The Western Treasure House

The Western Treasure House

16 September 2010

Shanghai, China

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I am so excited.

And I just can’t hide it: I am going to Tibet!

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I booked the ticket through CTrip.com under intense worry that it could double in price at any moment.

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I cannot believe I’m actually going to Tibet. I was exactly this excited a few days ago about Beijing, though buying my train ticket did have the dramatic touch of happening in person at the station and involving a paper ticket, which was handed to me by a special Expo English-speaking hospitality-proving hostess. Still, Tibet trumps.

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In the end my agonizing travel decision came down to a Tibet trade-off. Cost was the definite con, along with the annoyance of dealing with the required travel permits and the inflexibility of having to travel on an organized tour. On the other hand, Tibet is Tibet, and it will most likely be a very long time before I have another chance to see it. Also, it is changing rapidly and each day is reportedly less and less like the Tibet of the imagination, so in that sense it is best to go as soon as possible.

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With that in mind, I sent an email out to a group of exchange students who had expressed interest in going to Tibet and offered to lead the travel arrangements for anyone who was available and ready to commit to flying out on the 28 September and coming back by train about one week later. (A one-way flight costs $400 and the train only costs $150 for the nicest ticket, called a “soft sleeper.” So taking the 51-hour train back was a money-saving option as well as a way to mix it up and get an interesting perspective of China: from the tracks!)

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After hearing back from enough people to fill up one Land Cruiser, I booked my ticket. Now to find a tour.

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NB: Tibet is Xizang in Chinese and means “the Western treasure house.”