Chongqing, Pandas and Tibet

Our alarm went off at 5:00am, we had to shower, dress, finish packing and get some breakfast before 6:30am. We got our things and met our group in the lobby at 6:45am and then we disembarked the Viking Emerld in Chongqing. A bus then took us to the Chongqing Zoo so we could see some pandas. The zoo opens early and people come to do exercises there. They had people playing badmitton, doing TaiChi and walking. We were lucky and there were about five pandas out. We got to take pictures and watch them eat and play. After about 40 minutes at the zoo we had to leave and make our way to the airport which was about an hours drive.

Once we were in the airport Arnold gave us our passports and boarding passes. Then as a group we headed to security. We are flying to Lhasa, Tibet this morning and you have to have an entry pass. So Arnold had a list of our names and passport numbers which was attached to an entry permit, so we all had to be together. Going through security was pretty easy and didn’t take that long. We are on flight CZ3463 on China Southern [Thomas was in seat 40B and I was in seat 39C]. By the time we reached Gate G16 we only had a ten minute wait before they started boarding. The flight was about three hours and I spent most of it reading. They did serve us a lunch of rice and pork with some vegetables. It wa pretty good. When we landed in Tibet we made our way to the baggage claim and picked up our bags. We then had to wait until everyone had their luggage and then we had to give our passports to Arnold so he could get us through customs. They scanned our passports and then we were free to leave the airport. We loaded onto our bus and our local tour guide welcomed us to Tibet with a white scarf that he tied around our necks. It was a special way to start our visit in Tibet. 

From the airport we drove about fifteen minutes to visit a typical Tibetan home. We didn’t meet the family but we got to see the different living areas and learn about how they live. It was an interesting visit but very quick and a little strange walking around someone’s home when they weren’t there. After the visit we were back on the bus for a one hour ride to Lhasa and our hotel. Arnold has been preparing us for the altitude so that we don’t have any problems and the local tour guide did the same during our bus ride. Lhasa is at 3600 meters or 11,800 feet so they strongly encouraged all of us to follow some simple rules. Drink plenty of water, cut back on alcohol, move slowly and avoid strenuous exercise. So far Thomas isn’t having any problems but I have felt a little light headed. Hopefully we will be okay – our tour guide is slowing everything down while we are in Tibet.

We arrived at our hotel – The St. Regis Lhasa Resort – and we got our room keys and we were free to do what we wanted until dinner at 7:00pm. After settling in the room Thomas did some reading and I walked around the hotel taking pictures. I also spent some time editing photos and journaling until it was time for dinner. At dinner we found that four of our group were already having dizziness and nausea and one didn’t even come down for dinner because she was feeling too bad. We are hopeful that everyone will be okay tomorrow when we go out to explore the city.

Dinner was a buffet in the restaurant and they had quite a large variety of food. We all found things we liked and had a great meal. Back in the room after dinner I showered, edited pictures, did my blog post and journaled. It was long day and I need some sleep for tomorrow so I can enjoy Lhasa.