I wake up at 5am, more tired (and hungry) than when I fell asleep, pack my things and start the walk out of town before the town fills with people (and police).
At 5:30, I'm on the outskirts of town where every house has a savage dog and most aren't tied up. I arm myself with rocks in case one of the dogs becomes brave and continue walking past the snarls.
The sun comes up and I'm safely several kilometres from the town. People start driving along the roads and I try to hitch a lift unsuccessfully.
A bike stops several hundred metres in front of me and I run towards it. When I arrive, I ask if I can hop on, the guy says no and drives off.
Several hours pass and finally a truck stops and offers me a lift to Chamdo.
The scenery along the way is breathtaking and distracts me from the fact that I didn't have dinner the night before, or breakfast this morning.
We pass Quniydo and Toba (with an unmanned checkpoint) and continue on to Chamdo.
We arrive at Chamdo to find a manned checkpoint and the all to familiar panic sets in. The police are inside their office so I could grab my bag and make a break for it. Jeeps and cars drive under the boom gate so I could try and negotiate a lift in one.
All these options sound unappealing and my only option is to sit in the truck and try and not be seen (without the driver or other passenger realising what I'm doing). I look down at my camera, turn my head and look out of the window and still we wait. The drivers gets out his wallet and goes to talk to the policeman who's now come out.
I count in my head 1... 2... 3... anything to pass time before the policeman comes to talk to me. The policeman leaves on a bike and the driver sits outside the office and waits.
As no one is looking at this point, I take a snap of the checkpoint (the driver is sitting in the plastic chair). I can't see behind the truck so I don't know where the policeman is, or whether there are more in the office so decide this isn't my chance to make a break for it.
The policeman comes back to talk with the driver. At one point, out of the corner of my eye I see they've stopped, the officer looks into the front of the cabin, where I am sitting and he stares. A bead of sweat rolls down my cheek but still I sit firm and wait.
Eternity passes, the driver comes back into the truck, the boom gate is lifted and we drive through. The driver acts as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened and we continue into Chamdo (past another two unmanned checkpoints within two kilometres.
We drive down the main street and I'm turning my head this way and that to avoid looking in the direction of police officers (we pass half a dozen cars and close to twenty officers standing in the streets. As we reach the end of the main street, the driver stops the truck, points ahead of me and tells me that's the way to Lhasa.
I thank the driver for the lift, put my balaclava back on (I was wearing it as a beanie in the truck) and start walking at a fast pace. Passing several more police cars and officers, I come upon a problem.
In front of me, another checkpoint and there are police standing around. Cars are driving through, but the officers' presence is nevertheless there. I contemplate my options, walk back to town to try and get a taxi (walking past all the police again), trying to hitch a lift through the checkpoint, or walking through it.
Every taxi that passes has passengers, and no one will stop for a lift. I've been standing here for too long and people could get suspicious so I decide I will walk past the officers in disguise. I walk past the checkpoint and around the corner, taking a quick snap of the other side of town.
Walking out of sight of town, I climb up a small hill where I can't be seen from the road and stop for a break. It's 30 degree heat outside and I have spent the past hour walking in a jacket, gloves and balaclava with my pack at rapid pace.
I am completely drenched in sweat, have gone for over thirty hours without food and have just finished the last of my water, not a good situation to be in. To make matters worse, I've just stepped in some gum.
I refuse to entertain the possibility of turning myself into the police and so put my disguise back on and continue walking in the heat, managing a lift for a short part of the trip, he offers to stop me outside a police station for some reason. I tell him to keep going so he does and drops me off on the side of the road.
Four hours later, the heat has subsided so the walk is easier, however I am thirsty, hungry and tired from a long days walking.
I reach a convenience store and have the best instant noodle soup I've ever had, stock up on some nuts, fill up my water supplies and continue walking as it's getting late and I haven't yet figured out a bed for the night.
I come across some watermelon farmers who suggest catching a bus back to Chamdo to find a place to sleep. I ignore them as I devour an entire melon.
Hunger satisfied temporarily, I renew my walk with vigour and still no one stops for a lift. The sun starts to set and it's getting dark when salvation comes, a minivan packed with Tibetans and their luggage stops for me, I tell them the name of the town I'm heading to, they tell me I passed it a long time ago (where the police station was, in retrospect, next door was the bus stop). The Tibetans are headed to the next town and I tell them it's fine with me as long as their is a cheap hotel.

Highest point in journey to Jitang town, adourned with prayer flags.
We pass through an unmanned checkpoint and I'm dropped off outside a truck-stop hotel. I stock up on more supplies at the convenience store and run a reconnaissance mission before I go to sleep. I find a checkpoint just outside the hotel, and no easy way around it.
I pass out exhausted on the bed in my clothes and still wearing my shoes.


This girl, also a stray, along with little pup stays around big boy a lot, he’s very handsome.

The Fake Tibet Permit