Day 5 - Off to Lhasa (Tibet)

We didn't have time for breakfast this morning. We needed to leave early to get to the airport. We were looking forward to another fun experience at the hotel restaurant, but they didn't open until after we left. We got a surprise on the way to the airport. My Yu had a warm bag of dumplings for us. They were very good.

The airplane was a little late in taking off. The board showing departures didn't show the Lhasa flight and we were leaving in less than an hour. Two trips to the information booth yielded little information. We ran into a group of Americans who are going to climb to an Advance Camp for a mountain close to Mt Everest. It was great to meet a group going to the same destination. They helped to get information on the flights.

The airplane ride was OK. We had to deplane in Chengdu for a half hour. During the first meal, there was a packet of hot sauce for the noodles. It was spicy, but I could still handle it. It was at the second meal that things got real hot. The spice packet was double wrapped. I put a dab on my finger and tasted it. I knew then that something was wrong. Whatever was in that packet was going to put my digestive tract on fire. I declined to use the sauce, but Kim used hers and she later paid the price, making many trips to the bathroom that night.

Arrival in Tibet 

Once we got to Lhasa, we felt fine. After picking up our backpacks and carrying them, we started to feel light headed. By the time we got to the hotel we were not feeling so good. We had the entire tonight to rest. Our guide is going to let us rest until 11:00 tomorrow morning.

Jon got through the night fairly well. At times he felt dizzy and had a bit of a headache. Guess who got sicker than a dog? He said it was my fault for insisting on this trip. I thought I was going to die and was ready to take the next flight out of this forsaken place. I forced down two bottles of water to help combat the altitude sickness. Today the first train ever rolled into Lhasa. There were many celebrations and a lot of hoopla. Fireworks were set off very close to our hotel last night and I would have loved to step outside and watch, but Jon was too sick and I couldn't lift my head off my pillow at that time.