Julian & Ali Travels


Lhasa, Tibet, China		Week 130 September 25th - 27th 2013

		Something about lakes.

		And clouds.

		And distant snow covered mountains.

		And roads to Lhasa ....

		The Jokhang Temple is in the "middle" of Lhasa. Surrounded by older buildings. Pilgrims circumnavigate it. A constant clockwise stream of people. We had a slightly different agenda and replaced our two house batteries. Not with AGMs or deep cycle unfortunately, a couple of starter batteries to get us home.

		But of course the attraction is the Potala Palace. Lit up like an iced cake at night.

		A similar clockwise procession around the base. We walked from the hotel with "Friday Goddess", our guide for the Palace

		We have to walk up the stairs. To the White Palace on the right, and the Red Palace in the centre. The Mint is not far from where we are standing but not on our route.

		No photos. Visitor numbers are limited. Cost is 200 RMB per person - it doubled last year. Plus 50 RMB agent booking fee which seems to somewhat flexible.

		Definitely no photos. Not even for payment.

		In a twist on the speed tickets our guide is given a time by which we must exit. An hour hence. Failure to exit on time and the agency isn't allowed to book tickets for a month. We have reached almost the roof.

		The White Palace was the Dalai Lamas living quarters. It also contained the printing house but we didn't see that.

		Not all of it accessible.

		A quick photo of scriptures in the library. The Red Palace contains stupas (pointy bits on top of sarcophagae) for several Dalai Lamas. A couple of chapels dating back to 10th century. Construction of Potala Palace started around 1645 built over existing structures..

		Lhasa from the top.

		The western wing was monks' accommodation.

		And back to ground level. Having failed to absorb the information provided we'll resort to the internet.

		We stayed two nights in Lhasa. Cities have little attraction for us. We did successfully apply for Nepal visas. We retraced our path west, along the Lhasa River.

		A different route to Shigetse. The railway is being built through here.

		We've seen one of these machines before. There's a mixture of tunnels and viaducts, criss-crossing the river.

		Occasional signs of habitation. Small terraced patches on very steep slopes.

		Stopped in Shigatse to eat. Pork and Mushrooms plus Green Stalks with Szechuan Peppers. Our first peppers this trip - we like them.

		But what got us into the restaurant was the smiling reception. Not a word in common! After Shigatse we tried a monastery for overnight parking but for some reason "no". We camped on some flat ground among the fields.

Sakya Monastery, Tibet, China		Week 130 September 28th 2013

Gateway

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