Today was the day for me to part from my Hong Kong friends. I woke up and saw a deck of playing cards with a little note on it. I took out my own cards, left them behind for my friends, and headed to the bus station. My initial plan was to take a bus east, both to save time and to see that part of Tibet. It turned out that the route no longer ran, despite my research suggesting otherwise. While my companion asked at the counter, I called my parents and told them everything was okay. I decided to take a bus to Chengdu instead, and while the bus was a little substandard, I thought I could manage it. During the day I went to the post office, bought some groceries, and went online. Finally, at 16:00, I boarded what …

Once again, we woke up early and ate breakfast. The weather was surprisingly cold. After breakfast we walked up a hidden passageway to the fort and got almost all the way up before being stopped. Eventually, somebody asked us to buy tickets if we wanted to continue, but the price wasn’t right, so we took photos of the valley and headed back down the hill. Around the corner we walked to the monastery, but, unimpressed, we left without exploring too deeply.

After waking up and eating breakfast, we checked out of the hotel but left our bags in the lobby. We wandered down the street to the post office, bought some postcards, and entered the Potala Palace. If you intend to visit the palace, make sure to leave enough time to walk up the stairs. Around 30 minutes should do it.

I waited for the big green bus, but my companion needed to leave to teach. When the bus arrived, I asked a woman behind me in my limited Chinese, “Does this go to the…?” “Airport,” she replied. I jumped aboard and started the journey. That evening, my dad and stepmother, Cathy, were arriving in Taipei. It was rush hour, so I tried to leave plenty of time. I started waiting at around 5:45, but the bus didn’t arrive until almost 6:20. Leaving Taipei was painful; the streets were a parking lot. The bus finally reached the freeway, and by 7:00, about the time my parents were arriving, I was still 20 minutes away. I was somewhat relieved, knowing they would need to collect their …

I’m a bussing man, I’ll admit it. In middle school I had a great bike and could ride all over town. Then, in high school, I had a car and could drive all over town. When I went to uni, I lived in the middle of a big city and didn’t need a car, so I sold it. Since then, I’ve been riding buses everywhere. They’re cheap and good for the environment; I can’t complain.