Leaving Tibet

Trying to leave Tibet was more of a chore than we had anticipated-
we got to the airport with plenty of time, but we had some weight
issues with our luggage in trying to check in. When we checked in at
the Beijing airport, we had no issues with weight and they did not
weigh our luggage at all- but apparently in Lhasa, it's more of an
issue as each of us had to pay 22 RMB for every Kilogram that we were
over. It was a big hassle, and Harry our tourguide, was no help. He
was more concerned about getting his commission from the market that he
brought us to, than getting us on the airplane. For the record, if you
are ever looking for English speakers to help you with anything, do not
go to the Lhasa airport as there are none to be found. Luckily Amy got
it all figured out and we proceede to our first of about 22 flights.
We ended up sitting on the plane for 2 hours before it even took off,
but luckily we were not among those who were openly yelling at the
flight attendants. The Chinese can be very boisterous when "need" be.
We had a nice meal and then started our flight to Chengdu. At Chengdu,
we got another plane that we thought was taking us to Ningbo (our final
destination to get to the school) but really we were only going to the
Wuhan airport. At the Wuhan airport, we all got off the plane on the
tarmac, boarded a bus, walked through the terminal to a different gate,
boarded a bus and returned to our plane. Don't ask us why, but it's
what they required. Anyhow- we were definitely the only white people
to ever have been to the Wuhan airport as the mobile freak show
continued. We got back on the plane and flew from Wuhan to Ningbo- and
were met by "Elaine" one of our TA's from the school.