(10:00 am) Today's bus ride is a reason to visit Tibet. For the first part it was foggy and I attempted to sleep between big bumps, but once we reached the mountain top, the fog started breaking in places and when it did it was breathtaking. Also, I normally don't give money to beggars because I don't want to encourage them to make it their profession, but there was this beautiful little girl that I had to get a picture of... I suppose in that case it is a _sort of_ payment... Oh well, I suppose I can always photoshop myself out. I wonder how hard it is to adopt a Tibet girl... ;) Of course, even if I were seriously considering it, would she really want to trade that beautiful place for a view of pavement and houses where one is taught to fear strangers instead of walking up to them and getting money, and the rest of what comes with it, if she had full knowledge? I don't know the answer.

(4:00 pm) We're still on the bus as has been the case since 7:00 this morning. I would have never thought that the bus ride would be the best part until now. We've been by brown rocky cliffs, a gorgeous lake, snow covered mountains, grass covered mountains with purple and yellow flowers, and had some other excitements along the way. For example, it is quite often that the bus doesn't have all four wheels on the ground, and once it even "caught air." Not too long after that a girl with altitude/bus sickness lost it and threw up on the guy next to her. We've made frequent stops, with beggars ready to pounce every time. It appears to have become the main trade of many people along this road. (as seems to be the case in pretty much all areas where there are a lot of tourists) Obviously there are no bathrooms, so the women on the trip have had a special kind of bonding experience. We wait as long as we can stand and then take a hike over to a relatively secluded ditch for a 'group squat.'

We're finally at our new hotel... its 10:30 pm... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz