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Rongbuk Monastery
At the foot of Mt Everest, the highest monastery in the worldDue to the flight disruption in Europe our Tibet tour only had 1 other person, a small "group" then. Having cleared the formalities of immigration we were then allowed to meet our Tibetan guide, Ms Pema, and our driver Mr PuPu (pronounced as you would imagine)!
After Nepal, Lhasa was a surprise; modern, clean, well ordered, a relaxing place to wander around. Although, as it's at an altitude of 3,600m, we didnt exert ourselves too much.
The highlight here was the iconic and magnificent Potala Palce (winter home of the Dalai Lama; now a museum). It towers 117m above the city and is 13 storeys high, divided into the white and red palace with some of the rooms dating back to the 7th Century. A wonderful place to wander aimlessly around for a few hours.
A common sight in Tibet is seeing the local people walk clockwise around the temples & monasteries with their hand-held prayer wheels. There are also countless individuals prostrating themselves around the temples (people literally throwing themselves to the floor every few meters - obviously not an activity we joined in with). Despite all the changes here it's heartening to see the culture and
The Potala Palace
The Former Seat of the Dalai Lama religion still ferverently practised.
Some of the main tourist attractions in Tibet are the monasteries. At one time there were 3,800, but now there are only about 300. One of the overriding memories of the few monasteries that we visited was the smell of the Yak butter candles burning away - a really rancid smell: just lovely!!
Our journey along the Friendship Highway would take us from Lhasa back to Nepal, and took us over various high mountain passes (5,248m or 17,217 feet being the highest) and we slept at our highest altitude ever of 4,350m (thankfully the hotel had thick duvets and a heater).
The food in Tibet was much better than we expected. Thankfully we managed to avoid the Yak Butter tea (black tea with salt and sour butter), but the altitude played its part and consequently we just had no appetite, managing to loose a fair amount of weight during our stay.
Our other highlight for this tour was a trip to Mount Everest Base Camp. After innumerable checkpoints (what do they think we are going to do - not attempt to climb it thats for sure) and 102km on dusty, bumpy gravel
Debating Monks
The Debating Courtyard at Sera Monastery roads the stunning views made the journey worthwhile.
It was fascinating to visit Tibet; a country which is still such a mystery to western travellers and gives you the opportunity to feel like you are stepping into a world from another time.
Our return to Nepal had its drama: monsoon-like rainfall, impassable roads due to multiple landslides & to top it all an indefinite Maosit-led national strike that kept us confined to our hotel for days on end!
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Shari Roth
non-member comment
It's all good!
It's all good... but the best photo is David riding a Yak! Well done. You seemed to have an unbelievable journey thus far. Where are you off to next? New Jersey right? I think that's what you said your plan was going to entail. Keep me updated as I love the feeling of pretending to be on this amazing journey. Stay safe, stay adventurous! Shari