Lhasa, China

This morning we checked out of the Shangri-La hotel at 5am to go to the airport and board a commercial flight to Lhasa, Tibet. It will take 2.5 hours to fly there via Sichuan Airlines. Very nice airplane with beautiful, attentive Asian flight attendants. Chengdu has a very modern, clean and super efficient airport. Our plane was placed on a hold pattern as we approached The Tibet airport due to military maneuvers. Not something I would have expected in Tibet! We have arrived to the “roof of the world.” Upon arrival at the Tibet airport, we were greeted by a Tibetan welcome committee with prayer shawls, blessings and samplings of Yak Butter and chocolates. We arrived to a beautiful sunny day and temp of 13 degree Celsius. Boarded our buses for the 2 hour drive to the St. Regis Lhasa resort. Yangkyi (name meaning happiness) adorable young girl, is our tour guide on the drive. We are learning the Tibetian greeting, Tashi delek, meaning welcome and good health. Also learned that Yabba Yabba Doo means “feeling very good.” Tibetans are raised as Buddists and have a Buddha shrine room in each home. Tibetans don’t eat meat from small animals or fish….would require killing too many souls. They eat Yak, Pork, Beef…large animal meat portion. We will visit the Sera Monastery after lunch to view the unique debating styles of the monks. Not sure how much they really get accomplished as they bounce around slapping their hands and prayer beads. No one really knows what they debate as they speak in an old Tibetan language, but they do it every afternoon, 6 days a week. We checked into the St. Regis Lhasa resort. It is a very dark, massively sized and stark hotel. We’re tucked in a faraway tower again, room 1511. Hot rooms and impossible lighting fixtures to figure out. Went to check out the Gold Energy pool…huge disappointment. It required a lengthy walk outside to get there. We were expecting a comforting, therapeutic type environment. Au contrare….the water was 58 degrees Celsius. Quite an assault to sore, tired joints and muscles. Tried Yak butter..not a fan. Tried the special yak pasta dessert..not a fan. Why does everything supposedly healthy taste bad?! I’m in love with the green tea pancakes though….they are yummy and have a delicious sesame seed crust. Hotel: The St. Regis Lhasa Resort $1 =