Parting thoughts on Tibet

We left Tibet this morning. We were very ready to leave. Here are the pictures from yesterday's trip

New Album 7/6/07 6:20 AM

We're now in Kunming. We took a brand new plane where the seats were so complicated that they had 13 buttons to control the position, and a 5 minute video showing you how to use them. Way more comfortable than anything I sat on in Tibet.

We had some water yesterday from a store called Wahaha. Made me feel kind of at home.

One thing about Tibet is it seems completely focused on 2 things- Buddhism and yak. Both are impossible to avoid if you want to go outside or eat. It kind of limits their world view, I think. In the book I'm reading, the Dalai Lama notes that the growth of spirituality beyond a certain point basically doomed Tibet as a country able to defend itself. I could certainly see it. There are people walking around, doing usual kinds of stuff, but there's a larger number coursing around and through the temples and monasteries. Our guide said that the younger generation was not so focused on this, but she certainly was, to the point of not being much of a useful guide for any other purpose. I'm actually going to complain to the tour company about it.

Kunming looks like a garden spot in comparison, and in fact it is known as the garden city. The trip here was enlivened by one of the tightest connections I've ever made, thanks to Air China's inability to either (a) check baggage through onto another airline, or (2) get the bags off the plane in less than 30 minutes (just like US Air in Philly!) We had a transfer guide and he ran us all the way to the check-in spot, which we reached 3 minutes before the flight closed.