August 5th, arriving in Shangri-La

This was the story I wrote in my journal on August 5th, the day I arrived in Tibet.

All is good!

So in Shanghai, my flight to Chongqing was delayed for an hour, which meant I was freaking out and thought there was no way in hell that I was going to make my connection to Diqing (the Mandarin name for Shangri-La). The flight to Diqing was at 330 and we were on our descent into Chongqing at 315. On the plane I can't stop staring at my watch and making stressed out noises. I don't have a chinese mobile, I don't have any way of reaching the CERS staff to tell them what is going on, and for some reason my credit card isn't working, so if I miss this connection I will be stuck in this city I have never heard of before in my life. Out of the gate with 15 minutes to spare, I sprint to the connection desk, screaming for help, they give me a boarding pass (for some reason in Shanghai, they said they couldn't print the connecting flight pass and that it, along with manually moving my bags, would have to be done in Chongqing), take my baggage tags (without asking me what my bags look like), and usher me through dark staff only passageways and stairs to the gate where boarding is just beginning. PHEW so I made the flight. then I realize SHIT MY BAGS ARE NOT TRANSFERRED I AM SO SCREWED I LIVING IN THE MOUNTAINS THERE WILL BE NO WHERE TO BUY ANYTHING I WILL ONLY HAVE THE CLOTHES ON MY BACK (also only 1 slightly smushed tampon in my backpack I've had in there for ages to last me half a year!) at which point I look out the window and I see a hunched over chinese man down on the ground running towards the plane with my two bags in tow. YAAAAY.  

To top it all off, the plane I got on to get to Diqing--the same exact one I came off of from Chongqing. 

Crisis averted! (why they wouldn't tell me it was the same plane and let me just sit there and not take my bags off the plane, who the hell knows)

View of Shangri-La from the front of the Center

This place is absolutely beautiful! High in the mountains, I am a little winded but this is just an extraordinary space.