1230. A lifetime ambition

Adrienne had always wanted to go to Tibet. Ever since childhood, when she had read books about the Dali Lama and the monasteries and temples, and the mountains, she had a powerful yearning to visit. And the opportunity arose! Her husband surprised her on her fiftieth birthday with a return ticket to Tibet with a tourist party.

They arrived at Lhasa and the plane circled the airport for an hour because the military were holding some sort of exercise. But when they eventually stepped off the plane, goodness! No air! No oxygen! How do people breathe up here? Adrienne was immediately struck down with altitude sickness.

For the first three days she mainly lay on her bed gasping for air. She phoned her husband back home. On the fourth and final day Adrienne decided she had to see something. She walked down the street. It was very third world. The military were everywhere. Adrienne took a photo with her phone. Two men appeared. The phone was confiscated.

Adrienne was never so relieved to step on a plane. She had fulfilled her lifetime ambition. Why the Chinese wanted to keep this hellhole was anyone’s guess.

14 thoughts on “1230. A lifetime ambition

  1. Yvonne

    I’m chugging through your letters, and enjoying those echoes from last century. this made me chuckle, and now I know why i call you Bruce Almighty, the Super Hero.

    “I have got my winter soutane. Also, someone had a spare shoulder cape and I am wearing that, so I look a bit like Batman.”

    Liked by 1 person

  2. umashankar

    Sometimes, your most coveted dreams are not worth the dust mite on your pillow cover. As for the Chinese, they are the New Axis Powers together with North Korea and Pakistan. And as they say, with great powers come great responsibility.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. Pingback: 1230. A lifetime ambition — Weave a Web – Site Title

  4. frejatravels

    wouw… so nice of her husband to get her a gift of her dream. I had the same experienced and got struck with an altitude sickness 3 hours after landed in Lhasa. Oh boy.. I thought I would died there….

    Liked by 1 person




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