Nice easy 0930 start this morning with visits to 2 of the most important monasteries of the Gelug Sect in Lhasa. A little bit of the city history was discussed last night between some of my fellow travelers but we were careful not to stray into the political arena as you never know who might be listening. There is a VERY high police/army presence here and I have to say it is quite disconcerting seeing very young men with loaded guns marching through the streets a...

Slept like a baby last night and managed to find the dining room for breakfast – no mean feat when there are no signs in any language!! Late start today – 1000- still allowing everyone to acclimatize. I'm having no problems so far, a few in our group have headaches, dizziness and vomiting. First stop today was some random carpet factory/tourist shop chosen by our guide – no doubt for some commission…..none of us were very impressed as we w...

Tashi dele...that's hello in Tibetan!! Managed to arrive in Lhasa only 20 minutes late which by Chinese standards almost means we arrived early!! Met by our guide, Sunam, who gave me a traditional Tibetan greeting with the "Hada"- a white silk scarf placed ceremonially around my neck before setting off to my hotel. After arriving at 1630 and heading into Lhasa it is easy to see why for centuries Tibet has been one of the most mystifying and fascinating regi...

After getting up at the ungodly hour of 0430 I prepared for my airport departure at 0530…that proved to be the first glitch ……over 8000 taxis in Nanjing but not one available to take me to the airport!!! Luckily I have the most fantastic colleague at NMU - Roshan - who ever so kindly got up and drove me to the airport – how's that for going out of your way to help someone.??? As an added bonus he also took me inside and we got through the ...

Have just returned home after attending the National Day Reception as a VIP guest of the Jiangsu Provincial Government along with about 400 guests from 19 different countries as well as local influential people. Met many interesting people and was fortunate enough to have an interpreter on hand to assist me as I met the Director of the Education Commission, the Deputy Director of the Economic and Information Technology Commission to name a few......I think I surp...