We could go on about the mundane things that happened to us today, like the miserable start when the hotel had no water hot or cold. The attempt at continental breakfast failed miserably, as if it had been imported from France 10 years ago and kept in a cupboard ever since. And the drive was excellent, with yet more incredible scenery as we continued our journey south-westwards, climbing steadily as we went through an utterly barren and arid landscape. Oh and as we write this we have a mouse running around our hotel room as well! But there’s no point [View Full Entry]

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After an awful nights sleep it was touch and go if we were going to be making our journey today, as Ed did not want to be too far from the bathroom. However after some salt and sugar solution and various things (we'll spare you the details), we give it a slow go. Firstly we visit the monastery of Pelkor Chode (built 1418) and the Kumbum Stupa. In the Pelkhor Chode we were treated to a very special sight of monks chanting in traditional dress, as well as many pilgrims bustling around us. The Kumbum Stupa was built in 1440 [View Full Entry]

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The day started with a 1,000 metre climb up a very windy road to a lookout point that looked out on to the Holy lake called Yamzho Yumco, meaning turquoise lake. It is an amazing view especially with the 7,000+m mountain as the back drop. At this height of 4794m we can see for miles as most of the other mountains around us are of similar height. Our destination for today was Gyanze or Gyantse. We had to head back onto the main road as the road from the lake to the town is under construction and there is no [View Full Entry]

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Ed feeling more human today meant we could go and visit the Ganden Monastery, which is 40km east of Lhasa, set in a spectacular setting at 4,500m high. The main reason why you come here is to visit the most important monastery for the Gelugpa order and to walk the 'kora' (pilgrim’s walk), which takes you around the monastery so you can see the fabulous views. The place was destroyed by the Red Guards and so nothing really is original but the view is worth the drive out there. We came with Poo Poo’s wife and elderly friend (it was [View Full Entry]

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An easy blog entry for Ed today because he spent the day in bed with a fever and 38.5C temperature. The cause? Perhaps, as Gemma’s Dad suggested, it’s because he can’t cool down properly with his new beard. While Ed was in bed, Gemma went with Pasang to two more monasteries today. The first was Drepung Monastery, which stands in the shadow of a tall mountain west of Lhasa. It was once Tibet’s largest monastery founded in 1416, and most of it is in its original state, so what you are looking at is the genuine thing. Gemma forked out [View Full Entry]

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Tibet claims to be the most religious country in the world, and we’ve got no reason at all to dispute that. It’s hard to imagine but at one point over a fifth of the country’s males were monks, which must contribute to the economic poverty that is all too apparent. We read somewhere that the average farmer makes just over GBP100 a year, and although this doesn’t tell the whole story - they can buy things cheaply and so survive okay - it does illustrate that Tibet is desperate for the extra income that tourism brings. Religion is such an [View Full Entry]

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500km we had to travel today and it started well with good weather and road conditions. We were even able to stop off at a beautiful scenic lake which is just set up for tourists to come and visit and get as much money out of us as they can. After the entrance fee, you can buy all kinds of things and varying types of boat rides on the lake. We’d been advised to skip some hot springs a few days ago because there was a better one coming up, and after visiting this better one it made us wonder [View Full Entry]

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Thankful for a long nights sleep, one we have not had in a long while, we wake up to a beautiful crisp morning with the sun warming up the peaks for a fantastic view all around us. The journey today was quicker, what with good weather, few landslides and tarmac roads, the recipe for a good journey. However we did come across a number of cows just chewing the cud in the middle of the road oblivious of the killing machine blaring its horn and as if avalanches, landslides, rocks falling great heights and livestock getting in your way, we [View Full Entry]

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Leaving early as we are rolling two days into one today, to try and catch up on our itinerary so as not to miss out anything in Lhasa. So we start our long journey, hearing stories from our guide and driver about other groups being stuck due to car trouble and weather hindering progress. The journey is slow today again and in the end takes us about 12 hours. We had a couple of high passes that created for some more white knuckle rides and with the amount of traffic we were passing coming the other way realised just how [View Full Entry]

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- Don’t know where we are - We both slept badly, listening to the rain continuing and knowing this was precisely what we didn’t want for our journey. It’s hard not to be a little anxious when you know you’re in the hands of the gods who decide which rocks will fall and when. We set off and made it past the previous day’s blockage, passing fresh but smaller landslides along the way. Although these mountainside tracks are narrow, which ordinarily would mean driving slowly, it’s best to get through danger zones quickly which means you drive faster. We think [View Full Entry]

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