05.02.2018
Why did I opt to fly from Kathmandu to Lhasa?
I had done the 7 nights overland tour in a jeep from Kathmandu to Lhasa in 2007 and it was fantastic! This time around I wanted to spend more time on the trains.
Well, the flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa (or vice versa) is the only flight that actually crosses the Himalayan Range over My. Everest! Only 2 (and only Chinese!) airlines do this flight – Air China and Sichuan Airlines and for the approx. 1.5 hrs flight you looking at at least US$ 450 one way. But it is totally worth it!
I arrived a Kathmandu Airport well ahead of time and of course there was some blablah at check in because my China Visa had my surname accidentally double ( I did not even realise it!), everything else was correct. Eventually they let me through.
I had a window seat, but with only approx. 50 passengers on the plane they had filled it up from the rear and the front half was practically empty. So I did change after boarding was completed to a totally empty row just ahead of the wing. I was determined to see the highest montain!
The first highlight after take of was a circle over the city and a perfect view on Bodnath Stupa below.
As the plane was coming out of the Kathmandu smog, the Himalayas became visible in the sunshine!
Coming closer and closer I had a feeling of being on the wrong side and went over to the F seat and voila! there it was – the highest mountain range of the world with the magnificent Mt. Everest!
Coming into the Tibetan Plateau it became more hazy again and about 1 hr into the flight there was an announcement that the weather was not favourable in Lhasa and the flight would be diverted to Chengdu instead. WHAT? I want to go to Lhasa! Chengdu is like 2 hrs further on!
Flagging down the flight attended I made it clear I need to go to Lhasa and she promised to have a solution once we landed in Chengdu. It turned out 11 passengers in total needed to go to Lhasa, me being the only foreigner and nobody spoke English (or German or any other language I might understand).
My Tibet Vista contact in Lhasa already e-mailed me with updates and I followed the airline representative like being glued to him, because I understood transfer, hotel, dinner, breakfast, transfer, new flight would be organized and on the airline.
Immigration passport control was a challenge because of the double surname and at least 3 superior officers had to be consulted until that bloody paper was stamped and I was let through. Phew!
Picked up the luggage, searched for the info desk, waited for transfer, found a bunch of ATM and the 3rd one finally gave me money, minibus to a hotel approx. 20 min drive away – the Hao Tian Guo Tai Hotel. There they wanted me to share with some other person a room, but hey, not me being the only foreigner! A little blahblah and off I went to my own room.
I did understand something about dinner and went in search of restaurant and bar. Nobody spoke English (or any other language other than Chinese…), but with sign language we got along just fine. Dinner was set on huge tables and one just had to turn the middle table to get to different dishes and serve themselves.
I even got a beer and chopsticks eventually! They thought it funny to have a foreigner there!
The food was good, if cold from sitting on the table forever. But so different food from what we get in Chinese restaurants back home!
Well, it was early bedtime, because pick up was at 04:30 am!
06.02.2018
04:20 I was at reception checking out. They were totally overworked with the amount of people checking out at the same time! There must have been more flights cancelled, since there was at least 3 big busses going to the airport. Nobody did care about anything, so I just hopped on one of the busses. At the airport the info desk girl remembered me and sent me straight to check in for a flight to Lhasa. I only had to show the old boarding pass and all was good. I did have to go to a specially desk to sign for my 30000 mAh power bank, because it was too big.
At security they had to ask 3 superiors again if I can go through to Lhasa, because if you fly into Tibet from a Chinese airport you need to actually present your Tibet Permit. Coming from Kathmandu, however, the permit is in the hands of the tour guide waiting at Lhasa Airport. Therefore, I had no permit in hand. Luckily the old boarding pass was attached to the new one and eventually I was let through.
The flight was uneventful, the plane was packed. We landed around 10:30 in Lhasa with blue skies and sunshine. My guide easily recognized me, since I was once more the only foreigner.
I had missed a whole day in Lhasa, so I had basically a little more than 24 hrs left. The drive to the city took approx. 1 hr 20 min and we stopped at the train station to pick up my pre-booked train ticket for the next day.
Check in at the Gang-Gyan Hotel in the center was fast, I just dropped everything off and went to explore. I had only booked the guide for the transfers, because you officially have to have one.
Off I went to see the Potala Palace. I did not go inside since I had done it last time, but it is a sight from the outside! Magnificent!
The post office, my next stop, is right on the next corner, but of course, the postcard counter was closed. However, next door there was the Tibet Paradise Post Office. Turns out it has many more postcards and a multitude of special stamps and such.
I wandered around the center and also the Barkhor Street around Jokhang Monastery. I watched Buddhas being painted, Tibetans praying and just people watched forever.
Because all of China keeps only one time zone, the sun here sets only around 19:45 or so. There for I had plenty of time to wander.
For dinner I went to Tashi I and had Sliced Yak & Lhasa Beer.
I did sleep well inspite of the 3600m altitude giving me a slight headache.
07.02.2018
The sun rises here only around 08:45 or such, so I got up fairly late. Breakfast in the hotel was very Chinese, there was no other foreigners there.
I did go for sunrise to Barkhor Street people watching. Tibetans are coming here in the early morning to walk the circuit. Because Lohsar, the Tibetan New Year is near and because it is winter, there are many Tibetans in town. There is no work in the fields in winter, so there is time to make a pilgrimage.
I sat on some shop steps and just people watched.
After more wandering around, lunch at Tashi I and some souvenir shopping, I went back to the hotel for some free wifi. Lucky me, I have downloaded like 8 Apps for VPN, to be able to use Facebook and WhatsApp while in China. And 2018 Free Proxy Master works perfect!
My guide was already waiting for me, it was time to take a taxi to the train station!
The highest train line in the world is waiting for me!
