Days 12-14 Shigatse to Lhasa to Kathmandu then home Our drive back to Lhasa gave us a couple of hours to have a last look round the stalls around the Jokhang, and to pick up a few souveners of our time in Tibet. We were looking for postcards of the Potala Palace which were difficult to find, which just shows how far Tibet still has to go with regards to tourism. On a plus note, Mum was feeling much better and was even upto a bit of shopping herself. We split up from Mum and Dad for an hour or so [View Full Entry]

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Day 12 - Everest to Shigatse When we woke up, we felt like we had all had the worst nights sleep ever. Mum had been sick in the night, i had a mamouth headache and it was cold and frosty. The view however, was clear again, which meant that we had been lucky enough to see Everest two days running, which made everything worth while. We even got our postcards stamped at the worlds highest post office (which had been shut the day before). On our way back to Shigatse, we stopped at the worlds highest Monastery in Rongbuk, which is [View Full Entry]

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Day 11 - Shergar to Rongbuk (EBC) The day started with a Chinese breakfast consisting of soup (a bit like rice pudding), with a plain dumpling. Needless to say, no-one ate very much and we were glad for the cereal bars we had brought from home. The condition of the roads deteriorated unto dirt tracks full of potholes and boulders, meaning the our driver had to concentrate on every move. We made our way upto the La Pang Pass to catch our first glipse of Everest and the surrounding mountains. The view was breathtaking, and we were able to see Everest [View Full Entry]

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Day 9 - Lhasa to Shigatse Today was a long driving day along the Friendship Highway. The plus points were that the roads were mainly tarmac, but how they got a wagon up there to do it was beyond us! We stopped for lunch at an interesting restaurant, which was to be the first of many where the rice is cold when you get it, the tea is lukewarm, and the menu leaves you wondering what you have actually ordered! Along the way we passed through Gyantse and stopped to see the Kumbum Temple and monestary. The monestary still has a [View Full Entry]

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Day 10 We had breakfast at the same restaurant from the previous day, but we didn't get any choice - it was plain omlelette and chips all round. Our day started with a visit to the Tashilhunpo Monastery which was just next door to our hotel. This monastery was one of the best ones we had seen, and is the main monastery of the Panchen Lama. He is the next most important Lama after the Dalai Lama, and is at present under house arrest in Bejing. The day was beautiful and sunny, which made the golden roof of the temple stand [View Full Entry]

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Day 8 - The Jokhang and Potala Palace At the advice of the Guide, who was slightly worried about the effects of altitude on us all, we opted to visit the Jokhang in the morning as there were steps to be climbed at the Palace. The walked from our hotel and down a guarded side street towards the main area called the Barkhor. We were met by the sight of hundreds of pilgrims walking clockwise round the temple quietly chanting to themselves, clutching a set of beads similiar to a rosary. Some of these people had walked for weeks to get [View Full Entry]

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Day 7 - Kathmandu to Lhasa Our drive to the hotel was probably one of the quietest journeys we had made, and it only took us 15 minutes to get there. Armed with our precious Tibet Group Visa, we paid the departure tax and queued up to check in. If we thought we might struggle with baggage, this was nothing to the group next to us that were checking in bicycles and all their kit. They were cycling from Lhasa to Kathmandu! To say that security was tight was an understatement. I think we were each frisked on 4 seperate occasions, [View Full Entry]

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Day 6 - Pokhara to Kathmandu After we had finished breakfast, we said goodbye to our Guide, who had been excellent, and who had done his best to give us an insight into both the Buddist and Hindu religion, and set off on the road back to Kathmandu. The journey back was no less arduous than the way there, as once again the roads were full of trucks (road kings), buses and mad motorcyclists, interspersed with the odd cow wandering in the middle of the road! It's all part of normal life in Nepal. We did have a brief interlude on [View Full Entry]

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Day 5 - Pokhara Our day started once again with a very early start to view the sunrise over the snow covered mountains of the Annapurna range and in particular the fishtail mountain. Our bus took us part way up the hill to get the best view. Luckily the weather was perfect, and we were able to see daylight break and sun rise hit the tops of each of the snow covered peaks. All this was before breakfast! After breakfast, we went down to the lake, and a boatman punted us across the lake to the other side so we could [View Full Entry]

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Once again thanks for the messages - sorry the photos are a bit scarce, but the connection speed is that of a Yak! - we'll keep trying. Day 4 - Pokhara We did get up for the sunrise, but it was too cloudy to see anything. We were hoping that the mountains of the Himalyas would reveal themselves at some point later on. The drive down the mountain was "charachter building" and it was a good job we had travelled up in the dark. The road to Pokhara was approx 200km, which was behind transporter wagons with a maximum speed of [View Full Entry]

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