Phil's Fabulous Tibetan Journey: Part 1--Disclaimer

As promised, I am still alive. I spent the last week and a half in Tibet, land of whatever you would like to call it to make it sound majestic, and have come back with all sorts of stories to regale you with. I had thought about letting all the secrets out of the bag at once, telling you exactly what I saw here and there, what crazy things I did to get past the various barriers the Chinese government sets up to stop people like me from going to Tibet, but have decided to take a more judicious approach which hopefully will also prove to be more dramatic. Please make some allowances for the writing in the following posts. Most of it was done by hand at various points along my trip, and while I only felt the altitude once, it is likely that it impaired my judgment when it comes to what to say and what not to say. But for the sake of veracity, I’m not going to edit this stuff much, instead I’ll let you be offended, annoyed or pleased as you see fit. It is also likely that I’ll see fit to only post up to a certain point every day, that point often being a cliff-hanger of sorts (amazing isn’t it, that my life could actually include things called cliffhangers? Wait a bit though before you get your hopes up).

The one bit of spoiler which I will include here, if only so that this picture may be the first picture on my blog, is that I did actually make it all the way out to Everest Base Camp which was the original goal of this trip.

If you don’t think that’s much of a spoiler, wait until you see all the bloody hassle I had to go through to get there. Recent events (certain American protesters) made this suddenly much harder than it should have been. But that is enough revelation for now. The story is what is wanting.

If the picture to the left is not as clear as it should be, there are two main points which I will detail. The first is the mountain which is in the center there, if you will just look. This happens to be a sort of famous mountain, known mainly for its size and hight, but perhaps you are not familiar with it: Qomolungma is its Tibetan name, although I believe the more popular version is Mt. Everest. The second part of the picture I would like to draw your attention to is myself. Though you may not be able to make it out, there I am, smiling up at the mountain in that goofy manner--can you see me? Just down there on the left corner. Sorry about the darkness, but being in the picture, I could not also be photographer. Hopefully that piques your interest.