DAY 3 FEB 8.... Up Up and Away....

LHASA OR BUST!
After a refreshing sleep at the Beijing Airport Hilton we met Annie and her tour guide at the Air China ticket counter.  Ticket to Lhasa, Tibet with a stop over in Chengdu.  In 6 hours we will be in Tibet yea!  Bordered on 3 sides by some of the world highest mountain ranges-the Himalayas, the Karakorum and the Kulun- Tibet has remained in relative isolation.  Sheltered first by inaccessibility and then by our friends the Chinese but today it's a new world and the Bocahita will finally visit her once dreamed about place.  Oh and by the way, no independent travel is allowed for foreigners in Tibet....?

 Time to board- a large Air Bus- Air China-100% full  and we are the only non Chinese passengers.  Missed that first clue.
Looking forward to seeing Tibet and staying at the new and most fabulous St.Regis Hotel (patterned after a Buddhist Temple property etc).... Our seats are in the back of the bus and made for a small Chinese keester. Lovely. We land in Chengdu and all must disembark the plane.  Take your stuff with you.  Back on the plane- same gig- packed and again we are the only non Chinese on the plane.  Ok 2 hr flight to Lhasa, Tibet.  

We are talking major mountains over here...hello Himalaya's.  And I have never seen an airplanes wing flap like a birds before...must be some new Chinese technology.  15 mins from landing in Lhasa, after gripping Bubs arm and nearly drawing blood for the past hour, the Captain  just figured out weather was bad ...so after circling and circling back to Chengdu- 2 more hours on that plane.  Bubs- are those wings made to flap like that!!  Taking turbulence to a new level for the Bocahita.  More blood letting for poor Bubs.  Landing back at Chengdu in what is now a flash mob pushing and shoving while being herded to buses.  Hey, what about my luggage.  So sorry, must leave on the plane.  Where are we going??  Are they rounding us up for some Chinese indoctrination?   We found a nurse on our flight who works in Tibet who spoke a little English -she helped explain what was happening...next thing we know we are on a bus to a hotel for a sleep over and scheduled to be back to the airport in the morning to TRY it once again.  2nd clue- the other passengers were nonplussed and used to this scenario. 


 The "business hotel" took Bocahita and Buddha Bubba's most horrifying Bates Motel Experience to another level and as they say a picture is worth a thousand words...
Yes that is the way we found the "toilet" and how's that mold working for you Buddha Bubs?  








Of course there wasn't another room to move to....the Angelina Jolie picture over the bed topped it off.

After a communal dinner down the street,  with everyone chopsticking out of the same dishes and bowls and I wonder if there is a board of health license required for restaurants...  We walked back to the hotel in the chilly damp night where Bocahita slept in her clothes with her jacket hood tightly tied for fear of catching something worse than bed bugs-remembering a dear pal caught parasites in an upscale Beijing Hotel last year.  I could only imagine what was crawling around this place...no brushing teeth, no washing the make up off - just sat on the bed counting the mins. to 4:00 am when the bus was picking us up to take us back to the airport.



And in typical Chinese fashion they assigned Annie a roommate to sleep with...
Non smoking room.  Ha Ha Ha. We not only 2nd hand smoke, but up close and personal blow it in your face smoke.  So sorry.   Back to the airport and in the line for a new ticket, back through the security lines and again the same crowd gets on the plane.  I am starting to recognize who's who here....other than the kind nurse not another spoke a lick of English making for lots of staring and the push and shove technique of Chinese logistics.  After this night "mare" the turbulence experienced flying over those mountains was a snap...and wow what mountains- peaks above the clouds.

 Finding out at this time of year, weather "issues" are not uncommon....hello dear travel agent.  Coulda, shoulda, woulda had a plan B other than the "business hotel".  I heard Annie mumble something about missing Regent.  Amen, we land in Lhasa a day later and our Tibetan guide greets us Tibetan style.  The white scarf greeting must signify "you crazy tourists to come see us at this time of the year" welcome.  Yes, Bubs and you didn't want to take that new super speedy train in from Beijing...hmmmf.  Do you think Buddha Bubba will ever be reminded of this decision again?