Day 2: we head to Bayi

Today we head to Bayi, 480 kilometers away through another high
mountain pass. Yesterday's at 17,200 was a challenge but we all passes
with flying colors. Today's pass is close to 17,000. Oh, and there's a
military checkpoint too.
Woefully behind on updates and photos but hopefully i'll some time
(and energy) to post a bunch tonight from Bayi.
Follow along live on the GPS page!

Riding day 1: done.

Day 1: First riding day complete, lessons learned. Like avoid the yaks
and chinese military trucks!

See the gps track on the Spot tracker page ------>

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.