We are picked up on time by Mia and our driver and driven to the airport. The journey takes about an hour, Mia takes us to the check-in, we also have to show the special Tibet visa. We have coffee and a sandwich at the airport and are ready to board. We fly in a newer A319, but it is spartanly furnished. We have chicken and rice for dinner, which is quite good for aeroplane food.
Then to the gate, straight onto the bus and onto the tarmac. There it is, our plane to Lahsa, everything on time, same entertainment system as Air China. As soon as we got off the plane, we had to walk slowly because the altitude of 3,570 metres above sea level is quite something. We have been taking Diamox, a medicine against altitude sickness, since yesterday. There are no entry formalities, no visa, no passport to show, very strange.... Alex, our new German-speaking travel guide, is already there. Everything goes like clockwork, simply superb. On the way to Lhasa we suddenly have to get off at a checkpoint. Aha, so we do... Passport check and present our visa. But not by us personally, no, Alex does that. It all feels strange. Speaking of which, Sylvia's hands also feel a bit numb and tingly at the same time. Everything is normal, Markus assures us. The landscape is really mountainous. The soil is rather brown, but the rape, wheat and barley are already being sown. The trees are also sprouting and some bushes are already flowering. Past the Kyi chu (happy river), through a new tunnel to the capital of Tibet. These tower blocks are here again. There are200,000 people living in Lahsa. There are 1 million people in the whole area with the farmers. Our hotel is again right in the centre. What amazes us is that it is really warm in the sun, certainly 20 degrees, but in the shade and with the wind it gets chilly again. Alex thinks we only need a thick jacket in the mornings and evenings.
The letters say Welcome to Tibet
In the room we first switched on the heating, 17 degrees is already very fresh. Uiiii, a humidifier, yesaaa we put that into operation straight away. Tell me Markus, don't you get warm no matter what you wear? I think it's time to energise. After a noodle soup and a few dumplings, the combustion is working again and the tingling in my hands is gone. The old village is really pretty. As well as tourists, you also see monks out and about. The way home takes us through a market with stones, flat, round, large, small, with and without holes, all colours. We'll have to ask Alex tomorrow how things are going here. Good night for now.
