Back in Beijing

31 August 2010. IVPP, Beijing.

The majority of the team has returned to Beijing from Lhasa. Our field vehicles are still on the road back home (they have reached Geermu, Qinghai Province as of last night, and should arrive in Lanzhou today).

We are organizing the few specimens that we brought back from Tibet, and waiting for the rest of the specimens to come back to the institute. It is warm and smoggy in Beijing, with plenty of oxygen in the air (compared to Zhada!)

Last day enroute to Lhasa

Last night, we stayed in the tourist town of Shigaze to give some members of our team the opportunity of visiting its big temple. This morning, a few miles out of town, the main highway to Lhasa was closed for repair works. We were forced to take the old southern rout to Lhasa, about 100 km of detour but a scenic road taken by most tourists. Since we are in no particular hurry (we'll have three days to cool our heels in Lhasa because of difficulty in obtaining plane tickets), it is worth the extra time to see the scenery -- 6000 meter plus snow peak (Jiangsanglamu), pristine lake (Yangchuoyongcuo), and ancient Tibetan town that had resisted British invasions (Jiangze).
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Over the rainbow

23 August 2010. On the road

We left the Holy Mountain at 0600 this morning, rushing in the dark to get past the road block at Huoer Village which begins at 0700.

Thick clouds overhead dumped a coat of snow over the peaks as we navigated several rushing rivers.

The road home seems distinctly mellower than our entry into the wild.

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