Tibet 1: The Final Blog Set

  Well, no, it is not actually the final journey, but it is my final set of blog posts.  After returning from Tibet, I dreaded writing the blog yet again, so decided that this would be the end.  I processed my photos, gathered my videos, organized them on this site, and then let it sit there for the past six months.  Today, February 3, 2025, I am finally writing these four Tibet posts.  The trip began three days after returning from Namibia last summer.

  Tibet was a challenging trip in my many ways.  First, I had to get two visas.  One, for mainland China, which involved three trips to the Chicago Chinese consulate.  The second was for Tibet, which was arranged by my tour company.  The Tibet visa was for one specific day only.  To prepare for potential travel delays, I built in 2 days of rest once arriving in Chongqing, as a buffer, before my flight to Lhasa, Tibet.  For Tibet, to go outside the main city, you are forced to go by tour.  I booked a private tour, just for myself.

  The problems began with the very first flight.  I was flying from Chicago to LA, then to Hong Kong, then to Chongqing.  I would then rest for two nights, and then fly direct to Tibet.  The first flight, via American Airlines, was delayed for two and a half hours.  Realizing that it very well might cause me to miss my next flight, I scrambled around the airport to visit multiple customer service desks.  The customer agents were wrong.  They misread the information on the inbound flight, as well as  being wrong about alternative flights once I arrived in LA.

  I arrived at LAX at 1:15 AM, just in time to miss my connecting flight.  I ran over to the customer service desk, which was about to close.  The next flight would not be until 24 hours later.  I found a flight at 10 AM, with a non partnered airlines(United).  They aren't supposed to go out of their network, but after some begging, the agent relented.

   I walked to my new terminal.  I had to go down an escalator.  A man was recording a video.  I asked if it was ok to use the escalator.  He said he was videoing a rat doing exercises.  Sure enough, at the bottom of the escalator was a rat who kept trying to run up the escalator that was going down.

  I sat in the empty airport as workers vacuumed the carpets all around me.  We lined up at 10 AM for the flight.  Then, they delayed boarding.  Then, they announced that the pilot had rejected the plane.  This could happen for multiple reasons, but they would not reveal which it was.

  It was delayed for two more hours, which then turned into 5.  I fortunately had access to United lounges, which made some of the wait more comfortable.  At one point it was delayed due toclaims that all flights were grounded.  We finally boarded mid afternoon.  We sat on the plane for nearly two hours, with a litany of excuses, including that they needed to replace the food which had gone bad.  Then, they ran out the clock on legal working hours, and we were forced to get off the plane.   We now had to wait a new set of pilots and stewards.  My theory is that the pilots intentionally ran out the clock for some reason.  The delays made no sense.  It seemed intentional.  We were compensated with a $15 meal voucher.

  It was at this point that I considered giving up and going home.  I chose to phone Jeremy, knowing that he would likely have the most level headed and encouraging response.  He did.  He told me that I would forever regret it if I turned around now, and that this was only a temporary hiccup.

  Due to exceptional circumstances, they allowed me to return to the United Lounge.  Hours later, when we were supposed to board again, the new attendants were not on time.  To say that the other passengers were upset would be an understatement.  One of the pilots even came out calm people down.

  Anticipating trouble with my checked bag being transferred to the new airlines, I tried consulting agents on both sides.  I was lied to by American Airlines.  They said it was sent ahead.  I would not receive my bags until 5 days later.  American Airlines puts bag issues on a separate phone number, that they limit to few hours, and the people were not helpful.  They also purposely hide their website for reporting lost bags.  They do so by only allowing you to the site if you scan a QR code.  The problem was that they have no presence in Hong Kong, where I was landed.  Luckily, I had my friend's airtag still in the bag, from Namibia.  It did not leave LAX for four full days.

  At just past ten, we finally took off.  I arrived at Hong Kong, now with a rescheduled third flight for the next day.  I walked the bridge to the connecting hotel, which was preposterously fancy, and also preposterously cheap, due to the currency conversion rates.  I slept, got up, and went straight to my next flight.  

  I arrived in Chongqing in the late afternoon, the night before my early morning flight to Lhasa, Tibet.  I lost a day and a half.  I chose a hotel as close to the airport as I could find, but no taxi would take me.  I reached out to my hotel by having the information desk call multiple times.  Eventually I arrived.  I bought some snacks from the lobby, ate, and then went to bed.

   Passing through immigration was interesting.  Everyone else was flying through, but that stopped when I approached the desk.  They thoroughly looked at all of the documentation and the worker called for a backup agent.  I do not know what they discussed, due to the language barrierI stood there nervously, and finally, I was let through.

  The Chongqing airport was very nice.  I had to walk over a tall archway over the terminal, with planes crossing underneath.

As the only white person on the flight, I was asked by the neighboring passenger to take a selfie with him and his daughter.  I then asked for one in return, for this blog.

  As soon as I stepped off the airplane, I felt difficulty breathing.  I had not felt this way in Bhutan.  I waited outside for about fifteen minutes before my guide came over.  Luckily, I had Wechat installed, so I could communicate with the tour group via text messages.  I was driven about forty minutes to my hotel.  I had that night and the following day and night to rest.  On the drive, I was also given a piece of paper with rules of what I would be allowed to talk about with the guide.  I wish I had taken a picture of it.  It pretty much said that you shouldn't be talking about anything potentially controversial or critical of the Chinese government or about freeing Tibet. 

  The hotel was rundown.  The first few nights I was woken up by barking dogs that never stopped.  I eventually moved to the other side of the hotel.  The breakfast was the worst I have ever had in my life.  Without my checked bags, I had to buy some items in local stores.  No stores sold deodorant.  

Dinner on the first night.

  Having the first day to myself, I walked to the area around Jokhang Temple.  I had to cross a security checkpoint, involving a passport check and metal detector.  Then, I went north to Beijing road, west, and then counter clockwise around Potala Palace.  This is what I saw-