A new country! And depending on your political beliefs, maybe even two! This morning we set off to meet the Unique Path car that didn't arrive. Instead we got a taxi for 200 rupees hard bargaining and Gez checked in on time. That was actually the last time I saw him because my flight hadn't even begun checking in yet.

So besides flying in, this is my first time alone! I got into the departure lounge with half an hour before my flight boarded. Security is SLOW! I only had the small matter of about 700 rupees left to spend.

If you ever want a niche market, why not open a shop in a country with obscure currency, right at the airport departure lounge, offering a range of small items at wildly over inflated prices? Kathmandu certainly has one, and it relieved me of my remaining 6 quid in exchange for a coffee, cake, Yorkie bar, chocolate eclairs and a bottle of coke. A bottle of coke which, by the way, I would later have to neck at Lhasa before security poured it away...

I got my first taste of Chinese travel when we were ordered into three equal length queues before getting onto the plane to Lhasa. Security guards took swans of clothes and bags and we were let on in a very organised fashion one queue at a time. Don't mess with these people.

Next at Lhasa we went through a rigorous immigration process and then got back on the same plane(?) to Chengdu. That was my taste of Tibet, though sadly it's more than the Dalai Lama will be allowed to see in the near future.

I'm now in Chengdu and I've had to pointlessly collect my bag and check it back in to go to Beijing. This is also the first time in ages that I've been up to date with my blog! That's what 9 hours of travel can do for admin. Anyway, I'm hoping that Beijing's underground will get me very close to the Forbidden City Hostel, which is my final destination for the night. I'm now going to forego the 6 quid coffee here and watch a podcast or something. Peace out.

Ok, it's time to talk about airline food. My little itinerary says Kathmandu-Lhasa (snack), Lhasa-Chengdu (snack) and Chengdu-Beijing (dinner). Good times. I'm being fed all the way there. The first flight was a snack: a roll, peanuts and tiny chocolate bar. Second flight: noodles, melon, Swiss roll and some weird jerky stuff. Great - these snacks get better. Can't wait for "Dinner" at this rate. So what is dinner? A clingfilm wrapped sesame seed ham roll. Joy of joys. And the final flight is an hour and a half late. I am bitterly disappointed. It's currently 11pm China time - hope the hostel reception is open late.

Final update: Everyone likes to be remembered. It makes us feel special, like we've done something good. However, nobody wants to be remembered for setting the record highest price for a taxi going to their hostel for the night. I got into Beijing at midnight on a Sunday evening and all my plans fell apart. No train, no underground and no shuttle bus. Luckily I had the hostel address in mandarin for a taxi. That was for long enough to show the taxi driver, until I sat down in the passenger seat and by some touch gesture on my iPod managed to delete it. Sitting next to a ranting chinese cab driver is no fun. Anyway, we got there and I checked the destination. All was good. Back at the taxi, the meter, which read 88 Yuan, had been cleared and she charged me 200 Yuan. My energy levels had reached zero and I reluctantly paid to ensure I got my bags. Welcome to China. Bloody capitalist scum. I crawled into my hostel and looked forward to the day ending.