To spare the Defence Colony driver another round trip to the airport at 3 AM, I joined Bennett at the airport although my flight left later that the morning. We parted in a daze, still feeling under the weather and not knowing a clever way to sum up the last six weeks. “Good luck with school!” “Have a great time in China! I wish I was going too!” And then it was like someone grabbed the hands on the clock and rotated them at a breathless pace: Immigration line. Security. Then he was gone. All that remained was an anonymous crowd of international travelers in the distance, bags slugged over their shoulders for the long haul elsewhere. Our experiences were, for the first time in over a month, our own.
The end.
I looked up at the ceiling. The airport looked much bigger than when we first came in. Somehow, months back, without knowing how this moment would feel, I planned a second part of this trip. China. I remembered that the plan was very elegant: a 4-hour journey through Kathmandu and on to Kunming. I settled into the airport for a few hours and then followed in my brother’s footsteps through immigration, security, and 30,000 feet into the clouds above New Delhi.
The elegant 4-hour plan gradually turned into 24 hours all over China, thanks to a cancelled flight and a lack of pens in the Kathmandu airport. To fill out my Nepalese transit visa application, I asked “Could I borrow your pen?” to half a dozen workers in the Kathmandu airport. “Sorry” and “no” were the most positive responses I received. I had to wait until another traveler finally finished with hers and hesitantly loaned it to me. The pen delay caused me to miss the last direct flight to Kunming (not that I realized that I needed to catch it, since I was not yet aware my own flight was going to be cancelled). In the end, my route went something like this:
New Delhi -> Kathmandu -> Lhasa -> Chengdu -> Kunming (and then to Dali the next day)
So many times, people have asked me what I think of Tibet and I have to explain, strangely, that although I know many Tibetan people, I have never been there. Now I was on a plane to Lhasa. Of course, tourism in Tibet is extremely limited, so even if I decided to improvise and spend a few days there, it’s unclear that I’d see much beyond the government-approved sites. I met a French woman who helped me send a text message to Fausto letting him know I’d be about 20 hours late. She spoke Chinese fluently, and had just returned from trekking in Nepal. She balked at the idea of traveling in Tibet. “It’s not my style—they don’t let you anywhere.”
On the way to Lhasa, I saw something new. Unlike the U.S., where I’m used to the pilot announcing “And to your left is the Grand Canyon,” the plane was silent. Is anyone seeing this? Mountains rose above the clouds almost to the same altitude as the plane. I wasn’t sure, but the flight path made it seem likely, and I confirmed after the trip…
And so, strangely, the trip to India ends in Tibet, where it really should have been in some parallel universe.
When I finally arrived in China, I contacted Tenzin Tsepag and sent him my photos from the flight.
Dear Dave
Wow! Thank you so much for this great picture of Mt. Everest (Jomo Langma in Tibetan). It’s really kind of you to send it and you are lucky for being rerouted to Lhasa. Were you flying to Chengdu or Beijing on your way to LA? I guess so. How else could you fly into and over Tibet–my beloved country!? This picture from you will be a very good reminder for me of your kindness and my country, which I have never seen physically.
But I am also sad to miss bidding farewell to you before leaving. I’m so sorry for that. Anyway, I wish you and your brother all the best. Who knows we may meet sometime somewhere?
Until then please take good care and be yourself. I am also very fortunate to have known you. I truly admire your dedication to your profession and your altruistic nature to help others. Thank you for all these excellent qualities in you. You two brothers are a true pair of gems. I saw your brother giving lessons few times at Namgyal Archive and OHHDL studio. It looked to me that he was giving so much in great detail to students. Please give my regards to him too.
Tashi delek and thank you for your kindness.