Rooftop of the World

For a very long time (years and years and years), we've wanted to visit Tibet.

We're finally getting the chance.

(Not my picture.)

This Thursday night, Jacob and I are getting on a train for 49 hours. We leave Thursday night and we arrive Saturday night. I'm excited, but Jacob is feeling claustrophobic already. (I should clarify that I'm not particularly excited about being on the train for 49 hours, but I am excited about seeing the scenery of China... especially as we get close to our destination.)

Map of the Train Route -- We're going Beijing to Lhasa.

We'll be spending about a week out there, visiting friends, seeing the sites, and just trying to understand the place a little bit more. We won't share much on the blog about our time out there, as politically it is a very sensitive place. (I don't mean dangerous.) But, we're so excited about the opportunity to go. It's been complicated to even get the details of the trip worked out. (There was a whole fiasco involving having return plane tickets from Lhasa but being unable to find any train tickets to get there! Finally, two days before we leave, we got the train tickets!)

Now that everything is worked out, we're just hoping that it's smooth sailing from here! Please lift us up. We're told Lhasa is a hard place -- physically and spiritually. (Physically due to the altitude mostly - it is nearly 12,000 feet. It's twice as high as Denver and almost like being on top of Mt. Rainer. Spiritually due to the social, political, and religious climate.)

This isn't going to be a vacation in the traditional sense of the word, but it is definitely going to open our eyes and perhaps change us in ways we can't anticipate.

So, I won't be blogging for a week. Don't forget about me while we're gone!