Gidday All,

Here we are in the middle of ibet only a couple of days from the start of our trek. Tibet has been everything we thought but it has also been full of surprises - not quite back to the basics we thought. Flew into Lhasa o find a very modern city by Nepal/Tibet terms. Since the Chinese have been in charge they have rebuilt the infrastructure in a way only the Chinese can. There are multi lane roads, beautiful landscaping etc. But underneath is the old Tibet and a tight regime with the military very much in evidence at every step. It is an interesting paradox as we have continued to see the advantages they have brought with roads, hydro schemes etc but it is a pity they had to be so heavy handed in their dealings with the Tibetans.

In Lhasa we visited the Potala (the Winter residence of the Dalai Lama) and lso his summer palace. In neither however is there ANY evidence of the present on. In fact books etc that mention him (even Lonely Planet cannot come across the border) The 12'000 monks of the Potala are now only 800 and the same is true in all we have visited. In summary of them all (they get a bit like British castles or Roman ruins in number) they are extrodinarily elaborate, full of exquisite (sorry I run out of adjectives) wooden carvings all meticulously painted in various colours. And the stonework - Pete will show you the gangs working on the rooves, singing as they bash, apparently for days to get the required surface. Then inside they riveal anything at the Vatican altho' of course the style is very different. We saw most of the past Dalai lama tombs, the biggest had 3,721kgs of gold and was then studded with diamonds, precious stones etc. AMAZING!!!!! Our guides are wonderful in relating the history and complexities of Buddhism. However I do find it hard to tie all this display of wealth with the teachings of minamilism and ascetism as practised by the Buddhists.

Today we left Lhasa and drove further into the older Tibet altho' the new road is still a testament to the Chinese. We went over three passes in all, the highest just over 5,000 ms. The country is sooooo barren and dry altho' all the farmers are out ploughing to get the crops in. Using yaks and Tibetan ponies. We have got to the snow level and saw some pretty wicked views and glaciers.

The food continues to be wonderful, our faithful man takes us to a different restuarant each time, tonight was a great lentil soup (ahh memories Toby) and a chicken curry. We both continue to be well, see you again after the trek.

Love to everyone.

PS Adelaide, clean up the crime before we return

PPS The royal wedding was LIVE on tele here this arvo!

Robyn and Pete