Off To Tibet!

Just popped into an internet cafe quickly on my way to the train station. Leaving for Tibet in about 2 hours. The ride itself is 48 hours, followed by four days in one of the most remote places on earth! I'm not sure if I'll be able to update while there, but I wil definitely try!

The past two days were spent at the Summer Palace, Touring the Hutongs, The Temple of Heaven & The Night Market. Unfortunately I can't upload pictures or that full post from this computer, but I will as soon as possible!

I'll just leave you with one quick, rather hilarious anecdote. At the end of the Qing dynasty a concubine by the name of Cixi rose up the ranks to become Empress Dowager, effectively running (and pillaging) the country for a good forty years. Everything we've seen, read or heard about her here paints her in a very negative light. Nowhere is she just acknowledged as a very powerful, strong, intelligent woman. Instead, she's a homewrecker whore who just wanted to destroy everything and didn't understand her "place" in society.

As a joke Robin and I have been referring to her as "that bitch!" The poster reads, "Cixi didn't like this palace so she burned it to the ground and had a bigger one built."

"That bitch," we'd say. "Cixi would tell the Emperor what do, completely unladylike." Again, "What a bitch." Then we were at the Summer Palace and learned that she was also illiterate. Robin turned to me and said, "Oh, so she was a dumb bitch!"

Off to Tibet! More soon!