After spending 2 days visting monasteries and palaces in Lhasa, we finally got out. First picture we took? why of an open sky toilet of course…
some scenery along the way to Shigatse, 2nd largest town in Tibet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigatse
we stop and took some pictures at the Lhasa river and Brahmaputra river confluence
some pictures at a high mountain pass with Yamdrok Lake as the backdrop http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamdrok_lake
riding yak http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yak
photo with the tibetan mastiff http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_mastiff
Yamdrok Lake
Kharola Glacier http://www.sinowaytravel.com/Gyantse-Attractions/Karola-Glacier.904.aspx
Tiger Balm for the high altitude sickness girl… also for entering tibetan toilets, uueekkk!
tonight’s dinner: Yak pizza (you knew it was coming)
yet another Monastery, this one’s Tashihunpo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashilhunpo_Monastery
ringing the bell is a custom for going into this monastery
A picture which i’m just calling the “4 harmonies” apparently the bird is the eldest, so it is on top. Tthe big elephant is the youngest so it must carry the rest. The bird found the seed, the rabbit sow it and the monkey took care of it. the elephant enjoys the shade and the fruits of the labour, and so it must respect its elders the bird, rabbit and monkey. With respect then there will be harmony.
Monks selling old clothes of the poor.
Laborer carrying wheat
Shigatse market
Tsampa
Yak Cheese
Potato
Whole dried goat
We took the road less travelled from Shigatse back to Lhasa and it was a bumpy one without proper paved road, the car’s talisman was swinging violently back and forth
photos of the villages passed by in the road less travelled
a village famous for making incense, see my videos of the incense making device http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150200755141984
there are various checkpoints on Tibetan “highways” to ensure vehicles do not speed. Thank God because there are suicidal chinese drivers here as well.
A scenic trip to lake Namtso http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namtso
There we experienced a sudden snow storm, burr, cold cold cold!
Our last itinery was to see the Monks debating at Sera Monastery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sera_Monastery
There are various gestures for the debate, check out my video of the proceedings. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150200746371984
Good bye!
bonus picture: travellers engrossed in a game of Carcassonne even as the plane boarding call came in!
After resting up for the first day reaching Tibet, the next day went and visit the Biggie - Potala Palace, former residence of the Dalai Lama (before the peaceful liberation of Tibet, whatever that means) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potala_Palace
there’s a village below the palace
due to High Altitude Sickness, every climb of a stair is breathless!
here we have exhibit A - religious donation of money, even to the palace walls…
There’s some nice paintings on the walls, unfortunately we are limited to the front walls, all other inner palace rooms are forbidden to take pictures.
The middle stairs are reserve for the Dalai Lama, a theme that is repeated throughout the various Tibetan Monasteries.
No photos of inside so here’s one outside
Pilgrims walk clockwise around the Potala Palace in a “chora” - another oddity found in Tibet, seems like every monastery and temple have one for the religious to walk and boy are there many people walking every day and every hour of the day.
an old tree outside Potala Palace.
Lunch is at the Lhasa Namaste Restaurant - apparently a very popular one.
we took Nepalise Naan, very delicious, something which we will take on the last day as well
Yak Momo, or simply Tibetan Yak dumplings
Next we visit Jokhang tample, an important pilgrimage site for local tibetans
Many people do prostrations here
Drepung Monastery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drepung
selling of clay handicraft
burning of incense
kitchen firewood
Monastery Alley
laborers walking the alley
Next we visit the Former Summer residence of the Dalai Lama - Norbulingka http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbulingka
It’s a garden here
The Dalai Lama used to watch Tibetan opera here with the common people
Former residence of the 14th (latest) Dalai Lama
lake
One of us had severe High Altitude sickness and had to get oxygen bottles such as this to help adjust
Yak stew at Dunya, a Lhasa restaurant owned by a foreigner. Nice western food.
We took to the Chengdu “North Train Station” for the “Qinghai-Lhasa” train to tibet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingzang_Railway apparently there are two railway stations now so travellers beware of going to the wrong one.
There are “People Mountain People Sea” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Mountain_People_Sea in the train station, and there are security checks even into the station. Only chinese stations can have such sardine conditions.
We took the “luxurious” soft beds and it is quite alright, there are 4 beds to a room rather than the “hard” 6 beds to a room. Recommended to travel in groups of 4 so that you can have 4 familiar faces in a room. Can’t imagine the “hard seats” class where people travelled 48 hours sitting upright…
canteen’s alright and we quickly learned to order “fried egg with tomato” and non-spicy veges!
we pass by terraced hills behind villages…
…snowy ground…
…sand/snow storm/fog…
…snowy peaks…
…river deltas…
…sun rise…
…curious cloud formations…
…sunny clear sky views…
… till we reach the rocky barren mountains of Tibet
fellow travellers checking out the view from the carriage
oxygen is pumped in regularly to help reduce High altitude sickness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_altitude_sickness
finally we reached Lhasa station after 3 days and two nights in train http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lhasa
this is our transport for going around tibet. looks good, right? wrong! road conditions out of Lhasa is bad, very bumpy. Recommended to get 4WD.
Lhasa town with modern shops
Stupa structure in middle of town
Our hotel for first 3 nights - Yabshi Phunkhang Heritage Hotel http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294223-d1491812-Reviews-Yabshi_Phunkhang_Heritage_Hotel-Lhasa_Tibet.html Don’t play play, the Dalai Lama’s relatives stayed here before. BEST LOCAL HOTEL, PERIOD. Check out these photos, we felt like we are staying in a tourist attraction.
Not bad huh? Our deluxe suite have its own courtyard…
Even the restaurant is cool
We had tibetan mutton soup
mushroom with “Tsampa” - roasted barley flour http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsampa
and of course Yak Beef… why not?
Just came back from Tibet and man what a trip, the monasteries and people there are a sight to behold. Land’s a bit brownish so the religious culture is where Tibet’s at.
We touched down in Chengdu and was immediately greeted with psychotic taxi driving from the local Chinese. Lots of swerves, honks, rapid accelerations and brakes. Guys, guys, we know you are time efficient but this is suicide!
Interestingly electric powered bicycles and motorcycles are everywhere and these babies do run ultra silent! Please be careful of them coming up silently behind your back.
We tried a “gong boh” biscuit and it’s delicious
Shopping district in Chengdu is hot and lively
And here there are delicacies such as “Duck neck”!
We had hot pot with Si Chuan sauce and it IS hot!
Bubble milk tea is quite popular here, all from Taiwan, of course.
We stayed at Jingguan Impressions and the facilities are top notch.
We had beef noodle soup the next morning
and some yau char kuei too
Took taxi to Panda Research Centre and couldn’t help taking picture of one of many stereotypical mangled chinese-english at the taxi stand.
Pandas are cute http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu_Research_Base_of_Giant_Panda_Breeding
Can you spot the red pandas lying in the trees? They look like foxes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_panda
A human pretending to be red panda 
Some nice flowers at Panda Research Base.
Next we visit Jin Li street with it’s many food and souvenir stalls http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuhou_District
Just can’t resist giving a thumbs down to a modern brand in an ancient street!
One of many interesting local knick knacks - blown candy figure
We had our first and last ma po tofu for lunch, the original Si Chuan taste too spicy even for us http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapo_doufu
We had drinks in a tea house
to watch the face changing show http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bian_lian
Came across this place where talismans were place onto trees, apparently to bring good luck and ensure a safe return to the tree.
Our last dinner in Chengdu - sort of fast food but with chinese dishes