Shanghai, China

As much as I wanted to visit Xian, my travels led me to Shanghai. I was in search of a city that had a Korean Consulate & an English speaking hospital. Unfortunately, my wound was still infected & I needed to address it once more.

Leaving Tibet... The white scarfs, or katas, are used for multiple purposes in Tibet.

While still using the same currency, Shanghai was worlds apart from Tibet.

After flying into Shanghai, the Maglev train provided a fast commute to the city. Maglev is short for magnetic levitation, which means the train is suspended & propeled with an electromagnetic force. This display was in the process of changing between 429 & 430 km/h, which equates to 267 mph. This train was moving!

While viewing this, keep in mind that this was being filmed at only 300 km/h. Actually, I guess it's not too clear on this feed, but hope you get the idea.

My first stop, the hospital, where the friendly staff checked me in.

This is 15 days from my stitching date & my wound never entirely lost the redness. The doctor cut five of the stitches out so it could be cleaned better. As you can see, the cut slightly opened where the stitches were removed.

Maintaining a smile while in the hospital, again.

I spent a total of 6 nights in the hospital. In total, this amounted to 11 days in the hospital. It could have been worse, so I consider myself fortunate. This photo shows my shared deck & luckily, I didn't share a room.

This was taken from a window on the other side of the hospital. Notice all the cranes in the background. This city is booming! Well, I suppose all of China is.

Night view from my deck.

Ahhh.... They let me out for brief walks during the day. Nanjing Donglu is one of the main streets in Shanghai.

The architecture was much more modern than I'm used to in Korea.

Renmin Park

The Oriental Pearl Tower looks over the Huangpu River.

Daytime photo of Pudong New Area.

The hospital now let me go out for a short night venture! Here is a nighttime photo of Pudong New Area.

This area along the river is called the Bund.

Nighttime view of the Bund.

The Bund has a beautiful older feel to it.

Night shot of the same buildings.

This photo is taken from the Garden Bridge. If you click on this photo, then expand it to its fullest, you'll see the Chinese writing under the sun.

Huangpu Park at dark.

Looking toward the Bund from Pudong New Area. The dredging boats didn't move for my photos.

The pedestrian tunnel provided transport under the Huangpu River, from the Bund to Pudong New Area. The ride was a trip! Need say no more...

These three videos are from the pedestrian tunnel. I wish the clarity of download was better, but regardless I still had to share them. Make sure to have your volume up, it adds to the visuals.

Yamdrok Tso (Lake)- Tibet, China

Yamdrok Tso Lake was beautiful! Our tour guide said he's never seen a more perfect day! Though it did take him a while to admit to this. Tibet must have heard our desire for good weather & it provided us with so much more! The drive from 3,600 meters (11,800 ft) to an approximation of 4,950 meters (16,200 feet) was an incredible ascent as well! I must admit, I was a little disappointed that I forgot to change the settings on my camera for greater detail. However, these definitely work!

At the beginning of the drive, we stopped for some quick photos of the Kyichu River.

Tibetans have three main burial ceremonies, one of those being a river burial. This is the point where many of them are performed.

Bikers getting close to the top of Kampala Pass. That must have taken some energy at this altitude!

Kampala Pass had received snow the night before.

Yamdrok Tso Lake with a backdrop of mountians. Mt. Nojin Gangsang is the highest peak in the background. It has an elevation of 7,191 meters (23,592 feet). It was our guide's first time to see it from Yamdrok Tso Lake! These locals were looking to make some extra cash by offering a yak ride. I couldn't really understand, but think one of them was even offering a drawing with his dog.

We just had to see what it was like to hike above 16,000 feet! So, we started our slow climb!

It took some time to hike at this elevation, but it felt great!

Amazing! My altimeter read 5,015 meters (16,453 feet) & our guide confirmed that should be about right.

The serenity of the snow-capped mountains with the reflection below.

This lake is one of the three largest in Tibet & extends much farther than we could see.

With the confusion prior to entering China, we almost wrote off this Tibetan adventure. So Paul & I cheers, to a long overdue celebration! We literally carried these beers for days, in anticipation of this moment. In looking back, this was day before we each went on our own course of travels.

This was the best photo of them all! What a view! It was so peaceful up there... This is more of what I had expected from Tibet & we couldn't have timed it out better. The weather, snow & visibility were all perfect! This was the last full day in Tibet & we left with an experience always to remember.

Traveling in Tibet & the Town of Shigatse, China

There were many Land Cruisers on the road, but our traveling was done entirely by van. We were probably on the road for over 10 hours in total, so it would have been comfortable. Although, we did stick to the main roads so our traveling really didn't require one.

All the commuting photos were taken from the moving vehicle. This is also why you'll see many snapshots of the rear view mirror. In this photo, our driver patiently waited for the sheep to cross.

Well, maybe not patiently, but he was basically waiting.

There were many areas like this on our drive.

A crossing with many prayer flags.

We stopped for a restroom break & found this tractor. Someone has spent some decorating this one.

Yaks are extremely important to the Tibetans. They provide milk, meat, wool, ride, pack and pull.

Recently tilled land.

There are many different highways in the world with the name, Friendship Highway. This small town, Panam, happens to be located on one of them. This Friendship Highway unfolds about 450 miles, linking Lhasa to the border of Nepal. Once the proper documentation has been presented, the Friendship Bridge allows further travel to Kathmandu.

The main street of Panam, but slightly before the central area seen above.

These were some of the nicer looking farm houses amid our commute. After mentioning the size of these homes, our guide informed us that the first floor served as a barn.

Yaks have long horse-like tails that are trimmed off, colored & decorated. They are then mounted near the front of the yak, as an adorning form of respect.

This is one of a few days when it snowed in the mountains.

No problem... Our driver knew how to deal with this common site.

Shigatse

At 80,000 people, Shigatse is the second largest town & continues to develop. It's main attraction is the Tashilhunpo Monastery or also known as Zhashenlunbu Temple.

Tashilhunpo Monastery once accomodated over 4,000 monks, but currently has around 600. The white standing wall to the right is used for enormous Thangkas during ceremonies.

Stupas on the walk up the temple hill.

Pathway to view the roof chapels.

Passageway to view the roof chapels.

The symbol of a Buddhist temple. It may be difficult to see, but there's a penny on the bottom right.

Rising above are the two-tiered roof chapels.

A statue display of a tourist photographing a Tibetan mother & child. At one point during our trip, Paul & I had the chance to visit a small art gallery. The paintings clearly expressed the Tibetans' concerns.

This is a developed Chinese area.

I was glad to see more traditional style buildings being constructed.