breakin' the law, breakin' the law!!!
as you probably don't know, since the mid-20th century, citing dubious historical evidence, the Chinese government has occupied a sovereign nation called Tibet (as it's a bit out of the scope of this website to get all political and/or historical on your ass, i'll leave my history lesson at that and get directly to my point).
to protect their brainwashing of Tibetan citizens, the infinitely wise Chinese overlords dictate that foreigners entering Tibet obtain a special Tibetan travel permit (TTB). furthermore, the privilege of paying for a TTB comes only if one enters Tibet as part of an overpriced organized tour. Chinese citizens, however, are free to roam Tibet as they please as they've already been indoctrinated with communist dogma since the minute they squirt out of the womb.
if you know me, you know i'm the greatest South Korean disguise artist (& bench presser - 600 lbs and counting! don't get me started on how much i can "clean and jerk".) in the world. i once successfully eased myself onto the itinerary of a group of Pakistani package tourists for 3 full days with the help of my fake mustache and chants of "Allah U Akbar!"
in my greatest challenge yet, i'll disguise myself as a Chinese tourist and sneak my way from Southern China - through the forbidden portion of Tibet - to Lhasa without the holy TTB. a four day journey will boil down to how well i can pose as a Chinaman by speaking perfect Mandarin, keeping my hair as unkempt as possible and hocking great wads of phlegm on surfaces both indoor and out.
wish me luck in screwing one of the most repressive & tyrannical governments in the non-free world. (but TGIT - thank god it's tyranny - otherwise the US would be the number 1 abuser of capital punishment and soon to lose number 1 polluter of the world.) may all police checkpoints be unmanned and roads in bus-worthy condition, enshallah!
(i've scheduled this entry to publish at a later date so by the time you read this, the adventure will already be in progress. if caught, i face a stiff US$300 fine and swift expulsion to non-Tibet China.)
**update (11/4/07)**
found a great piece in the Int'l Herald Tribune by NYTimes man, Howard French about Tibet.
my detox period after a month-long stay on paradise island could be no other place than Bangkok. a shot of depressing reality is the medicine only the Kao San Road (KSR) region of Bangkok can provide. for those not 'in the know', the KSR area is the hub of all backpacking tourism in Thailand. lucky for me, my descent into reality was cushioned by the cast and crew you've seen over the past few months in Indonesian photos and a few notable applicants who auditioned to be my latest harem of travel minions.
the content covers the calendar year 2007 (2550 on the Buddhist calendar) and after you see some of the early photos, i'm confident you'll agree in Chinese astrology: this truly is the year of the Pig. the chinese are a prescient group of people. now if only they can accurately predict their way out of terrible personal hygiene and gaudy building decorations (read: year-round inappropriate christmas light adornments).