Author archive
26 October 2002
Flying via Kunming We woke at before 0500 and got ready for our 0700 flight. On the way, I tried getting money from the ATM again after having failed a few times last night. At the stop for the airport bus, we were accosted by a taxi driver who offered a ride to the airport […]
25 October 2002
Diarrhoea and Pandas Kim and I both woke up with diarrhoea this morning. Mine was a little less severe than his but in both cases, it wasn’t serious enough to cancel the day’s outing. We had organized a taxi to take us to the Panda Breeding Research Centre. The journey of about 35 mins cost […]
24 October 2002
Rodent I was woken in the middle of the night, not by the altitude sickness, but this time by a rat in the room. It was crawling or chewing on plastic bags. Probably the ones that we wrap our clothing in. We woke at 0600. There was not hot water in the bathroom and cold […]
23 October 2002
Last of Lhasa We reached the Airway Hotel around 1630 and were allocated a different room. This time it also offered a view of the Potala but from a slightly different angle. We took a cab, along with Denise, to Barkhor for some shopping. We bought a door knocker, a horn (musical instrument) and a […]
23 October 2002
Tashilhunpo Monastery It was another interrupted night sleep due to the altitude. We had a breakfast of toast, fried eggs, milk and coffee at the hotel. We have some sightseeing to do in Xigaze before the drive back to Lhasa. The first sight was Tashilhunpo Monastery. It is the monastic seat of the Panchen Lama […]
22 October 2002
Friendship Highway Today we move to Xigaze or Shigatse. Things went more smoothly at breakfast. We weren’t charged today but instead were given a refund. They were very gracious about it. I made an egg sandwich with the bread roll and added a bit of soya sauce for flavour. Once in the Landcruiser, we picked […]
21 October 2002
Drepung Monastery Due to a miscommunication, we had to pay for our breakfast at the hotel. It was a simple Chinese breakfast of warm congee, steamed buns, bread rolls and hard-boiled egg. The steamed buns were tough on the outside and tasteless on the inside. It seems to be the way it is done in […]
20 October 2002
Potala Palace I skipped the hotel breakfast because I felt unwell. I had some muesli and fruit jelly for sustenance instead. We were picked up from the hotel at 0915 and drove to the nearby rear vehicular gate of the Potala Palace. This museum was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas from 1649 to […]
19 October 2002
Leaving Chengdu It was an early morning wake-up and we were picked up at 0530. The ride to the airport was faster than yesterday on a new road. At the airport, the domestic terminal was very nice and modern unlike the international arrivals area which had overflowed into the tarmac. We have Denise, from the […]
18 October 2002
How we got into Business Class today With the time difference from New Zealand, I woke around 0200 but lay till 0530 before getting ready. At check-out we overheard that the cheapest rate at the hotel was currently HKD1300++. I thought our rate of HKD980++ was high already. Without our luggage, we went through immigration […]