We noticed today and yesterday that the military presence has picked up a great deal. Soldiers up to this point have been lots of places, but with no weapons. Now, they are marching in the street or being driven around in trucks, standing in the back, with helmets, riot shields, batons, and automatic weapons. No doubt, the message is being sent that there no disruptions will be tolerated leading up to the Olympics.
We left Lhasa at 11:30 a.m. for the Lhasa airport. The airport is not actually in Lhasa, but is an hour and forty minutes away. We stopped to see this Buddha that had been carved into this rock in the 1400’s. Those are prayer flags draped all over the hill:
Security is extremely tight at the airport. No vehicles are allowed to pull up front. All luggage goes through an MRI machine and passengers through metal detectors just to get inside the terminal.
Options for lunch and beverages were minimal at this otherwise very nice, modern airport. We were shown a menu full of selections, but told to order noodles. We’d point to something, and the hostess would say no to everything except noodles and french fries. So, that’s what we had for lunch. Drink options were tea or hot water. I drank hot water for this meal.
We boarded the plane and took off. After a brief layover in Chengdu where we had to de-plane, then re-board, we arrived Beijing. Aaron and I watched most of the film Hi Fidelity on the flight. What a classic film. I hadn’t seen it in years and Aaron had never seen it. We refer to scenes from it often over the next few days.
Our Air China jet after landing in Beijing:
We get to baggage claim to find the top handle ripped off my suitcase. Hate it, but this bag has held up well all over the world until now. We took a taxi to our hostel, checked in, and hauled our bags up four flights of stairs. By this time, it is 11:30 p.m. We walked to the McDonald’s down the street to finally have some dinner.
We came back to the room and finished Hi Fidelity, then watched the first episode of the series Flight of the Conchords. Funny stuff. We’ll be watching more episodes of this on this trip.
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