My husband and I took a bucket trip to China / Tibet for three weeks. We traveled with Overseas Adventure Travel which did a fabulous job but I have some serious jet lag right now. I know for sure that if I cannot fly first class on any future transcontinental flights, I will never travel again.
The trip was more arduous than I expected but I managed to traverse Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City, walked up the 250 of the 800 steps of the Great Wall with arrival jet lag (I have the walking stick to prove it; made in China). Survived the high pitch of the Beijing Opera using a little secret; I wore ear plugs:)
I saw the Terra Cotta Army and stayed overnight with a Chinese family in Hu Xian Donghan Village.
Intrigued by languages I used my Che Che( "thank you"), Ne Hou ("hello") and Wo bu hou ( "I do not want") all over China. Oh the noodles and rice with sweet and sour pork. Did try a taste of the yak butter tea and ate yak meat but yearned for a cheeseburger.
I walked my way up to the Panda Sanctuary which had three adorable baby pandas on display.
There were four internal flights on the trip plus the government did permit the tour to go to Tibet. In Lhasa I climbed another 325 steps up to the Potala Palace in the rarefied air of 12,000 feet above sea level. Each adventure I get slower and slower climbing the stairs. All the temples use very heavy incense so I ended up wearing a nose/mouth mask as we toured.
Next spent 3 days on a Yangtze River cruise ship. Visited a family displaced by the Three Gorges Dam, went to see the Gorges and one hanging coffin in the steep cliff.
Took a Hong Kong City tour which was beautiful at night. We shopped much less than the other seasoned travelers but did get gifts for the kids and grand kids.
Coming home I traveled through three airports, crossed over a date line and changed several times zones but over 24 hours later I arrived home.
There's no place like home!!
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