Chengdu - Lhasa:

woke up at 1:00AM got dressed and packed. Checked out of Hotel and Steve picked me up at 5:45AM and drove me to the airport. Paid 50.00 Yuan airport tax. Waited at gate 5 after passport control. Plane leaves at 7:30AM. Seat 36H on A340-300 Airbus which is completely full. Served breakfast. Spectacular sights approaching Lhasa. Landed at Gonggar airport and walked from plane through field to terminal building. Luggage could only be claimed with tag issued at check in. My guide Wangdak and driver Mr. Chiang were waiting. Wangdak presented me with white scarf, a welcome custom. The car is a Toyota Land Rover and we drove for 1 1/2 hours along the banks of the Brahmaputra and through Tibetan villages, from Gonggar International airport to reach Lhasa. We made a rest stop half way, a place where a Buddha was carved in the rock. Checked in at Lhasa Hotel, formerly the Holiday Inn. Meal tickets for breakfast, lunch and dinner were issued. Room 2331 on the third floor is quite nice. Bought 26 postcards and stamps and went to the pool to sit in the sun and write the cards, however the pool had no water. Did some laundry. Started to rain at 5:30. Sat in lobby until 6:30 and then went upstairs to Chinese restaurant for dinner. Few tourists, all keep to themselves. Very good dinner: Prawns, mushrooms and vegetables, watermelon, tea. Wrote FAX and will send tomorrow.
(Notes: Tibet is an ancient mountain Kingdom, and its capital city Lhasa, "City of theSun" is the former seat of the Dali Lama, and temporal center of Tibetan Buddhism for hundreds of years. Lhasa's palaces and temples, set against the backdrop of towering, precipitous peaks, are among the most impressive in the world. Isolated by formidable geographic barriers and guarded by its government, Tibet is the epitome of all that is magical, mysterious and unknown. The "Roof of the World" remains the most intriguing part of the world.  Lhasa has 240,000 inhabitants, 80,000 are Chinese. Big square in front of Potola was built 3 years ago. Pictures of the 14th Dali Lama can not be shown.
(Notes: My guide has beeper, no cellular phone and has been a guide for 3 years, He bought a 3-room house for 40,000 Yuan (about $5000.00) has no bathroom. Goes to community shower. Heats with wood, cooks with oil. Son walks to school, 5 minutes, children in countryside walk 1 hour in the morning and again in the afternoon.
 Driver lives in China and comes to Tibet for tourist season to drive.
Girls get married between 25 - 28 years with no religious ceremony, family member marries them.)
6/24 Lhasa (MY BIRTHDAY) Sent fax, reported water on bathroom floor. Shirts are dry, socks will require all day. Opened all the beautiful cards from family that were hidden in suitcase. Wonderful to have such a great family. Breakfast at Everest Café. Waffle, bread and jam, watermelon and tea. 9:30 Wangdak picked me up and drove to the Potola. Morning tour to Potola Palace the magnificent and imposing former residence of Tibetan Kings, and the Dali Lama, exiled Tibetan religious and political leader of one of the once devoutly Buddhist land. The palace dominates the city, a symbol of primacy of the 17th century Tibetan Lamas rule.
Built on top of the Red Hill in the center of Lhasa in the 7th century and destroyed later. Rebuilt during the rule of the 5th Dali Lama, extended and repaired later into what it is now. The palace proper contains 13 stories and is 117.19 meters high and it is divided into the Red Palace and the White Palace. The former is composed of Dali Lamas Saint ashes Pagodas and different temples, while the later is the palace where Dali Lamas live and work. Potala Palace is largest museum of culture relics in Tibet.
 After buying the entrance ticket we waited in line to enter the grounds. The Land Rover went up as far as is allowed and then we walked, very slowly up a steep grade to the entrance. The 1000 rooms have the most unbelievable statues of different Buddha's and Dali Lamas. One or two monks are in each room in attendance to take care of the candles, collect money from tourists for photographs, etc. Money, from all over the world is pinned to statues or put in trays. It is used to maintain the building. All monks that work there sleep there as well. You have to pay in each room to take pictures. I rented a Tibetan garb and my guide took a picture of me. The walk through this building is extremely exhausting and I had to stop many times especially after climbing steps. My guide assured me that this was not unusual. I bought a book about the Potola and the lady stamped it with a chop. Returning to the Hotel I found that the bathroom leak was fixed. Changed $100.00 for 795.00 Yuan. Traded lunch ticket for a bottle of water. Guide picked me up at 3:30PM and we visited the summer palace of the Dali Lama. It has a very large park. Bought 2 T-shirts at half price of the hotel. Back at hotel at 5:00PM. Watched CNN and Larry King. Had slight headache and took aspirin. 6:30 ate at Chinese restaurant. Chicken with pineapple, mushrooms with cabbage leaves and fried rice, egg drop soup with mushrooms and tea. Got ready for bed at 7:00PM. Phone call from guide asking that I meet him in lobby at 8:00. I told him that I was already undressed. At 8:30 bell rang and my guide, the driver and their boss and his wife came to deliver a birthday cake and flowers. It was an excellent cake and we had to eat it with our fingers as they had forgotten the forks. My guide gave me a birthday card as well as old Tibetan paper money.