Traveling in Tibet

Notes from my diary:

Sichuan Route to Tibet

1) Pass the Chola Mountain

2) Somehow make it into Batang - this is the closest city open to foreigners

note: In Chengdu, for 720 yuan, you can get a sleeper. The permit for a foreigner entering Tibet is 400 yuan. The permit must be obtained through an agent

3) The Southern Route to Tibet - Litang

Chongqing to Lasa is a 2nd option.

Now, Ann and I have made it to the Youth Hostel in Chengdu, Sichuan. It's our 2nd night here. Everything is fine; nothing marvelous, but I am realizing the beauty of this countryside, and everywhere really, and especially where one would least expect it. You need not to go Golmud or far-off to find it. By the way, Ann Swanson is my friend from VCU whom I met when studying abroad in China at Fudan University in Shanghai my senior year. We were roommates, and we instantly got along (we discovered she is only 1 day older than I am, and that our birthdays were coming up the following week - July 3 & 4 - and the rest is history! She had already taken Chinese at VCU, and I felt constantly challenged by her and how well she could communicate with the locals). In 2007, after Ann and I had done one semester of Chinese thru VCU in Beijing, she took off for Tibet on her own; I on the other hand, spent my summer in Thailand. I'm lucky I was able to convince her to come to Suining, Sichuan with me to teach English at my school, Sichuan Vocational and Technical College.

Ann and I are now trying to figure out what to do when arrive in Tibet's capital, Lasa. We will be leaving from dirty Chongqing, Sichuan on Monday, August 17, and we will be taking a dirty, crowded train for 47.5 hours! Can you imagine being on a train for 2 days? Mired in uncertainty, I still feel a rush of excitement knowing we will undertake such an adventure.

Chengdu did not have tickets available for our trip to Tibet, and so we will have to take a train ride to Chongqing and depart from there. (Chongqing, China, the biggest city you have never heard of).

Actually, Ann and I have had to go through hoops just to determine our point of departure for Tibet. In Suining, we could have bought the Chongqing ---> Lasa ticket, a sleeper at that, but we feared we may need the permit. What we actually should have done is booked everything through here - our Youth Hostel, but we - being the experienced China-travelers that we are - decided we could cut the middle man, whom we assumed to be ripping us off left and right.

Well, we were wrong, and when it comes down to it, we are just westerners, stuck abiding the rules and regulations towards foreigners by the Government. Unfortunately, right now it is nearly impossible for us to get into Tibet without completely selling out - money for a guide and permit are needed. Some say neither of these things really exists. Some say that the money merely pays off the feds. Whatever it is - we abide. I'm no activist, although I feel more and more inclined to support the Tibetan government openly. FREE TIBET. Or at least, China, please go easy on the nationalization.

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Right now, I feel very cool and relaxed, which is near-impossible in one of the 4 furnaces of China. I am drinking vodka-sprite on the roof of our hostel, and it's night-time, not noisy, and everything is 平安。 Being here is great, but I do not feel like it is making me a "better person," the way my friend Amy had said that it would. I feel like my Chinese is good, and I like that I have prospects. I don't like that I am still alone in this world with no boyfriend. I don't need that right now, but I do not think it is possible to go through life without this. I invited him to China; does that not show that I care??

In 2 days, Ann and I depart for Chongqing, and from there, we leave for Tibet.

more on that later