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Published: April 16th 2012
Tibet was a life experience. I don't know if other people ever think about this, but there were many times during my travels around Lhasa where a thought struck me. The thought that I would remember these mountains and faces and monasteries for my whole life. The thought that the stories from different people and fellow travelers would be in my mind always. Dramatic, yes I know, but true. Tibet was a life experience. I felt on the top of the world- especially when I tried to climb stairs and experienced elevation sickness....
The first day consisted of flying for a few hours above the mountains. My face was glued to the window the entire time, and I am sure I irritated the people surrounding me with the click of my shutter as I attempted to document the beauty of the cliffs. After arriving in Lhasa, we were shuttled to our hotel (which was very beautiful) and were allowed to explore a bit on our own. We wandered over to a rooftop hotel and sat in awe at at the snowy caps of the mountains as we drank yak butter tea (I highly recommend not drinking this) and ate yak
Mountains
This was absolutely BEAUTIFUL burgers (I don't think I can eat beef ever again- this burger was magical).
The second day we visited two different monasteries and learned a lot about the history. The Buddhism style in Tibet is similar to Buddhism in India. We were able to see the debating monks, which was thrilling. Again, we wandered the streets of Tibet and marveled at the beauty.
The third day we visited the Potala Palace. It was breath taking on the exterior and impressive inside. The Potala Palace holds 8,217 pounds of gold and over 18,000 pearls and other stones. Later that night we wandered the streets by night and conversed with our fellow tourists in the hotel.
The fourth day was my favorite. We left the bustle of Lhasa city and took off to one of the three holy lakes. This involved a long drive through the mountains and many breathtaking views. When we reached the top of one mountain we found out that we had reached 15,000 feet (over half of Everest). The lake twisted a turquoise path in the valley beneath us and yaks wandered around (led by their owners). It was all wind, sunlight, cloud, and the
heady feeling of being very high up and looking down on shadowy hills and lakes. It was magical.
The fifth day involved a car ride back to the airport after a morning spent exploring the streets.
All in all it was a fantastic trip!
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anonymous
non-member comment
the poor yak looks unhappy :)