Namaste Friends and Family,
The news from Kathmandu is that we didn't go to Tibet. It was an unfortunate set of strangely coincidental circumstances that all pointed to the cancellation of our trip. A brief explanation is that the trip was going to cost WAY more than we wanted to spend in one place and we were going to have no freedom to enjoy it along the way. Basically, we were mislead in many ways and ended up finding out last minute that ALL overland travellers from Kathmandu to Lhasa go as one tourist group that is taken to the Nepalese border, dropped off, and then picked up on the other side by a Chinese governmental travel agency that takes you the remainder of the way to Lhasa. There would be no time for hiking or staying extra time in beautiful places. We were told that the "tour guide" on the Tibet side would be Tibetan, but would most likely speak very little english and be fairly inhospitable and that the accommodation and food would be less than savory along the way. Essentially, we would have been driving in a bus or 4WD all day and brought to a "city" each night to stay in a dormitory-style setting. Of course, none of this was actually admitted to us until 3 days before we were about to leave. We weighed the pros and cons, knowing that this would be an opportunity to see Tibet before it changes any more from the Chinese entrepreneurial take-over and the governmental control of Tibetan culture. On the other hand, once we found out the intimate details of what we were going to pay for and we knew that the money would be going right into the hands of the Chinese government, we really felt uneasy. In addition, the night before we were going to leave, we found out that our visas had not been approved and it was unlikely that the group would depart as scheduled. It had something to do with other tourists who tried to enter Tibet from Beijing and were denied visas, so they came to Kathmandu and signed up with the overland group. When the Chinese embassy got the overland "group visa" application, they denied the whole group because these other tourists were in it. The good news is that we didn't spend all of our money in one place, so we are now in the midst of planning our other trips. The other good news is that the Himalayas aren't going anywhere soon, so when and if the political situation sorts itself out, we will be able to make a trip someday in the future. For now, we are in Kathmandu, planning our next move. Tomorrow, we will go to Chitwan National Park with Sudhir's brother to stay at his friend's resort for a few days, then we will be back in Kathmandu for Dasain, and leaving for our trekking trip on October 23rd or thereabouts. We hope you are all well at home. Keep the emails coming! It's nice to hear how things are going at home. Love Rachel & Sudhir
