real.  But it is real and I was there!

  Our last full day in Tibet was probably my favorite of the trip.  I was feeling much better so I wasn't as reliant on the chair.  It was a good thing because we drove two and a half hours up to even higher altitude!  The goal was to see,  Yamdrok Yumtso, one of the sacred lakes.  Just the scenery on the way there was breathtaking.  

That is excluding the bathrooms of course.  We got to know each other real well after using those toilets!

I took some pictures out the bus window as we went up up and away.  You can see the village we drove through getting smaller and smaller.

 

Lhasa Fun in Tibet! (Day 2 Part 1)

Sorry about the title, but there are Lhasa opportunities for puns in Lhasa.   :0P  

Breakfast at the hotel in Tibet was just as good as in Beijing.  Absolutely fantastic!  I wish I had four stomachs so I could try everything!  

Our first item on the agenda was a "service visit" to a school for blind students.  (spoilers, we didn't do any service.)  Walking through Lhasa was nice.  You get a very different feel walking through a city as opposed to driving through it.  

The school visit was really interesting, even if we didn't do any service.  We filed into an outdoor meeting room and one of the teachers who had charisma coming out his ears explained a bit about the school and blind culture in Lhasa.  In the past (and still in the larger community) people who are blind are expected to become signers or massage therapists. The school does have training in those areas, but in many others as well.  They make sure that the kids are not limited in their options.  He told us one story of a little boy who always wanted to be a taxi driver.  EVeryone told him he couldn't because he was blind, but the school helped him start a taxi business.  Now he is a very successful businessman who works with taxis everyday, similar to his dream.  :0)  I really liked the philosophy at the school as being encouraging instead of limiting.  Too many of the schools or orphanages for kids with disabilities are much more paternalistic and pity the students.  

The students lived at the school during the school year and stayed with their families (mostly on farms) during the winter months.  It was a tight squeeze, but it looked cozy.  There was also a kitchen and other homey areas in addition to the classrooms.

When we toured the classrooms, it felt a bit strange.  It went back to the idea of watching people like they are animals in the zoo.  The teacher encouraged us to take pictures of the students although we didn't get a chance to actually interact with them.  

There was also a computer lab with assistive technology so the students would be fully versed in computers when they graduated.

As a side note, I spotted a cat who I voted as most likely to have rabies.  It was foaming at the mouth and acting quite strange.  So naturally, I go up to it and take a picture.  haha