Few things in life that you really look forward to end up being as good (or - rarer still - better) than you expected them to be. Tibet, however, was a simply sublime exception to that rule. There's plenty to show and tell for this entry, so I'll split it into four parts - Into Tibet, Lhasa, The Friendship Highway, and Everest.
As I mentioned we were going to in the previous entry, we entered the TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region - yes, they call it that with a straight face) via the worlds highest railway, which at its highest point nudged 5000m and provided some spectacular views. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this journey from Xining through north-west Tibet and down to Lhasa provided more scenic highlights in 20-odd hours than the Trans-Siberian did in five days.
It was a fantastic introduction to Tibet, though as things turned out this initial journey was very much just the tip of a wondrous iceberg.
Things Jennie will remember about this part of Tibet:
1) Well behaved little Chinese girl on the Sky Train - does ADHD exist in China? So far our train journeys make me think not as this little girl entertained herself for 24 hours with nothing more than a squishy ball (like the other little girls on the Hard Seat journey did with a set of cards)
2) The smell of the additional oxygen being pumped into the train to keep you from going a little bit loopy in the altitude
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