travel n party

click here to see the horseshoe happy hour host > ( here ) < for this week

ROB n DONNA ARE ALREADY MAKING PREPARATIONS FOR THESE

TRAVELS / PARTIES

SO, ALL-YA-ALL - COME ON ALONG

LEAP 2012

“AROUND THE WORLD VIA TIBET”

(details at very bottom of this page)

BOY OH BOY IN THE BUCKET BASH

1500 MOONS

if you show up in cambodia on 31dec09 / 01jan10

we will buy ya a beer.

OK, LETS SEE NOW, WHERE WERE WE.

Oh wow.

Nice to see you again.

Small world isn't it.

fresh

pigs

feet

the

day

market

hong

kong

feb09

PASSPORT TO TRAVEL

Your Passport Is More Than Just An Official Document Of Your International Identity. The Pages Of That Little Book Hold The Promise Of Worlds Of Travel To Far Away, Captivating Places, And At Journey's End Become A Record Of Dreams Fulfilled. Just Look Thru That Ole Passport, It's Pages Are Filled With Visa Stamps That Have The Power To Summon The Experience And Memories Of Picturesque Places, Heavenly Meals And Exotic People. Count The Days, When, Once Again, You Present That Passport For Embarkation, To Begin A New, Exciting Adventure. With Passport In Hand, The Door Of The World Is Open. Go Now.

(Quote By A Not So Famous Explorer, R Ilves, After Setting Foot On His Seventh Continent At The Antarctic Circle) " Don’t Wait To See The World And All She Has To Offer. You May Be Cut Short. Go Now, So You Will Have As Much Life Time Left As Possible To Reminisce Those Travels "

NOW, WHERE WERE WE

October 2009 / Bridger Montana.

Donna’s Official Five Oh (24oct09) Was Spent Up At The "Lonesome Spur", A Working Cattle Ranch In The Shadows Of Montana's Beartooth Mountains. There Were Horses, Dogs, Horses, Buffalo, Horses, Cows, Horses, Cats, Horses, Deer, And Did I Mention Horses?

Donna Did The Official Birthday Celebration At A Hearty Dinner In The Chow Hall, With Rob N Mark N Barry N Ron N Linda N Ann N Lisa N Lonnie N Elaine N Al N Joy N Julie N Andrew N Kristine N Jennifer N Jane N Jack N A Bunch Of Dogs N Horses. We Rang The Triangle Chow Call, Played "Who Wants To Be A Cowboy" And Ate N Drank Well.

The Lonesome Spur Is A Fifth Generation, Working Cattle Ranch Lying In The Clarks Fork Valley, Between The Pryor Mountains And The Beartooth Mountains. It Has Early, But Beautiful Sunrises, Sunsets, White Tail And Mule Deer, An Occasional Elk, Mountain Sheep Or Moose, The Howl Of The Coyotes And The Fleeting Sight Of The Red Fox Right From The Saddle.

Folks Are Invited To Join The Branding, Trailing The Cattle, Working 8 Hours A Day On Horseback, Monitoring The Condition Of Both Cattle And Range, Checking Water Holes And Fences And Moving The Herd From One Area To Another.

It Was Cool In Late October. Our Low Temp Was 28f And A High Of 60f, But With The Sun Out It Was Beautiful, And What A Great Weekend.

(Music Maestro) Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday Dear Donnnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaa, Happppy Birrrthdayyy To Youuuuuuuu . . .

january 2009 / dubai, bangkok, hong kong

plan horseshoe beach, orlando, washington dc, dubai uae, chennai india, bangkok thailand, hong kong china, san francisco, orlando horseshoe beach.

mon26jan09

on our way, hsb to mco to iad delayed in orlando missed connection to dxb, hotel in washington.

tue27jan09

leave washington in an ice storm, delayed till after midnight.

wed28jan09

arrive dxb 2105 / 9:05pm, ibis deira city centre, tel : (+971)4/2925000 | 8th street port saeed located at ( 25 15'11.98"n, 55 19'58.21"e # 011-971-4-2925000 ).

thr29jan09.

up n at um in dubai down to the wharf we are on that boat at ( 25 15'23.39"n, 55 19'03.81"e ), architecture unbelievable, souks galore, arabic fluent.

fri30jan09

visit the finest dubai hotels n the dubai creek ride n the gold souks at night, fine indian dining.

sat31jan09

abas across the dubai creek to lunch, the old souk, red sand desert for sand bashing, camels n falcons.

sun01feb09

spice n hardware souks till depart to airport, for 1700/5pm flight, arrive in chennai india at 2335/1135pm.

mon02feb09

leave chennai india at 0035/1235am, arrive bangkok at 0500/5:00am, to sawasdee sukhumvit inn, 123 sukhumvit 57, prakanong, bangkok 10110, telephone : +66 (0) 2 714-0703, at ( 13 43'31.78"n, 100 34'49.37"e ) 1300/1:00pm dds exam, x-rays, 45min/2000bt, 1900/7:pm dds root canal n crown 58min/8000bt (included drugs), dinner with gera n donna.

tue03feb09

1300/1:00pm dds onlay, post, core, crown, 120min/19000bt, 1630/4:30pm dds scrape top gums 45min/4000bt.

wed04feb09

1145/11:45am dds scrape bottom and complete 60min/6500bt, 1630/4:30pm dds place bridge 45min/3600bt.

thr05feb09

1100/11am extraction 13min/1000bt (included drugs). (ttl 44,600bt at [us$1.00=38baht] or us$1,173.00 for the 7 visits over x4 days, hotel x7 at $22.00 = $154.00, beer x? undisclosed cost, food optional)

fri06feb09

slept it off, i’m feeling better, donna n gera in ko samei.

sat07feb09

hung around with my tongue all day while it tried to figure out where teeth had relocated to.

sun08feb09

my day off, donna back from the beach.

mon09feb09

bkk/hkg tg 628 10:30/14:20, hong kong south pacific hotel, 23 morrison hill road, wanchai, hong kong, tel: +852 2572 3838 ( 22 16'39.11"n, 114 10'48.94"e ) run the star ferry over to tsim sha tsoi n across to hong kong after dark for the night lights, 1900/7pm boy in the bucket for singapore noodles with donna, van n steve berlin, 24 san miguel's.

tue10feb09

am coffee in hong kong, pm beer in horseshoe beach.

december 2008 / germany:

munich and the kris kringle christmas markets was the excuse and the highlight. when we made the mutterland of munich, it was lightly snowing, the city was bustling, the xmas markets were in full swing, the smells of roasted nuts, hot wine, bratwurst and candy filled the sense, music in the air, and beer in the glass. munich as you know was totally leveled during the war, the altstadt (old city) was rebuilt and looks just as old as ever. what could not be salvaged was bulldozed away and today makes up the green grass-covered mounds that surround the olympic park. the center of altstadt is the marienplatz. here is a wonderfully large pedestrian-only zone where you can see the glockenspiel. this zone is great for shopping and that is what munich is known for in this area, shopping and fashion. the residenz is just off the square and is the home of the royal wittelsbach family, reigning for over 700 years now. down the street a bit is the frauenkirche, where all the royal crypts are located, including king ludwig ii. this church is easy to identify by its twin onion domes. and of course we found the hofbrauhaus where you can have a couple (and then some) of steins while you listen to the oompah band. near our hotel was the viktuellenmarkt. large tents spout alluring scents of local cooking and vendor stands sport local fare and fresh vegetables. we had the chance to visit the deutsches museum, europe’s largest technology museum, the bmw museum n auto dealership and the ratskeller. but mostly we ate n drank and relaxed and enjoyed the good company of peter n sigrid n patrick n bob n nancy n josie n paul n donna n oh ya rob was there to.

september 2008 / quebec, new england:

slept in till 1000, left hsb at noon, lunch n beer at crackers in crystal river, easy fly to wash dc, nice connection, little jet fly to albany ny, arrive midnight. red roof hotel had 64.99 available, hertz moved our x2 week car rental up a day and gave us the car a day early plus gave us a luxury car at no additional cost and gave a free gps with it. hotel close to airport. a restaurant right next to the hotel called maxies that had beer and food (hot wings) open till 3:30am. travel dont get no better than this. toured around valatie and kinderhook. attended leon n karen meyer’s son jason n kelly's wedding n max n elanore's 50 anniversary party. drove 4 hours north to montréal. stayed in the old town, with a visit to notre dame cathedral, really one of the worlds best churches. taxi up, climbed down mount royal in the center of the city, nice views. drove 3 hours from montréal to quebec city. had a great lunch at a little french farm artsy crafty place along the road, which follows the st lawrence river. arrived in quebec city, had wrong address of hotel but it worked out fun. donna abandoned me in the middle of a kindergarten school, will never forgive her. by our usual luck we happened to walk down to overlook the old seaport as the "queen elizabeth 2" was setting sail on its last voyage, to dubai, where it has been purchased by the arab royals. drove from quebec, back across the border 7 hours to deer isle maine, a beautiful trip with all the fall colors. stopped in salem maine to see carla mae, formally from horseshoe beach. arrived at dave and lindys to a great lobster dinner and great conversation. hurricane kyle provided alot of rain but not much wind as it hit maine during the night. it rained most of the day as we drove down to yarmouth to visit flash n bridget. had a nice visit and a cold beer. on to portland to see mary n jody. jody passed the law bar, great. had a great dinner n beers at grittys. breakfast at "becky's dinnah, nothin finah". off to new hampshire n vermont. stopped in charlestown for a 1 hour visit with 40 years no see cousin aare n wife joan, overnight in manchester. up mount equinox vt and stopped at every gift shop donna spotted. beautiful leave colors. tampa by noon. stopped for lunch with dave kreer in crystal river. home to perfect weather, sunny n 85 degrees.

july 2008 / kansas:

donna and i were up in north western kansas working the wheat harvest for farmer jim sabatka. it was quite interesting being on a harvester crew. there were 10 of us and depending on weather and equipment. it was pretty much a 24 hour operation, at least for farmer jim. the latest we actually cut was around 2am. that was because elevator/storage at the rail head quit unloading at 11pm and all we could do was fill everything up to wait for it to open in the morning. we pretty much cut from mid morning to after midnight when the moisture set in again. the best cutting times was late afternoon and night but the night visibility was rough as the wind whipped the tremendous amount of combine dust, and debris. i experienced vertigo (white out to you snow people) a couple of times and just had to stop. when we had rain or it was too humid/moist we would repair and service the equipment. we had one evening in 14 days off to go to town, and farmer jim took us out for steaks at big eds over in bird city kansas. big eds has the best damn steaks, the coldest damn beer n the longest damn drive home. anyway, we are now official wheaties (kind of like getting your wings) qualified in both kansas and nebraska. that’s my story and im sticking to it.

january 2008 / antarctica :

the rob and donna leap antarctica 2008 anniversary party using the national geographic ship “endeavour” as our base camp is officially over. it was fantastic. (katie larson + mark stormberg + marlene courbet + donna ilves + lisa stormberg + paul hinkley + rob ilves + yvonne dubois = the great “8”) we traveled almost 2500 miles within antarctic waters, made a dozen landings on antarctic soil in every condition and location possible, saw every species of life there from people to penguins, crossed the antarctic circle, and yes, had a beer as well. a quote by a not so famous explorer (rob), after he set foot on his seventh continent at the antarctic circle:

“don’t wait to see the world and all she has to offer, go now, so you will have as many years as possible left to cherish the memories”

Parties n Events You May Have Missed, So Don’t Miss Another:

The Byers Bash

Leap Mexico 1996

Gus The Bus

Leap Timbuktu 2000

The 100th Birthday

Leap Australia 2004

The Ilves Elvis Bangkok

Once In A Blue Moon

The Great Donna’s Birthday Oktoberfest Full Moon Bon Fire Halloween Costume

Leap Antarctica 2008

Horseshoe Halloween Houdini Hellaballoo

The Ein Bier Bitte Kris Kringle Market

SEE YA AT THE NEXT ONE

(scroll all the way down for all info on leap tibet 2012)

THE PLAN FOR TIBET:

I Know This Tibet Page Is A Bit Long On Information (Consider Printing Just This Section) But You Have Time Between Now And Then To Read It.

From An Irish Bar, At The Bottom Of The Earth, In Ushuaia Argentina, After Coming Up From Antarctica, In English, To The Phillipinos, Germans, British, And Americans, Before Leaving For Chile, At Midnight New Zealand Time, Donna Announced To The World, The 2012 Leap Anniversary Party To Be:

“Around The World Via Tibet”

She Is Thinking Around The World, Via Tibet, For Sure And (To Be Planned) Probably The Great Wall, Maybe The Silk Route, One Of China's World Heritage-Listed Cities Of Pingyao, Maybe Katmandu, Possibly India, By Then Maybe Afghanistan, “Who Knows”.

Opening Ceremonies Will Begin In Tibet At 2:29 Pm Wednesday The 29th Of February In The Year 2012.

( You Did Not Have Anything Planned That Day Anyway )

Details To Follow

while in tibet, we will no doubt make a stop in lhasa

location within tibet

coordinates: 91 07 00 e, 29 39 00 n

country china

region tibet

prefecture lhasa prefecture

chengguan district

gonggar/lhasa international airport code is lxa, longitude : 90° 54’ 1” e, latitude : 29° 17’ 35” n, is 100 km or 2 hours out of lhasa.

major nationalities han chinese; tibetan; hui

regional dialect tibetan language, hohhot dialect

time zone +8 (utc)

weather averages in feb/mar for lhasa 55f (13c) high, 28f (-2c) low

lhasa, sometimes spelled lasa, is the traditional capital of tibet and the capital of the tibet autonomous region of the people's republic of china. lhasa is located at the foot of mount gephel.

the city is the traditional seat of the dalai lama and the potala and norbulingka palaces (both are included in a world heritage site and in tibetan buddhism is regarded as the holiest centre in tibet.

lhasa literally means "place of the gods", although ancient tibetan documents and inscriptions demonstrate that the place was called rasa, which means "goat's place", until the early 7th century.

lhasa is the capital of the tibet autonomous region in china. the city is home to about 255,000 inhabitants and it is located at 3650 meters (12 000 feet) above sea level on the northern slopes of the himalayas.

understand

lhasa, which means "land of the gods", is the heart of tibet. over 1,300 years old, it sits in a valley right next to the lhasa river. tourist resources are plenty, good hotels, tasty restaurants, travel agencies, chinese department stores and supermarkets, in some parts of the city, you may find no difference to other chinese cities, but the tibetan influence is still strong and evident, especially around the old quarters near barkhor.

the eastern end of lhasa is more prominently traditional tibetan, focusing on the area around the jokhang and the barkhor. traditionally dressed tibetans engaged on a kora (a clockwise journey around the jokhang, the major buddhist shrine), often spinning prayer wheels are a common sight in that area. the western end of lhasa is more chinese in character (i.e. chinese from the east of the country). it is busy and modern, and many ways a surprise to many tourists. it is there one finds most of the infrastructure, such as banks and contact with officialdom.

get in

it is possible to visit lhasa on 3-7 day tours from kathmandu, nepal, but there have been reports of tours that do not allow enough time for visitors to adjust to the dramatic altitude change resulting in some travelers suffering altitude sickness being left off along the way (without any refund, of course). you can choose from the options fly-in and fly-out, drive-in and fly-out, etc. fly-in fly-out comes at a small extra cost and offers most comfort and safety.

chinese standard time (beijing) is used in tibet, which is 8 hours ahead (+) of gmt and 2 hours 15 minutes ahead of nepal. however, it is not uncommon for western climbing groups to keep on nepali time since this better coincides with the expected times of sunrise and sunset.

non-chinese nationals are required to obtain a special permit to visit tibet. individual permits are hard to obtain, group permits (at least 5 person) are easier. travel agents from kathmandu are very good in obtaining one and also a chinese visa for you in very short time (one day or two) when you book a trip.

by plane

the lhasa gonggar airport (iata: lxa) is about 100 km from lhasa. it takes 2 hours to the center of lhasa. there are flights from beijing, chengdu, chongqing, guangzhou, hong kong, kunming, qamdo, shanghai, xi'an, xining, and zhongdian (shangri-la),

international flights are available to kathmandu, nepal.

by bus

buses run from golmud in neighboring qinghai province, but are almost as pricey as the flight from chengdu due to the permit issue.

by train

the qinghai-tibet (qingzang) railway connects lhasa and golmud, with services continuing onto xining, beijing, chengdu, shanghai, guangzhou and chongqing.

total trains running to/from lhasa

t27/8 to/from beijing (west) - lhasa - takes about 48 hours

t22/23/24/21 to/from chengdu - lhasa - takes about 48 hours

t222/223/224/221 to/from chongqing - lhasa - takes about 49 hours

t164/5 t166/3 to/from shanghai - lhasa - takes about 51 hours

t262/4 to/from guangzhou - lhasa - takes about 60 hours

k917/k918 to/from lanzhou - lhasa - takes about 28 hours

n917/n918 to/from xining - lhasa - takes about 24 hours

get around

the jokhang area is easily navigable on foot. cycle rickshaws are everywhere, though prepare to bargain. taxis are a standard y10 for anywhere in lhasa city. minibuses operate to areas such as norbulingka, sera monastery, drepung monastery, and other nearby sites.

buses are available in front of jokhang temple or at the parking lot near the temple for tsurphu gompa, ganden gompa, nyemo (dazi), phenpo lhundrub (linzhou), meldro gungkar (mozhugongka), chushul (qushui), taktse (dazi), gongkar (gongga), and other nearby areas. tickets are available at the ticket office at the parking lot or when you board the bus.

see

the jokhang temple (tsuglagkhang) - constructed in the 7th century ad to house the statues of buddha that princesses bhrikuti from nepal and wen cheng from tang dynasty china brought as gifts for their future husband, king songtsan gampo. the temple has been enlarged many times over the centuries and now also houses statues of king songtsan gambo and his two famous foreign brides. however, the original statue of jowo sakyamuni buddha that princess wen cheng brought from chang’an over 1300 years ago is definitely its most sacred and famous possession, and is perhaps the most venerated religious artifact in all of tibet. the temple, a splendid four-floor building facing west under a guilded rooftop, is located on barkhor square in the center of the old section of lhasa.

the potala palace (podrang potala) - a stronghold probably existed on red hill as early as the 7th century ad when king songtsen gampo built a fortress on it for his two foreign wives. the palace was rebuilt by the fifth dalai lama in three years, while the thirteenth dalai lama extended and repaired it into what it is now. it became winter palace in 1755 when the seventh dalai lama made the norbulinka into a summer residence. with over 1 000 rooms, the potala contained the living quarters of the dalai lamas while they lived, and their sumptuous golden tombs when they died. as the religious and political centre of old tibet and the winter residence of dalai lamas, the palace witnessed the life of the dalai lamas and the important political and religious activities in the past centuries. potala palace also houses great amounts of rare cultural relics including the gold hand-written buddhist scriptures, valuable gifts from the chinese emperors and a lot of priceless antiques. admission rmb 100. guided palace tours generally include one hour inside the palace; allow at least that much time to walk up and down the many steps leading up to and from the palace. the palace is 14 stories tall and any visit involves climbing a lot of stairs up/down. make sure you are fully acclimated before visiting.

the potala was included in the unesco world heritage list in 1994, the jokhang temple monastery in 2000 and the norbulingka summer palace in 2001.

the norbulingka summer palace - located about 1km south of the potala palace - the seventh dalai lama constructed the first summer palace in 1755 and each successive ruler added his own buildings. norbulingka is now undergoing complete restoration. presently, the complex contains a small zoo, botanical gardens, and a mansion. there is a small entrance fee.

the barkhor street market a circular street around the jokhang temple in the center of the old section of lhasa, it is the oldest street in a very traditional style in tibet, where you can enjoy bargaining with the local tibetan vendors for the handicrafts which are rare to be seen elsewhere in the world. barkhor street is one of the most important religious paths along which pilgrims walk around jokhang temple while turning prayer wheels in their hands through centuries. buddhist pilgrims walk or progress by body-lengths along the street clockwise every day into deep night.

drepung monastery was founded in 1416 by a disciple of tsong khapa, was the biggest and richest monastery in tibet and its lamas helped to train each new young dalai lama. drepung was also home to the nechung, the state oracle. at its height, drepung had over 10 000 monks, and governed 700 subsidiary monasteries and owned vast estates. drepung belongs to the gelupa sect.

sera monastery was founded in 1419 by one of tsong khapa’s (the founder of the gelupa sect) eight disciples. it became famous for its tantric teachings, while drepung drew fame from its governing role. sera was smaller than drepung, with 7,000 monks, but was very rich and comparable in power. the monks of sera were considered clever and dangerous.

tibet museum minzulu road, lhasa. admission rmb 25. elaborate museum with artifacts reflecting the entire history of tibet. ask for a free audio tour in your language at the entrance. predictably, the museum presents a very chinese view of the "peaceful liberation" of tibet, but the museum is worth a visit.

do the koras with other pilgrims

drink tea and eat thugpa in the many teahouses near the jokhang

shop in the barkhor square

people watch

blind massage at medical massage clinic lhasa, located on the 3rd floor of number 59 beijing middle road, directly across from the kichu hotel (can ask at the hotel for directions). phone 6320870. cost 80 rmb per hour. english spoken. a vocational project of ngo braile without borders [1]. great way to adjust to the altitude or just relax.

buy

atms and foreign currency conversion can be done at the bank of china main office west of potala palace or at the branch on beijing donglu between the kirey hotel and the banok shol hotels.

eat

a lot of nice and comfortable restaurants can be found in lhasa old district. most of them are located near the jokhang temple along beijing zhong lu (or called beijing road middle) and its tributary road zang yiyuan lu (or called tibetan hospital road). some of them serve western food, nepali and indian food. examples are snowland restaurant, lhasa kitchen, naga french restaurant, tashi restaurant. each meal can be as cheap as usd$3 per person (price at 2005 october). on the southeast corner of barkhor street, there is a well-known tibetant restaurant among backpackers -- makye ame - means beautiful woman. sitting at this second-floor restaurant gives you an amazing view, especially at sunset, of the part of the barkhor street which is full of pilgrams moving in clockwise direction. the location of makye ame is unbeatable, but the food is nothing to write home about. the smaller tibetan restaurants, especially the teahouses are much cheaper and serve more tasty food.

snowland restaurant tenjieling road #4, near jokhang square, phone 0891-6337323 large menu features a mix of western, napali, indian and tibetan food. good service, good food, very popular.

new mandala restaurant with roof top garden, located in front of jokhang temple, phone 86-0891-6342235. indian, nepali, tibetan and some western dishes. roof top has good views of the city. try the yak sizzler. this is a terrible restaurant actually. go somewhere else.

tengyelink cafe. great yak steak, great atmosphere. best food to be found in lhasa. cheap breakfast options are available.

for chinese restaurants, though usually poorly-decorated, meals are much cheaper. a plate of beef noodles can be as cheap as usd$0.7 and you can have a full meal including drinks for less than 4 euro! most of the chinese restaruants, however, serve sichuan's spicy cuisine. in recently years, a lot of chinese, most of them from sichuan and shannxi provinces, moved to lhasa for business.

apart from eating at restaurants, you can buy food or snacks in the main supermarkets, all around beijing zhong lu.

hong yan

le bai long

si fang

inside lhasa department mall

yak meat. most restaurants sell yak meat and it is a must try in tibet. yaks are actually cattle that are adapted to the highlands. dried yak meat is available at all supermarkets, as is another tibetan staple, tsampa.

although tibetan restaurants are more traditional and full of history, to the western traveler the chinese food might seem more diverse and more appealing than the greasy boiled yak meat typically served in the tibetan ones. westerners also might avoid the traditional tibetan tea which is in fact black tea with yak butter in it and is typically being kept warm in heat insulating containers for quite some time.

be prepared with at least a few basic food describing words as in many of the restaurants they only speak chinese! be prepared to learn to use chop sticks as some restaurants do not have forks, spoons or knives.

drink

tibetan butter tea (pöcha) is a must try, though it may not be a pleasant experience for all! it is a salty mixture of black tea and tibetan butter. traditionally it is churned by hand with a thick rod in a long upright wooden container. however, when electricity came to the city in recent years, modernized tibetans turn to use electric mixers to make their butter tea. the tibetan butter is not rancid as commonly described, but has a cheesy taste and smell to it, close to blue cheese or roquefort. think of it as a cheese broth rather, that you will appreciate particularly after a long hike in cold weather.

an alternative to tibetan butter tea is sweet tea which is more familiar to western palates. sweet tea drinking was introduced in the xxth century by merchants returning from india, first among well-off tibetans, since sugar was a luxury on the plateau, then when sugar became more available among the general public. as compared to india, tibetan do not use spices (clove, cinnamon, cardamon)

(sweet (milk) tea drinking habit in tibet probably doesn't come from contact with british but with indians and nepali themselves, a very common drink of these nations. tea is brewed in a boiling mixture of milk and water with sugar. the british fashion is of not boiling the leaves, and to add sugar and a cloud of milk after pouring tea in a cup, according to individual tastes.

'chang'- don't miss it. tibetan beer made of barley has a lighter flavor than a western-type, bottled beer, since they do not use bitter hop. often home-brewed and with as many taste and strength variants as industrial beers. beware of chang: the yeast is still alive in it, and will carry on fermenting and producing alcohol in the warm temperatures of your stomach! usually no germ risk since yeast prevents bacteria proliferation.

sleep

hotels in lhasa are not all up to international standard. a four star hotel in lhasa is probably equivalent to a three star in europe.

stay safe

lhasa is 3650 meters (about 12 000 feet) above sea level, so there is considerable risk of altitude sickness, especially if you fly in from a much lower altitude so your body does not have time to acclimatize. this is a serious concern; altitude sickness can easily ruin a holiday and can even be fatal. inland chinese traveling to the tibet plateau always take special drugs to help mitigate altitude sickness. these drugs were originally developed for military personnel to accommodate quickly in high altitude areas. so they can be very useful sometime and are easily available at hotels where you stay. gao yuan kang (a healthy plateau, literally)or gao yuan ning(a peaceful plateau) are two effective drugs among others.

if you must fly to lhasa, it would be wise to fly via an intermediate destination such as kunming at 2700 meters (9000 feet) and spend several days at that intermediate destination completely acclimatizing there before flying to lhasa.

do not under any circumstances give or show to monks or locals pictures of dalai lama as this can get you in trouble and cause severe trouble for the recipient. keep in mind some monks may collaborate with the authorities, or may not be monks at all.

respect

do not wear a hat inside the jokhang, potala or other sacred sites. please no short pants or tank tops. when visiting shrines it is customary to leave a small money offering, especially where you do not have to buy a ticket!

circumambulate stupas and other sacred objects in a clock-wise direction.

do not climb onto statues, mani stones or other sacred objects.

photography is not allowed inside the potala palace. you can take photos in the jokhang temple. some monasteries will allow photography upon payment of a small donation or fee. monks begging will often allow a photograph after you make a small contribution. when in doubt, ask before snapping your camera.

leap tibet 2012 bull it in board

04feb08 / paul / well hell, i aint doing anything that day either

04feb08 / lisa / oh shit, cant you pick somewhere near home

04feb08 / yvonne / oh, that’s on my list anyway, im going

04feb08 / mark / huh

04feb08 / katie / oh ya, great, im a team player

04feb08 / marlene / oh isn’t that lovely

04feb08 / rob / i cant believe antarctica beer is from brazil

04feb08 / donna / exactly where is tibet

18feb08 / ramona / oh heck ya, im going

12dec08 / bob / now that sounds interesting

14jan09 / ina / i'm sorry i missed antarctica, but definately count me in on tibet!!!

15feb09 / annamarie / would love to join you and friends on your trip around the world by way of tibet! don't have anything on the calendar for the 29th of feb in 2012 so that sounds like a plan.

END

Donna's "Five Oh" In Montana