here in golmud, most traffic destined for tibet gets processed and sent off, including tourists.

most of tibet is closed to tourists (cursed commies!) and those areas that tourists are allowed require alien travel permits. it's fairly easy for us to skirt this alien travel requirement and so the security office that handles visa extensions runs a tight ship when it comes to renewing visas assuming those that renew visas in golmud will simply avoid the alien permit and enter tibet on their own. there are tons of locals that offer transportation at a fraction of the cost of the security bureau's official packaged tour. so to enforce the alien permit, the security bureau packages a tour for (US)$200 and bundles it with a visa renewal. guess what though, i don't have $200 right now as a result of the ATM card fiasco. consequently i can't renew my visa which expires tomorrow. and to add insult to injury, i face a fine of (US)$60/day and detainment for 3-10 days in a chinese prison for overstaying my visa.

what am i gonna do? god only knows! we'll see tomorrow, when things at this point MUST pick up for me.

by the way, it's really f'in cold in golmud. the more i travel, the more i realize, there really is no place like the US and A.