Shanghai'd

We are back home now.

It's strange to call Shanghai 'home'. It sure feels like home, falling into our bed in our immaculately clean house (will I ever have a maid again? or be able to live without one?) Saturday night after a very long trip back, which included three connections - back over the Himalaya (more views of spectacular Everest and surrounding mountains) to Lhasa, then through the fated Chengdu airport before arriving on time in Pudong. Waking up to normal at home breakfast. Running around Century Park. Avoiding Carrefour on Sunday like the plague, and making due with bread store, veg market, and fruit truck stops. A delicious dimsum lunch. But all of this with the backdrop of knowing Shanghai will only be home for the next 4 weeks exactly.

Our tickets are booked, and November 24 is the day, we are flying home home. Austin, TX via Redmond, OR (for T-day with E&E, C&B) on a one-way United flight out of China. It will probably not be the last time we make that flight, at least we like to hope so now. I don't think I could live the rest of my life without xiaolongbao, or naicha, or hotpot. Which is why, starting now, we are on a quest to savour all those favorite things one more time, and store a little memory of them deep inside, to dig out later and overpower the taxi memories and weather memories and air quality memories as we are booking another trip out here sometime in the future.

That next ticket, most likely, will not be one-way. And so, with the knowledge that this is our last time to live here, we start on our list; while we are counting down the seconds until the trip home home, we will try to make every second count.

We just got back from our 2 day rafting trip (safe and sound, mom-in-law). The natural beauty of Nepal managed to further amaze us. On the parts between the rapids, I found myself breathing deeply and drinking in the deep blue sky, puffy clouds, steep green valleys and wildlife, which included monkeys today! During the rapids, I marveled at the power of nature in the rushing river over huge boulders.

I was thinking about what it will be like to wake up in our apartment Sunday morning, Irene, to 60s and rain, horns and traffic. Back from vacation for sure! But a rainy Sunday morning sounds like dimsum brunch to me... As for leaving Shanghai, we have set a date, and its about 4 weeks off. That is another thing to think about all together. There will be lists of must-do-one-more-times, probably more must-eats, or must-buys. Its going to be a busy end to the year!

In the meantime, we have 2 nights and a day left in Kathmandu, and honestly I am really looking forward to spending it shopping. I think I deserve some souvenirs from this trip! We will also need to get one more good Nepali meal, which will no doubt include some dal (curried lentils), rice and naan bread. I could eat this stuff forever, I love it! After a little impromptu cooking class in our cook tent at Everest base camp, I now have the know-how to do so. ;-)

We made it back to the crazy, polluted streets of Kathmandu yseterday afternoon, officially ending our 3 week biking trip in Tibet. We both made the whole ride with no mechanical issues, and in fact no major issues at all! It was a bit sad pulling into the city, but we are glad to have completed the challenge. Can't wait to post pictures!

We are up early to meet our next group for a 2-day rafting trip on a crazy river we biked past! Now we will travel all the Nepal miles by car and raft. Should be fun! Friday we will be back in Kathmandu, and then Saturday we are back to Shanghai.

Yesterday we rode over the Himalayas (two 5000m+ passes) and started the descent into Nepal, which is below 1000m, making this stretch of road the longest downhill in the world. Today we will cross the border and our time in Tibet will be over. That part is sad, but the trip has been amazing! We have been on the bike for 16 of the past 17 days (with two and a half more to go) and the landscape, road and challenges have been diverse enough to keep us from getting bored. The last 5 days have been 95% off road, and we are completely dusty and dirty. But smiling and having a blast!

We can't wait to post the pictures... All I can say is this experience has surpassed all my expectations. Gorgeous!

On the being the only girl note: I wasn't the first one in the sag wagon! One guy got in the other day on some tough off road. In fact, I haven't been in the 4x4 at all, and with 2.5 downhill days coming up, I am feeling good that i won't have to use it. I was worried about all the off-road, since I didn't have any experience. But I have found it really fun to ride over rocks uphill and even through sand and water crossings! I am starting to rethink selling my mountain bike - I guess I will just have to get one in Austin!

Time to go now, we'll get all updated when we get to Shanghai. Hope all is well at home, we are so far removed from any news or updates!

We arrived in Shigatse today, the second biggest city in Tibet. We have a rest day here tomorrow, which the group desperately needs. Everyone is tired and feeling the effects of the altitude. It is also probably the last time we will have internet, unless they also put up an internet cafe along with he cell phone tower at Everest (seriously.).

The ride so far has been diverse and the landscape has surpassed my every expectation. Tibet is gorgeous. The first day took us about 80 km outside of Lhasa. We did the ride past the airport again, which was as beautiful as I remembered it. That first day was flat and autumn-like, with the Ginkos (like an aspen) that lined the streets changing to a golden yellow. We camped at the base of the mountain we would climb the next day. Day 2 started with climbing this mountain, gaining 1200m and being rewarded at the top with panoramic views of a deep blue holy Tibetan lake with snowy peaks behind it. We cycled down the other side of the peak and along the lake until we came to our second camp site. Day 3 took us up to our highest altitude yet - 5000m! It was cold, windy and hailing by the time we reached the top and I was not in the best of spirits. We were meters from a huge glacier, but we quickly took the downhill (which still took work with the headwind!) and got to a third wonderful campsite on a river. I was feeling the altitude pretty bad - headaches and fatigue - while we slept at 4400m. Luckily I woke up ready for yesterday's day 4, rolling hills next to another gorgeous lake with city ruins along both sides of the road. Tons of great photo ops - we took it slow and took advantage of those! We got a hotel last night in Gyantse, the third biggest town in Tibet. Today was a flat 95km through the agricultural heartland (think: Iowa with mountains in every direction), where the local people were harvesting hay or barley or some grain/straw thing. Very autumnal feeling while we were again in the Ginkos (back down below the treeline) and got caught in several tractor/horse&wagon traffic jams. We are now in Shigatse, for a much needed rest day before heading to Everest base came (and 5 more 5000m+ peaks!) over the next 2 weeks.

The support on the trip has been amazing, our tents are ready for us when we pull into camp and with the large contingency of British, so is 4pm tea. The cook is awesome, both in his cooking ability and as a person. The whole crew rocks! This is my first tour, and I have to say it is pretty posh and worth the money. We are woken each morning with hot tea and washing water... I am going to stop now or else you will think we are not 'roughing it' out here! The people continue to be cool, but the group has kind of split into the "Photo Tour" and the "Tour de France". Guess which one we are on! I guess people are just out here for different reasons. :-)

Notes on being the only girl: Including the crew, there are 16 men to one me. I think if anything, Tim gets the most different treatment, as all the boys tease him about his wife! I am keeping up on the rides, and only peeing along the side of the road takes some imagination (especially in the case of cliffs, where I had to go behind the wheel of the land cruiser). I am not worried about getting in the 4x4 if things get tough (read: at Everest!), but it might be a little worse for the bloke that has to take the support vehicle before me!

So, all is well. Tim is dying to post some pictures, but that will have to wait. You will have to use your imagination (or search engine) with my descriptions. This is probably it for us until Nepal. Keep following Tim's Twitter posts until then. We update by text message, and there is always service, even at Everest!

P.S. Thank you for the concern about the earthquake. We haven't felt anything, and I think the biggest danger would be landslide. I will make sure we are clear for the campsites!

Just a few days ago I didn't think it possible, but this morning we finally begin our overland Tibet cycling tour. After all the stress and hassle to get to this point, the ride itself is seeming downright anticlimatic. I'm sure once we get in the saddle and start climbing our first pass my mindset will change.

Today is a relatively easy 97km on a flat, paved road from Lhasa to the campsite at Chusul. Day 2 is when the real fun begins - our first big climb - 23km long gaining about 1000m of elevation.

As we will be camping most nights and away from internet access, don't expect too many posts from here on out. I will try to update my Twitter feed periodically, China Mobile service permitting.

I would love to post some of the pictures I've taken, but when I tried to plug my camera into this sketchy PC, the whole system hung and I really don't want to risk losing the shots I already have, or worse yet, hosing my camera on Day 1!

Wish us luck!

The entire saga of our first 48 hours in Shanghai/Chengdu/Lhasa/Kathmandu/Lhasa will take much more time to tell than I have at the moment, but for now here is the summary. I promise the rest will follow later, maybe over a beer. Trust me, it's worth the wait.

So, for the summary version ...

How NOT To Enter Tibet From China:

Step 1 - trust your local tour agency in Nepal to understand Chinese immigration policy.

Step 2 - try to enter Lhasa from Kathmandu with a Chinese work permit in the first place.

Step 3 - go to Chinese embassy in Kathmandu and consider cancelling your work permit in exchange for a temporary 30 day China tourist visa (this would be a really bad idea).

Step 4 - choose the week that the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu is shutting for 5 days for the National Holiday.

Step 5 - trust your local agent when he says it will be no problem boarding the Kathmandu to Lhasa flight with the rest of the group, despite the fact you have a Chinese work permit.

Step 6 - don't buy the transit flight through Lhasa to Chengdu from where you could legally enter Tibet.

Step 7 - realize at the Kathmandu airport that you are totally screwed and not getting on any flight at all.

Step 8 - panic, freak out, beg, plead with Kathmandu airport officials to let you on the plane.

Step 9 - learn that there are exactly 2 flights per week out of Kathmandu and they are booked solid.

Step 10 - get amazingly lucky and get on Chengdu flight (which stops over in Lhasa) via standby miracle.

Step 11 - have to rummage up $740 in 5 minutes to buy said standby flight.

Step 12 - freak out again and sprint out of airport to ATM machine, passing security guards packing intimidating heat.

Step 13 - board flight with rest of group bound for Lhasa (and then carrying on to Chengdu).

Step 14 - arrive at Lhasa airport and consider talking your way in then instead of having to do completely ridiculous, wasteful Lhasa-Chengdu-Lhasa round trip just to satisfy immigration policy.

Step 15 - play confused, pitiful, Tibet travel permit-less Americans with Chinese customs/immigration officers in Lhasa airport.

Step 16 - when all reasoning and logic fails, beg, plead, ass-kick your way into having them consider your case.

Step 17 - go in secret elevator up to second floor of airport to talk to "the boss man"

Step 18 - get the ok from "boss man" to enter Lhasa with rest of group.

Step 19 - wait for the most nerve-racking 30 minutes of your life while the rest of the group collects luggage to actually walk out the door.

Step 20 - take 2 steps outside the airport into Tibet.

Step 21 - be called back inside when Air China officials try to track down 2 Americans that are supposed to be on continuation flight to Chengdu.

Step 22 - stand back while Air China, Chinese immigration, Chinese customs and "boss man" argue your fate.

Step 23 - suffer minor heart attack (not really)

Step 24 - watch as Air China flight leaves without us. Feel pretty confident at this point.

Step 25 - rest of group finally arrives.

Step 26 - witness moment of truth ... "boss man" with passports and Tibet travel permits in hand ... gives the final ok.

Step 27 - grab closest luggage cart and sprint through doors (again) into Tibet (again).

Step 28 - breathe HUGE sigh of relief and swear never to try this again.

It was NOT easy to get here. But I am going to save the whole story for Tim to tell you, as most of the negotiating, running, and sweating were on him.

I can start from the point when we left the airport together yesterday (at one point, Tim left before me) and boarded the bus with our bikes and our group and drove into Lhasa, which typical to Chinese airports, is located 75km outside of the city.

Tibet is gorgeous. The skies are the blue you only see when you are at altitude - deep, rich, clear. There are mountains on all sides everywhere we have been. The rivers are clear blue. Colorful, intricate Tibetan style motifs surround the doors and windows of white washed buildings, and the clear air intensifies the reds, blues and golds. The people are colorful too, their long black braids have beads and colorful string woven through and their rosy cheeks still show through their dark skin. We saw all this through the windows of the bus on our way into Lhasa.

Lhasa itself has been Chineseified, big time. Beijing Lu is the main thuroughfare through town, and all other streetsigns show chinese privince names in three languages (Jiangsu Rd, in Tibetan, Chinese and English). The city center seems to be Potala Palace, built by the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century. We visited this morning and found it fantastic - by far the best preserved sight we have been to in China. Totally better than the forbidden city, but don't tell Beijing. ;-) We also visited a monestary, also colorful, intricate and gorgeous. Tim is worried about his 9G limit on photos!

These 3 days in Lhasa are to be spent acclimatizing, which our group definitely needs. I was sick last night, probably a combination of stress, exhaustion, and the altitude, but after a good 10 hours night sleep I feel much better. I am not ready to hop on my bike yet, though! Other guys are sick today. Give it a few more days. Our bikes seem to have made it here in one piece. Well, 95% - Tim's front disk for his brakes is slightly bent and he is working on that now.

It is such a relief to be here, after all the drama. We are looking forward to the rest of our trip - hopefully we have been through the worst of it, and all that are left are the challenges we signed up for!