Riding day 1

Day 1: Lake Nam Tso, Tibet for lunch. Holy lake and destination for buddhist pilgrims. 15,180 ft above sea level. Altitude a bit challenging. Lunch good. 

Respect

Remember: when you point to an image of Buddha use four fingers as a
sign of respect!

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Final approach into Lhasa

On final approach into Lhasa airport I realize I have only a seat in
the middle of the plane with only small sneak peeks out side windows
at what must be a magnificent view. Initially feeling like I have
missed out on a truly amazing experience I'm realizing this may be the
best way to arrive - hints of things to come - I realize I'm not
quite ready for the overwhelming landscape of Tibet. It will present
itself in due time. We are about to land.

OK, we're away now. Next stop, Lhasa. Xiexie ni de kuandai Chengdu.

Delayed in Chengdu.

Sitting at the gate in Chengdu still. Torrential rains have delayed
the flight. Remember, we control nothing.

Chengdu Airport checking in for Lhasa... a little chaotic but we have
our Tibetan Entry Permit.

Transit Day.

Well, here it is. Transit day.  We make the jump into Tibet today with a specially arranged flight at 1:30pm local time. A Special TEP (Tibet Entry Permit) has been arranged. I'm told we have an extensive check-in procedure, so we're leaving for the airport at 10:30AM local time. We're 15 hours ahead of the Pacific Time zone so I'm still getting adjusted to the upside down schedule. I met up with the group last night for the first time and shared a dinner at a local restaurant while talking about our motivations for this adventure. Having met these guys for the first time it was interesting to hear that everyone was intrigued by Tibet and curious to see this exotic land. Ditto. I think we have a good group of experienced riders, all good guys. Mark, Jorgen, Kevin and Vellimir. Representing Canada, Australia, the US (x2) and Germany it's a good international bunch. I'm up early, can't really sleep, thinking about things that we are about to see. First up, 11,800 ft elevation in Lhasa. This has been a pretty major topic on my mind. Feeling a bit edgy.

Clean water is still a problem.

Jacqueline Novogratz talks about clean water and serving BoP (Billions of People) in her book, The Blue Sweater and how essential it is to the population. Here, in a city of nearly 12 million people, clean water continues to be a elusive resource. At my hotel, a prominent business hotel called The Homeland Hotel, they have a sign on the counter that says "Tap water is not suitable for drinking. Therefore this bottled water is provided with out compliments." This amazes me. Chengdu is a major industrial city(did I mention the 12 million people?) in western China. Clean water is essential to a healthy population. Du Xin tells me they can't drink the water from the tap at his home, they have to boil it in order to drink it. This feels like a major failure of government.

Chengdu Sichuan Hotpot.

Huo Guo, also known as Sichuan Hotpot, was on today's lunch menu. Du Xin, Ren and I went to the source, a hotpot restaurant in downtown Chengdu known for it's extremely spicy food. We ordered the extra spicy and proceeded to eat a wide variety of exceptional food.  Beef, pork, vegetables, some things from the inside of an animal (umm, ok) – really fantastic, but not very spicy. While we had ordered the extra spicy, Du Xin described it as "not so spicy". In any case, it was a great lunch for around 106RMB (15USD).

PS: tipping is NOT acceptable here. Found out the hard way.

Photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercury_customs/sets/72157624035007977/

Giant Pandas

One of the highlights here in Chengdu is the Giant Panda Breeding Base. Located just outside the city, it is the most recognized research facility for the Giant Pandas in the world. We toured the facilities and visited with the Pandas (around 50 giant pandas) and enjoyed another scorchingly hot day here in Chengdu. Turns out the Giant Panda eats bamboo for 16 hours a day and sleeps for 8 hours. Until mating season.

More photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercury_customs/sets/72157624035018553/

Starbucks. One new customer at a time.

Meet Du Xin. New Starbucks customer. We visited the Chengdu Starbucks set in an old original Manchu village. Du Xin had not been to Starbucks, ever, in his 33 years. We went to this location, one of several (but not many) located here in Chengdu. Ordering us a Tall coffee of the day, and of course a croissant, we sat on the second floor patio while we discussed more of the politics and economics of China. Pricing was a big topic given the cost of the coffee we were drinking. At 24 RMB (around $3.50USD) the price is significantly higher. Du Xin talked about salaries and expenses here in Chengdu and how things like Starbucks just can't be a part of his daily spending habit. He makes a decent wage providing guide services but still has to contend with cost of living issues along with everyone else here in Chengdu. It sounds like this economy is still very much in the formative stages.

Find the pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercury_customs/sets/72157624154683466/

Sichuan food – in Sichuan province.

We stopped off at a little restaurant for lunch, I figured the guys were getting hungry.  We had authentic kung pao chicken, grilled potato and a local vegetable, something resembling spinach. Very tasty, medium spicy according to Duxin.  He suggested we go for Hot Pot tomorrow and really push the limits of spicy. Overall a great authentic experience in a small village on the return from Leshan. For 67 RMB (about 10 bucks) for three of us, a bargain. See the flickr album for photos. They should be up later today.

This is the lazy portion of the tour, taking a few days to acclimate, adjusting to the upside-down time schedule (15 hours difference from Los Angeles to China) so morning is night and night is morning. Can you say "ambien"? I knew you could.

Tracking.

By the way, the tracking should be up now. I activated the 24 hour tracking function on my SPOT tracker today and although we spent a few hours in a van, it seems to be going a pretty good job of following along. I think it will work much better strapped to the top of a gas tank on the BMWs early next week.

Follow along and give me some feedback.

Chengdu to Leshan. Let’s see just how big that Buddha really is.

Heading off to Leshan to visit the giant Buddha. Weighing (so to speak) in at 71 meters (that's 232 feet to you and me) it's the largest buddha in the world. And being over 1000 years old, it's in pretty good shape.  Nearly a two hour drive to Leshan, we had a great chance to get to know each other and compare notes on our favorite things. Duxin is very knowledgeable. We've talked politics and religion, similar views on both. It's been interesting to talk about the foundations of communism versus how it really works in practice.  These guys know what's really going on. Ren, responsible for driving us around, is exceptional affable, although speaks absolutely no english. We've had a few laughs over lunch (more on that later) but I'm not sure if he was laughing AT me or just NEAR me... Ask me later about "Pa er do".

Chengdu – Let’s go.

Met up with my new friends, Duxin and Ren (not Martin and Buzz), professional guides here in Chengdu. Awesomely nice guys, Duxin is a bright and engaging guy who loves to compare notes on all things american. We talked about the price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks and, while he's never actually had one, knows all about the pricing structure compared to the US. I think we need to stop for a cup of coffee. And maybe a blueberry scone. Now we just need to find out if they're triangular or square. Enquiring minds need to know.

Diamox.

Started my course of Diamox this morning. Dr Mikhail said I should start taking it 2 days prior to achieving altitude. Since we're headed into Lhasa (11,800 feet / 3600 meters) early Sunday  I've started it today, Friday.  It's supposed to help counteract the symptoms of AMS or altitude sickness.  Side effects included dehydration so I've been downing the water all day. My doctor tells me it relieves "intercranial pressure". Cool. Maybe it will make my big head just a little bit smaller. Stay tuned.

Advertising. Chengdu advertising.

Amazing to see all the advertising here in Chengdu. Everything seems to be geared toward a more glamorous lifestyle. Luxurious living, beautiful people doing amazing things, glorious products. I realize it isn't that different from advertising everywhere else in the world, but this seems much more overt. Coming from a glamour heavy part of the world (Los Angeles) I thought we were more airbrushed but it appears that places like Chengdu (and China in general) have a much more glamorous plan for its consumers. The models are westernized versions of the chinese, perfect features, perfect smiles. They all look wildly happy. Is this our legacy? Have we trained the rest of the world on how to best sell goods and services by boosting the glam factor? I admit I contribute to this but I'm just rather blown away by the level they have reached here in China.

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Ni Hao! Arrival in Chengdu

Just arrived in Chengdu after a long day+ of air travel. It's 1:30 AM so time to get some sleep and report back in the morning!

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Arrival / Transit in Beijing.

Likin' it.

It appears communications are working well so far on the trip. Gotta love Skype. I do.

We control nothing.

Launch day.  Here goes nothing. Clear the runway.

 It's day one and so far everything that could be easy has gone a completely different direction than expected. Arriving at the airport somewhat early,the first challenge was finding Terminal 8 – also known as "the hidden terminal". My cab driver (who had just passed his test for a cab license) had never heard of Terminal 8. Luckily the fine TSA folks at The international terminal clued us in – go to Terminal 7 and look to your left, there is a little unmarked section of the terminal that is technically called Terminal 8. Who knew? Finally at the right building, looking down the hall the check-in line was a mile long, the security ine was a mile long and neither one appeared to be moving an inch.  After waiting nearly an hour in the line, and getting perilously close to the 45 minute baggage cutoff (did I mention I was carrying 2 large cargo bags?) I stopped a man who was wearing the familiar United Airlines uniform and appeared to be helping people. Turns out if you are relatively nice and ask for help, there are actually people that will help you!  Tim (the United agent) grabbed my bags and told me to follow him. At 48 minutes prior to boarding Tim took me directly to the counter and introduced me to Marla. Upon introduction Marla acted like I had found the golden ticket. She welcomed me and with a very friendly demeanor (despite the fact that she clearly had been dealing with a great deal of stress from a long line of frustrated customers) took care of my boarding documents. While she checked my bags through from LAX to YVR (Vancouver) then on to PEK (Beijing) and on to their final destination CTU (Chengdu). She was prompt and efficient  even though she had a line of howling passengers complaining, Marla checked me in (after a momentary remark about my passport photo not matching my "blonde" hair) and sent me on my way. Before heading off I asked Marla where the security line was and she directed me to her right.

I walked away from the counter, turned right and was promptly met with a wall. There's no security line here! I flagged down a TSA agent and asked for directions and was told the same thing – it's over to your right! I took it on faith that there was a line somewhere around a corner, headed off toward the direction as indicated. As I passed down the hallway, I was suddenly met with an escalator up – couldn't ever have seen it from down the hall – so I rode the escalator up. Now remember, in this world there are no free lunches – no golden tickets – no magic shortcuts. Wrong. Without question I just stumbled across a worm hole, a black hole, a magic time portal. I reached the top of the escalator and was met with what appeared to be a secret security line! There were only 5 people in line and everyone was moving. I made it through security in nearly four minutes. Then came a seat change. No idea why. Now I've just looked down at my tray table (formerly in its upright and locked positon) and the hinge is hanging, broken – missing a screw. We control nothing.

The moment before.

Here I am. It's that "moment before" when you're just about to set out on something that feels major, feels bigger than you can comprehend.  It's an unusual feeling for me given that I tend to do the somewhat predictable, logical, appropriate thing.  This feels 180 degrees out of phase with that habit.  As I said in an earlier post this is something completely new for me. Going someplace I've never been, where I don't speak the language, don't know anyone and have no existing connection.  Why do it? I guess I have been compelled by the need to understand something bigger. Something bigger in myself, in others and the world.  We're all connected in some way, whether your word is God, Allah, Buddha, or atomic energy. OK, that was two words. In any case, no matter what you believe, there are things that are bigger than us and things that ARE us. I keep wondering if they are the same thing. Here I am, at that "moment before" , in anticipation, ready to go.

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Keep an eye on the group

I have acquired and will be carrying a SPOT satellite tracking device in order to automatically report location and direction. You can access the information regarding progress at:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0QogePKuRVYjLHz5o93E2RgU8HP8L6SSb

Just received an update from Rick

Rick is one of our guides. Currently on the trail in Tibet with another group, he just messaged from Everest Base Camp where he reported it was 20 degrees, raining and snowing, but - as he puts it - "the sun is shining and everyone is happy". We'll be there on June 7. I wonder if they've met up with Jordan Romero, the 13 year old who just climbed Everest... http://bit.ly/bpPGG5

Almost there.

Don't panic. That's the mantra for tonight. It's monday night and I'm planning on a late nighter to get the final packing done. Everything's laid out ready to be inventoried and packed. I've secured some last minute items with one final important thing to be secured Tuesday. I'll post more about gear and packing with a few photos (hopefully) of everything. We're just hours away now. Ok, it's 36 hours, but that's pretty close in my book. Back to the gear.

Leave it all behind.

I have been corresponding with a friend who has spent a significant amount of time in Tibet helping to create better medical conditions, specifically for women. Her take on the situation in Tibet is that things are pretty bleak and people really have nothing. She suggested that prior to exiting Tibet I should consider leaving everything behind. She suggested I leave it with the monks at the monestary as they would best know how to distribute based upon real need. Aside from the whole "releasing all your worldy possessions" thing it sounds that there is a substantial need for everything there. I plan on taking a decent supply of the standard medications like ibuprofen, acetaminophen, etc so those things are very useful. Also, clothing, equipment, tools, etc. I'm also trying to determine what might be a useful item to bring in bulk to give away as we visit each village. Any suggestions?

Breaking News.

Just received an email that the gear limitation is 20 kilos. Approximately 44 lbs for checked baggage and then it starts to cost some significant $$. Challenging but not impossible.

Packing the Hardware

Had all the gear laid out across the floor for the past couple of weeks. Trying to develop my inventory of need vs. want. Need the boots,but  want the backup helmet. Need the Riding jacket, but want the second pair of jeans. Now that I've waded through the list I'm trying to squeeze it down into the limited space of two large equipment bags secured at Sport Chalet from Outdoor Products. 30inch equipment duffles seem to be able to hold the majority of the gear, but personal items need to go into the carry-on bag so they don't "disappear" as I've been told.  Once the packing is done the bags will be unpacked and an equipment inventory per bag will be recorded so I can tell what made it and what didn't… interesting to be building a strategy for the unplanned disappearance of gear…

Justin's Nut Butter

Just ordered up some Justin's Natural Chocolate Hazelnut Butter online to take along on the road. We're hoping to sample the great chocolate flavor from Mt Everest, Tibet side of the mountain. First things first, we need to get it all into China without getting nabbed at Chinese customs!
You can find their super easy online ordering system here: http://www.justinsnutbutter.com

One week left.

It's down to one week left. Ride #3 is finished (more on that later) and now it's time to pack the gear. I've started scanning maps, documents and such. Started to actually PACK the big equipment bags. and begun to pack the medical and logistics supplies.

Minders and Fixers

It turns out I can't wander through China unescorted. During the 3 days prior to entry into Tibet, in Chengdu, I will need a "guide" to escort me around town. Also, for the 3 days at the end of the trip in Lhasa, I'll require a minder as well. Not sure if it's political or economic but the Tibetan/Chinese government required that my itinerary be submitted for review and approval. I'm not a political operative or on any "watch list" so I'm assuming this is standard policy.

This is getting interesting.

Looking for luggage in all the wrong places...

14 days and counting...

I'm currently in search of gear bags, large indestructible gear bags.
Something the airlines can't even destroy since it will be carrying all of my survival equipment. I like the words "XXL".

23 days and counting down...

23 and counting...

It's 23 days and counting down, a little panic is starting to set in.
I've been compiling lists, researching stuff and learning mandarin.

It's pretty heavy stuff to consider in just about three weeks I'll be heading someplace I've never been, with people I don't know and a language I don't speak to do something I've never done before.