Trip Report: 2018 Hong Kong, Nepal & Tibet

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Enjoying this.
In the past few years I’ve only ever been to the Pier F lounge, so nice to see some of the alternatives. Personally I’ll stick with the Pier, though all look pretty good.
Okay having now visited both The Wing and The Pier for a second time I’ve changed my mind and I’m now going to The Pier as the better First Class lounge although not by much and they are both exceptional.

In my second visit to The Pier I managed to get a Spa visit for “reinvigorating neck, shoulder and scalp massage” plus I got a desert in The Dinning Room and spend more time in the Bar area (including a visit to The Pantry for some small snacks). Damn The Pier is an amazing lounge once you really explore it.

I still like the private Cabana in The Wing but the Pier is now my favourite after this second visit.

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Cathay Pacific CX105 Hong Kong to Melbourne (A350-900 Business Class)

The final flight of this short 19 day trip was my first ever Cathay Pacific business class flight (excluding Cathay Dragon regional business) and first time on A350 and it was a great experience. I found the flight extremely smooth and quiet add to that the J seat was comfortable enough to get roughly 4 hours sleep on this overnight flight (left 00.05 Hong Kong, arrived 11.43 Vic Time) and I was impressed.

I skipped the light supper meal served after midnight since that was what the great First Class lounges were for but enjoyed the breakfast which was served about 1 hour 45 minutes before landing. Amenity kit have the useful items, the socks in particular good for walking around the cabin. No pyjamas given out on the overnight flight.

Love using plane camera to watch takeoff and landing. Entertainment system had a vast selection even if I only used for a few hours. I liked that you could watch the TV screen but have the handheld remote displaying the map.

Having never landed at Melbourne International airport midday I have to say it’s an ideal time. Basically no one else had landed at the same time and I went from landing at 11.43 to picking up my bag and being on the Skybus by 12.12. Brilliant stuff, now only if they have a train from the airport as well (hopefully coming in the next 10-20 years!).

I found this a refreshing flight and very good use of QFF points and minimal co-payment (I understand they will be raising shortly). It was great to be home.

Full review here.
 
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This trip was basically three parts:
  1. Airport Lounge Experiences (8 in total)
  2. Nepal Experience
  3. Tibet Experience
Nepal (14-16 Oct and 26-27 Oct 2018)
With a population of 26.6 million, Nepal borders China (Tibet) in the north and India in the south, east, and west. I ended up spending seven days in Nepal with the highlights including; Thamel Market, Durbar Square, Sisterhood of Survivors, Five hour hike (Sanga to Panauti), home stay in Panauti, The Great Boudha Stupa, Pashupatinath Temple, Kumari Devi (Living Goddess), Patan Durbar Square.

The temperature ranged from 20-24c during my stay. The air was very dusty in the capital and you have to watch it for the traffic in particular the noisey motorcycles. The major religion is Hindu but also with a strong number of Buddhist.

The religious sights were impressive. You can see how the 2015 earthquake is still impacting the country as they rebuild. I found the people very friendly, prices fairly cheap and lots to like. The Indian influence is easy to see, Bollywood movies playing on lots of TVs, but also some Tibetan influence from those who left Tibet during the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1996.
 
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Tibet (17-26 October 2018)

Tibet is a region, which is now ruled by China, that covers much of the Tibetan Plateau in Inner Asia. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of 4,900 metres (16,000 ft). The highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain, rising 8,848 m (29,029 ft) above sea level. The current population is approximately 3.1 million with an increasing Han population.

I ended up spending ten days in Tibet with the highlights including; Barkhor Square, Jokhang Temple, Debating Monks (Sera Monastery), Polata Palace, Tsamkhung Nunnery, Yamdrok Tso Lake, Tibetan Mountains, Pelkor Chode Monastery, Gyantse Kumbum, Gyatso la pass, Tashilunpo Monastery, Shigatse Bazaar, Mount Everest and the stunning Himalayas.

The temperature ranged from minus 10 to 18c during my stay. The air was extremely dry at this high altitude. At Lhasa the locals all use electric vehicles which means very quiet motorcycles. The major religion is Buddhism. While the religious sights are great (those that survived the Cultural Revolution) in particular the Polata Palace which is the home of the Dali Lama (currently in exile).

However the real highlight was the Tibetan / Himalayas landscape and in particular Mount Everest the highest mountain on earth. I got as high as 5,300 metres above sea level which is still far below the peak of Mount Everest at 8,800 metres.

The sad fact however of Tibet is that it is an occupied by the Chinese Government since the 1960s. They rule with a very firm hand, every house has a Chinese Flag on it, their are Chinese police and military everywhere, closed circuit TV watching you and checkpoints everywhere (I had to use my passport at least 14 times during the ten days). The local Tibetans as a rule can’t get visas to leave China to travel overseas (there are some limited exceptions).

While the Chinese Government has eased up on some restrictions for example the Monasteries are slowly rebuilding there number of monks and the buildings that were wrecked previously. However the current Dali Lama’s picture and an reference is strictly forbidden. An visitors can struggle to get visas to visit this region which is why I entered from Nepal. You can see the Chinese Government investing significant sums into this region in particular the fast rail to better link with the rest of China.

Tibet is an amazing country (or autonomous region of China) and well worth a visit. It’s just sad that a people with such a long and proud history don’t have self determination.
 
And with that the trip report is over and it’s time to start thinking about the next place to visit. So far I’ve only visited 70 countries so a lot more of the world to see and experience especially before I retire when I’ve go back to those I like the most for a more in depth visit.

Happy travels everyone.
 
Very interesting trip report.

Only 70 countries? More than most. You've done quite ok.

Enjoy your travels.
The life plan is to get a taste of the world via these type of trips and then the ones I really like go back for a more in depth longer visit when I’m retired.

Unlikely I’ll go back to Tibet but Nepal is a good gateway to Bhutan which is somewhere I want to go and still more of remote Nepal to explore.
 
Very interesting TR thank you. Glad you included Nepal & Tibet photos after all that Lounge indulgence! Cheers :D
Yeah the TR was starting to look like a lounge crawl instead of a trip for spiritual, cultural and nature experiences :). I actually go more into the day to day experiences on my travel blog but post hear more about the flights and lounges.

It was great to be able to time this trip before I lose QF WP status, I definitely made the most of it and F won’t be happy of all the CX lounge charges from my lounge crawls in Hong Kong :)
 
Onward and upwards for your 71st Country .......... which will be ?? :)
Likely to be Colombia. I’m looking to attend the US Tennis Open in August (I love tennis and want to experience all the slams). I booked a one way SQ F saver award from NYC to MEL via FRA & SIN and this will be first ever flight on SQ, shame it’s on their old product.

As going to the US is such a big flight I thought I’d add in a visit to Colombia assuming regional problems aren’t to bad, otherwise a trans Canada railway trip sounds interesting (but means country 71 will need to wait).
 
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