Blogs from Lhasa, Tibet, China, Asia

Today, I left Nepal and set off for Tibet. As a group, we were collected from the hotel around 9am to go to the embassy and collect our passports and permit to enter Tibet. Our flight was due to leave at 11:30am so it was a little bit tight in terms of time. Our guide left us waiting in the mini bus while he went inside to collect them, he returned to us around 10:15am and we still had a way to go to get to the airport and if the exit from Nepal was anything like the entrance it was about to be a complete nightmare! We entered the airport and went to the check in desk and were told that any batteries or aerosols in our check in luggage had to be removed and ... read more

It doesn’t matter how much you hear about China, nothing can prepare you for the adventure that lay ahead. Or so it was the case with me. I was just 30 days into my globetrotting adventure and my first stop in China was Tibet. Tibet has a troubled history that began in the late 1950s after the euphemistically named ‘cultural revolution’ was kickstarted by China. During that time hundreds of thousands of Tibetans were killed and many more were imprisoned. Tibet has a troubled history that began in the late 1950s after the euphemistically named ‘cultural revolution’ was kickstarted by China. During that time hundreds of thousands of Tibetans were killed and many more were imprisoned. Following the takeover, Tibetans were persecuted and the Dalai Lama fled in the 1950s to India. Signs of the ‘cultural ... read more

Abfahrt 8.00. Eigentlich eine ganz zivile Zeit. Aber in ganz China herrscht Peking Zeit und weil wir immer noch im Westen Chinas sind, ist dies eine Ortszeit von 6.30 ungefähr. Trotzdem war es schon wärmlich und das Beste: die Staßen waren leer. Gleich nach Tigri begann der Anstieg zu dem nächsten Pass, 6200 m. Den kannten wir ja schon von der Herfahrt, aber da war Nachmittag und eine wä'rmende Sonne schien. Jetzt war es nur kalt, auf der Passhöhe schneite es leicht und war geheimnisvoll neblig. Bis auf die Strassenoberfläche war alles von Schnee bedeckt.Es war wieder eine dieser traumhaften Fahrten durch den Schnee. Wohlfühlfaktor gering, Schönheit Maximal. Die Strasse ist in einem grauslichen Zustand, Wechsel zwischen Baustellen und Schlaglochpisten. Aber immerhin ging es stetig abwärts und damit wurde es wärmer. Shigaze, einst ein wichtiger Klosterstandort, ... read more

And away we go! Now that we mostly had our legs beneath us in China, it was time to get on to the main event: Tibet! After a final day of touring Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in Beijing we made our way in the evening to the train station, next stop Lhasa... We received our tickets and prepared to board the 8pm train, only to discover we were not all together for this portion of the trip...we were all in "hard sleepers", meaning 6 bunks in a "room" with no door, fortunately K and I were in the same berth along with Alex and Kevin, Maria and Jinba were in another car and unfortunately Erin was all by herself in yet another car...her first time to Asia, talk about cultural immersion! A real trooper ... read more

Day 10. Today we headed off for the highest fresh water lake in the world at over 5000m! It is a sacred site in Tibet. Beautiful winding valley road getting ever higher, so Oxygen at the ready! The lake is beautiful, still and surrounded by mountains. At 5,000m climbing a few short steps is unbelieveably tiring for me! Back down 1,000m for lunch stopping off to take photos of a small Tibetan village street and houses. The houses have ornate gateways and doors, the rest of the building being thick brick whitewashed walls. Along the walls were stacked Yak dung, which is dried and used for burning in the winter months. On to another temple called Sera Monastery, where the monks debate Buddhist scripture in a courtyard. Some are standing, others are sitting. The ones standing ... read more