On the road again

When Jesus was born, the Isrealites had been living under the Roman yoke for more than 60 years, suppressed with high taxes and living with Roman leadership and military presence everywhere. (Military outpost along the road down the mountains to mainland China) This is the situation of Tibet today. Bringing Chinese settlers, who receive the best jobs and imposing curfew hours and times on the Tibetan population, especially during religious festivals, when the police presence with full riot gear is on most corners very visible, this is the present daily lifestyle of Tibetans in the TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region, a political misnomer if there ever was one) (We took the train back to China - actually former Inner Tibet) Every house is ordered to fly a Chinese flag to celebrate the friendship between the two peoples. Most Tibetan homes fly beside that flag, prayer ribbons en masse. (It is a barren land out there between nowhere and somewhere) The monasteries, in the past housing thousands...

(Our original hotel with all its "couleur locale" that I had chosen) (Second room after toilet problem with heater- notice door lock) (Beautiful Tibetan toilet door) (When climbing into bed shivering we found the electric matress - yummy we should have stayed) (This is the impersonal 4 star hotel we ended up in - owned by a monastery) I had, against the advise from my travel agent, booked a Tibetan 3 star hotel in the old town section, because tripadvisor rated this "Tashitagke hotel" higher than the hotel I was advised to book. As you all know, in exchange for having Sandee travel with carry-on only, I promised to lodge her in places with private bathroom and wifi. Well, after entering the place and struggling up the stairs gasping for air, she managed to exclaim: "from the sublime to the ridiculous" (Yak meat on display along the road in downtown Lhasa - would maybe pass health inspection as the weather was bitterly cold) (Local restau...