Hello All,

Meanwhile the smoke settled in Lhasa and slowly we’re going back to normal. After a long night in a telephone kiosk last Sunday in Nangartse (140km out of Lhasa: see last update) my friend and me refrained from our plans “escaping” into the mountains. Based on the information from our reachable contacts in Lhasa we decided to give it a trial going back. Fortunately the general curfew was lifted on Monday morning and public transport resumed. Being kicked out from the bus (the driver was a bit afraid giving foreigners a ride) we finally found a smart taxi driver who circled all hot spots and dropped us right in front of our hotel. Oh what a warm welcome: all friends were OK, same the hotel manager and owner. Our hotel was untouched and surrounded by smoking and burnt down shops but nevertheless we kind of felt being back home. Meanwhile it is quite again and only about 10 foreigners are staying in Lhasa at the moment.

Tomorrow I will leave again for another 14 days of trekking and mountaineering- I definitely need some quite days, there where too many things happening the last 7 days. As well I have to keep a low profile for the next time since I ended up 2 times in military and police custody after illegally taking photos (I’m just too curious). One more incident and I will be expelled from China, not the kind of “free travel” I’m looking for.

End of April I will meet my brother Boris here in Lhasa (crossing fingers) and we will cycle together to the East. For the 2nd half of this year I plan to find a job (12 to 18 month) in engineering, project management or consulting at the east cost and learn Chinese. My new home will be preferably around Beijing or Shanghai (for the Mandarin language) or Hong Kong (for the nicer lifestyle).

With new money in my pockets I then will further continue my travel. At the moment I’m thinking about to continue after having reached Australia: New Zealand, then from Alaska all the way down to South America along the Panamericana. Doing so the next working experience shall occur in a Spanish speaking country (i.e. Mexico), the future will tell.

I wish you all the best and nice Eastern (we were searching easter eggs this morning too on the hotel roof).

Cheers Bambi

Dear Friends,

Today is the first day I learnt about the riots here in Lhasa. For the last 10 days I was out mountaineering with 3 friends. Yesterday evening we got arrested because we hiked into a forbiden area. After the showdown on the police station we were asked to show up again this morning at 10am for final instructions, but the police station was nearly empty by then. All responsibles were gone and we were wondering allready what happend (now I know). Happy to avoid the payment of any fine we left.

Since there is little traffic today we went to the Internet cafe to kill some time- here we go! At the moment we discuss about what to do. Unfortunately all my gear is still in Lhasa and it seems to be unfeasible to get in at the moment.

To avoid getting deported during the hot events we might stock up with food and will disappear into the mountains again for some more time…

I will keep you updated

Regards Thorsten