like deja vu all over again...

you know, one would think i'd be much better at this whole "waiting" thing after what happened with last year's trip...

but i'm not.

once again, TAR is closed to foreigners... and, here i am, waiting to find out, well, if i'm going to have to cancel this trip... again... i'll be honest and say i feel more optimistic about this than last time... BUT... there's still that part of me that's thinking, "dagnabit... maybe i'm just NOT meant to do this... at least not at this point in my life..." i don't like to think negatively, but i can't help but wonder if there's something else i'm supposed to be doing... somewhere else i'm supposed to go to help...

the rumor mill is saying that foreigners will be permitted back as of april 1... if so, great... all sytems go... even may 1 would be peachy... but i AM going to have to figure out a hardstop... at what point to i pull my ducks and make other arrangements...? oh... yes... no matter what, i'm headed somewhere to volunteer on june 4...

any backup suggestions?

booked!

whoot! got my flights all booked... had enough miles for first class... unfortunately, no seats, dagnabit... it's ok, i'll survive in biz class (ahhhhh... business class...) actually, the flights are FAR less chaotic than those i'd booked last year...

anyhoo, i'm leaving lax at about 2 a.m. (ugh!) on june 4, have three-hour layover in hong kong... and end up in chengdu around 1 p.m. on the 5th.. i'll have about 24 hours in chengdu... will be interesting to see the recovery after last year's earthquake... i'm hoping to get over to the panda preserve but i'm not holding my breath about it... and, as much as i wanted to see the massive leshan buddha, it just 'aint gonna happen... next time! :) i WILL, though, have plenty of time to check out wen shu temple and eat obscene quantities of mapo dofu.... which, according legend, has its roots in chengdu.... mmmmmm... spicy!

i head off to Lhasa at about 1 p.m. on the 6th... and will most likely make the kirey hotel my home for the subsequent 15 days... i know. you're jealous... actually, you should be because the tashi II restaurant is right next door and it serves up some seriously tasty curry! rumor has it that it offers a fairly reliable internet, too, which is great, as i'm seriously considering taking a laptop with me. I'll have a day or so to get acclimated to lhasa's 13,000-foot elevation (waaaalllkkk sloooowwwww), before i begin my two-week (m-f) stint at jatson chumig school and orphanage, which is a short busride from the kirey. take a moment and check out the website. there's some really amazing stuff going on.







not sure what i'll do with my free weekend in the middle... would like to get out to namtso lake, one of tibet's three holy lakes and the highest salt-water lake in the world... pretty cool, eh? didn't get the chance to see it 2006 so it's at the top of my to-do list. also want to be sure to venture out to ganden monastery, as well as meander through lhasa's muslim quarter at some point.

anyhoo, i'll be heading home june 21... exhausted, but happy, i'm sure... that's about it for now... looking forward to FINALLY embarking on this long-awaited adventure!

rescheduling

ok... welp... it looks like i've finally... sort of... picked my new dates... woohoo!

i should be finished up with school may 21 so... after a few days to let myself breathe, i'll take off round about may 27... work at jatson chumig from june 1-12... and then... ummmm... either explore for a few more days or head straight home (haven't really decided yet...)

this is a slightly different trip than originally planned, as my dad can't join me for the extended trip... nonetheless, i'm excited about this challenge... it's been a long time in the making/waiting, but i truly believe it'll be worth it!

somebody call me a waaaaahhhmmmbulance!

alright... i give up... it's not something i do easily... and, truth be told, it feels like crap... something in me is SURE that, now that i've canceled all my reservations and postponed my trip until next april, tibet will reopen to foreigners... sigh...

amazing how much work it takes to make travel arrangements, yet how quickly one can cancel em all!

some have kindly suggested i find another school... in another country... where things aren't so "unstable"... and, while i appreciate their intentions and good wishes (and i know there are children throughout this world who need help/hope/happiness), this has become a quest... so, i'm diggin' my heels in...

i guess this continues to be an exercise in patience for me... thank goodness i'm stubborn... :)

updates to resume in 2009... but feel free to visit the jatson chumig school and orphanage website and learn more about this very special place!

c'mon...

open... open... open... (face smashed up against airport glass)

ferrrrrustrerated...

in the immortal words of my daughter when she was a toddler, i'm incredibly frustrated by reports that the chinese government may have reversed its decision to allow foreigners back into the TAR may 1 (something in me kept from whooping it up when the may 1 date was thrown out there... one of the moments that being a cynic comes in handy, i suppose)... i'm still waiting for confirmation from my contacts in lhasa, but am feeling a bit low about it.

granted, it's not a deal-breaker... i'll just have to reschedule the trip for october (or, worst case next may/june)... but it's a pricey bummer, not to mention that the plans my father and i had to travel tibet together after i was done helping at jatson chumig will pretty much be doa... sigh...

back to the waiting game... final decision to pull the plug will be made the first week of may....

not so easily deterred...

i've received many calls and emails over the last few days, asking if the protests in lhasa have changed my mind about this trip. hardly.

suffice to say that i hope this ends quickly and my reasons for taking on this challenge and going on this trip has been reinforced, not depleted, by current events.

please send a few good thoughts out....

yeah!

ok... sooooo FINALLY... i'm boooooookeed... i got a kooky itinerary but it's biz class baby! (ok... all the way to hong kong... i'm ECON after that... )... so... here goes...

leaving mid-day monday, may 26th (memorial day)... lax to tokyo... tokyo to hong kong... a 12-hour layover in HK (but will kick it the airport's kick-butt traveler's lounges... $80 for a bed, shower and buffet breakfast... WAY better then trying to find a hotel in the city)... then onto chengdu the morning of the 28th...

i'll cool my heels at sim's cozy garden hostel in chengdu for a few days to get my tibetan travel permit... sim's is a pretty funky place... but i like that kinda thing.. and it gets great reviews... last, at $14/night for a single room with bath, it officially rocks!

while there, i'm hoping to check out wenshu monastery... a beautiful buddhist temple in the north part of the city... also home of a popular tea garden and great veggie restaurant (yay!)....

the panda research center, where pretty much all the world's pandas come from these days ... on one hand, animals in captivity make me sad (like sad panda?)... but it's also hopeful... as this center is keeping these beautiful creatures from extinction.. (and, damn, if these aren't about the cutest things on earth, i don't know what is... i just wanna hug em!)...


...the leshan giant buddha (i wanted to see this on the '06 trip, but just couldn't work it in... ). the leshan buddha is the tallest stone buddha in the world. it's carved out of a cliff face and, from what i've heard, is simply amazing! (lookie at all the itsy people!)...






oh... and i plan to eat as much ma po dofu (sans critters, of course) i can humanly stand... (mmmmm... spicy!)


more details to come...

argh, part deux!

still calling, dagnabit! they haven't even released any coach seats!

agggrrrhhhh!

breathing....

:)

argh!

So, after charging my AA credit card like crazy (and paying off each month, of course) so I could get enough miles to fly like a rock star in biz class (never done that before and would be most welcome, as I'm flying from Lhasa, to Chengdu, to Hong Kong and home all in one day... ugh), AA tells me there are no frequent flier seats available...

Sigh, I guess I'll just keep calling and asking until they give in...

or...

poop.

Goin' Back, Baby!

Well, not like I have another blog that I'm not so great at keeping up to date, but what the heck? This is a whole new (and, eventually, limiting) topic... Besides, ya'll can keep up with my adventures while I'm gone.

Sooooooo... yes, I've spent the last 15 months dreaming of the day I can return to Tibet... and it looks like things are getting set in stone! Wooo hoooo! Here's the nitty-gritty...

I'm leaving @ 1:50 a.m. (ouch!) Tuesday, May 27 and will return Saturday, June 21.

After a few days in Chengdu, I will get my Tibetan Travel Permit and proceed to Lhasa on May 31. From June 2-13, I will be volunteering at the Jatson Chumig Welfare Special School, helping to teach Tibetan orphans to speak English. (If you're up for being generous, check out the Amazon.com wish list I've got going... I'm planning on shipping out a box of all this stuff Mid-April... All items are needed and most appreciated! :)

I'm really excited about seeing this school and meeting the children. I've heard some wonderful things from other volunteers about their time at Jatson (and, yes, I've promised Keith I will NOT bring home any children... sigh...)

I will be teaching Monday -Friday for two weeks and will spend the weekend of June 7, tooling around and doing some daytrips out of Lhasa.

In the middle of my second week, my father will be flying to Lhasa and will do a few days of sightseeing in the area while I'm finishing up my volunteer work. Then, on Saturday, June 14, my dad and I hit the road for nine days touring Tibet. Assuming one of us doesn't kill the other (wink!), we're going to do much of the tour Keith and I did in Sept. 06 (Gyantse, Shigatse, Tsetang)... but with one *huge* addition... a trip to Everest Base Camp... yeeeeeaaahhhhhaaaaawwww!!!!

I can't believe it's still six months away... oh well, I'll babble on about the joys of planning such an adventure in the meantime!