We are picked up punctually by Mia and our driver and driven to the airport, on the way we see countless residential silos again. The drive takes about an hour, Mia takes us to check-in, we also have to show the special Tibet visa. At the airport there is still coffee, and a sandwich and we can get in. We fly with a newer A319, but it is spartan. For dinner there is chicken with rice, for airplane food quite good.
Then to the gate, directly into the bus and off to the tarmac. There it is, our plane to Lahsa, everything on time, same entertainment system as Air China. As soon as we left the plane, we had to walk slowly because the altitude of 3,570 meters above sea level is a house number. We have been taking Diamox, a medication for altitude sickness, since yesterday. There is no entry formality, no visa, no passport to show, very strange…. Alex, our new German-speaking travel guide, is already there. Everything works like clockwork, just great. On the way to Lhasa we suddenly have to get off at a checkpoint. Aha, so yes… Passport control and visa. But not from us personally, no, Alex does that. It all feels strange. Speaking of which, Sylvia’s hands also feel a bit numb and tingling at the same time. Everything is normal, Markus assures. The landscape is real mountains. The soil is rather brown, but it is already being sown, rapeseed, wheat and barley. The trees are also sprouting, some bushes are already blooming. Past the Kyi chu (happy river), through a new tunnel to the capital of Tibet. Again, these skyscrapers are there. There are 200,000 people living in Lahsa. In the whole area with the farmers there are 1 million people. Our hotel is right in the middle of it again. What surprises us very much is that it is really warm in the sun, certainly 20 degrees, in the shade and with wind it gets fresh again. Alex says that the thick jacket is only needed in the morning and evening.
The letters say Welcome to Tibet
In the room we first turned on the heating, 17 degrees is already very fresh. Uiiii, a humidifier, yes, we put it into operation right away. Tell me Markus, do you not get warm anymore, no matter what you wear? I think it’s time to add energy. After a noodle soup and a few dumplings, the combustion works again and the tingling in the hands is also gone. The old village is really pretty. In addition to tourists, you can also see monks on the way. The way home leads us through a market with stones, flat, round, large, small, with and without holes, all colors. Tomorrow we have to ask Alex how things are going here. Now first of all, good night.