Pandas, Palaces, and a quick deParture . . . (June 2017)
9 June 2017 -- Last day of school. We finished scoring our finals, submitted our semester grades, and prepared to fly off to Tibet. Actually, the preparation began long before, as we needed a special travel certificate to enter Tibet, for which we applied (and paid!) several weeks before. On 10 June, we flew (along with our friends, the Sandbergs) to Chengdu, where we spent some time at the Giant Panda Research and Breeding Base. Fun! Even though the weather was HOT and MUGGY, we enjoyed walking through the parklike grounds of the panda base. We were disappointed to learn that the base no longer allowed "up close and personal" encounters with the pandas. We had been looking forward to cuddling and bottle-feeding some of the little guys. And I learned something new -- the "red panda"? Looks just like a raccoon -- who knew?? (Well, some of you probably knew . . . )
Later that evening, we attended a performance of the Sichuan Opera -- including the fire-eating and famous face-changing. Great fun! While we were there, we enjoyed some Sichuan cuisine (famous for its spiciness--just look at all those red chilis!!) And note all the flavor options for snacks! YUM!!?
On 11 June, we flew from Chengdu to Lhasa, Tibet, where we met up with the Hadds, who had been in Xining. We had begun taking our high altitude medication 24 hours previously, but we still spent our first day in Tibet resting and allowing our bodies to adjust. Happy to report--neither Brigg nor I experienced any altitude sickness at all--we were even able to climb the 300 steps up to the Portola Palace with minor exertion. But our friend Kathy was not so lucky--she became VERY ill with extreme dizziness and vomiting about two days after landing in Tibet. Our second day in Tibet was spent touring around Lhasa--the Portola Palace, the Jokhang Temple, and Barkhor Street. I was especially fascinated with the people--a very distinct look and dress when compared with the typical Chinese. Lhasa was filled (as always) with Tibetan Buddhists making their pilgrimage. We watched as they walked in circles around the Jokhang Temple, swinging their prayer wheels and throwing themselves down on the ground periodically, prostrating themselves in the direction of the Temple. Those are the Himalayas outside the airplane window -- WOW!!
Yak, yak, yak, yak . . . . Yep! Yak everywhere! The markets (those WONDERFUL markets!) were filled with yak meat, yak butter, yak milk, yak sweaters and rugs, yak everything. Brigg enjoyed (I think??) his yak burger! Click on the yakky pictures:
As much as I enjoyed the markets, however, I'm not sure I'm ready to have my teeth cleaned there:
On Monday, June 12, Brigg's mother, Lucile, passed away. Our focus now became how to get back to the United States quickly so that we didn't miss the funeral. As our friends went on to Shigatze (on the way to Mt. Everest, where we had reservations to stay at Base Camp), we stayed at the airport in Lhasa, trying to get on the first possible flight to Chengdu. Running around the Chengdu airport at around midnight, and discovering EVERY airline information booth closed, we finally called Frost (Brigg's brother) in the U.S. (it was daytime there), and he worked with the BYU travel office to arrange earlier flights back from Beijing. Now we just had to get from Chengdu to Beijing. We finally made it, but the whole thing looked like an especially frustrating leg of The Amazing Race. We were grateful to get home in time to honor Lucile's life and memory. We love her and miss her terribly! And we also miss our Beijing friends. It was hard to bid that quick, unexpected goodbye in Tibet to the Hadds and Sandbergs after spending a year in China together. They were our friends, our family, and our mentors -- and they wouldn't be coming back. Love you, Hadds and Sandbergs -- we will always remember you!!
