Day 5

I woke up feeling lots better this morning, but because of that, I probably overdid myself and am now trying my best to ward of a developing headache. Because of that, I'm going to have to keep this post a bit short. I do want to write as this will be my journal of this trip... so even if no one's paying attention its worth the small effort.

After much personal debate over the last few weeks and reflection on the last three days in Lhasa, I decided I do want to do the trek out to Everest Base Camp after all. In a matter of hours after deciding last night, I found myself with three others willing to join me on my itinerary. We're meeting up to discuss specifics over dinner tonight, but we'll probably head out on Thursday morning and reach Everest on Sunday before heading back to Lhasa. I will not have internet access on the road (and hot showers might be rare, too) so I'll have to update when I return.

In the meanwhile, I've been enjoying Lhasa- the teahouses are really nice for just sitting (something we tourists are forced to do a lot of) and another American woman and I taxi-ed out to Sera Monastery, a large monastery on the outskirts of town this afternoon. It was impressive, to say the least. We watched the monks debating for awhile but really had no idea what was going on. It was highly entertaining though.

All in all, my trip is going really well. Lots of culture issues (not strong enough to say "shock") but the Tibetans are all really friendly and have beautiful smiles. My fellow travelers have also been really open and helpful. Tomorrow I head to Potala Palace, the former home of the Dalai Lama. As it sits on a hill above town, we see it every day.. I'm really eager to see the inside and the view from the top!