Blogs from Lhasa, Tibet, China, Asia - page 5

Potala Palast (Marco schreibt) Der Wecker klingelte und ich öffnete vorsichtig ein Auge, dann das andere und dann versuchte ich mich zu erheben. Kein Kopfschmerz, bisher. Bei Sandi war auch alles in Ordnung. Vielleicht verdanken wir das auch unseren Isomatten, die wir noch zusätzlich in die knallharten Betten eingeleg hatten. Heute ging es zum Potala Palast, der Winterresidenz des Dalai Lama und dem wahrscheinlich bekanntesten Wahrzeichen Lhasas. Bewaffnet mit 6 Liter Wasser trafen wir unseren Guide Zunam, der uns gleich eine schlechte Nachricht zukommen ließ. "No water allowed in Potala Palast". Verdammt! Die 6 Liter mussten wieder auf das Zimmer und mit Ihnen die Hoffnung den Tag schmerzfrei zu überstehen. Beim Potala Palast angekommen verstärkte sich die Vermutung, dass wir heute leiden würden, denn es hieß Treppensteigen. Gefühlt kostete mich jede Stufe ein halbes Lebensj... read more

Lhasa – A holy city, a people watchers paradise and somewhere China should not turn into the next Shanghai!! After spending a couple of days in Chengdu before my flight to Lhasa it became hugely apparent my appetite for large Chinese cities had pretty much vanished. After spending three brilliant weeks in the country side around Yunnan, Chengdu just seemed really disappointing and lacking some vital ingredients such as visible blue skies and postcard perfect backgrounds. Even though I splashed out a whopping £10 per night for my first private room giving me the chance to re-pack my bags and switch off for a while it’s still fair to say I was glad to be heading to Lhasa back to the mountains and lakes. Although the Panda research centre just outside Chengdu was cool to visit ... read more

Hey everyone, We've made it to Tibet, and just finished a buffet which should have been entitled “99 Ways to Cook Yak”. Stewed, fried, BBQ'd, dried, rubbed with tomatoes etc etc etc. Tibet: Home is where the Yak is. Which ironically enough in mainland China is the nearly the exact phrase used to derive home, except replace yak with pig. The mandarin symbol for home is actually a roof over a domesticated pig. Anyway this is primarily a picture blog – catching up on the last few weeks of photos. Too many to load, but I hope you enjoy. Cheers, Michael... read more

At 5.30am our trip to Tibet started… We were picked up in a little minivan to get from Kathmandu to the border. In total 7people (4 French, 1 Slovakian and us). All really quiet cause we didn’t know each other and it was to early… After breakfast we knew our group would grow to a total of 13 persons at the border. The drive to the border was pretty interesting....big cliffs and a dirt road, bouncing around in the minivan, dust, dust and once more dust! But we made it..At the border they kept warning us not to take the Lonely Planet of China or anything that had to do with the DL cause it’s not allowed inTibet/China..So there we walk over the friendship bridge between Nepal and Tibet a bit worried about what we were ... read more

Pictures of our last day in Lhasa, we woke up early and took a hike across the mountains with our guide. Pictured here is the remnants of a Tibetan Sky burial- a method of disposal in which the body is chopped onto pieces and ceremoniously left to be eaten by vultures. Also here are some great views of the city itself from the mountain. ... read more