Dhood Gu Lhasa

... and there are slopes, hills and steps everywhere.

There are 6 people on our tour, besides our giant Australian guide, and we're all getting along amiably, which is generally quite agreeable. I'm bunking with Thanh, from London (Vietnamese born Chinese, Buddhist). Mark and Sara are here after the Orient Express (also London, Jewish) and Ayel and Nadav keep us all entertained (father and son Israelis living in Miami, also Jewish). It's great fun all ...

... scenery (including some of the bluest lakes I have ever seen). People may rag on China about their oppression of the Tibetan people but I'll give them credit, they know how to build a road. Once we got into China, the "friendship highway" changed from the severely rutted, washed-out mess we had in Nepal to something that would rival anything in the US. The ...

... Nach der Rückkehr hat Song Li meinen Weiterflug nach Kathmandu am 16. bestätigt wohin es morgen geht weiss ich noch nicht. Ich hoffe, ich schaffs nach Gyantse - ansonsten lass ich die Zeit in Lhasa ausklingen...

....und jetzt gibts aber wirklich tibetisches Dinner ( diesmal hab ich sogar einen Riesenhunger !!! :-) )

... they get into alot of trouble with the authorities. You can also not go to any sights without your guide. Taking pictures is also a problem as you are not allowed to take pictures of any demonstrations or any police or army people. This is a little difficult as there are so many army troops marching around everywhere with guns and full riot gear that it is so easy to inadvertantly snap one of them. There are very few Westies walking around so you ...

... we popped into the carpet factory next door to our hotel and watched the merrily singing weavers at work. Quite interesting and certainly very cheerful. Afterwards Beat taught us the simple and fun Swiss game of "Arschloch" which we were to play most evenings around the fire as nighttime temperatures sank lower and lower. Xigatse - Old Tingri Our next stop was to be the last monastery on our trip, Sakya monastery, seat of one of the oldest orders of Tibetan ...

... choses. Le 29 nous sommes restes a Lhasa et, ne voulant pas visiter les endroits touristiques, notre guide nous a emmenes a l'orphelinat de son ami. Super experience! Le 30 nous avons pris la route et sommes montes a plus de 4000m d'altitude et avons vu le mont Everest, de loin pas plus impressionnant ni plus beau que les autres pics de plus de 8000m. Nous avons dormi dans une auberge tres modeste. Nuit ...

... towns, but when I walked into the old central palace and looked up at the ceiling of the round reception room, my knees buckled. I knew at once that I had stood right here, in 1988. Never having heard of Shambhala, I had gone there anyway. I had already made this pilgrimage before. In the desert, a set of ruins, an entire kingdom, a moment in your life, could all disappear, and come again. The hidden was still present. An idea, like Shambhala, could wink in and out of legend, setting ...

... buy barley ground up at most health food shops, just bake it at a low temperature to make it parched, or use without the palava. The second recipe requires a decent amount of honey. Both recipes don't take too long, but for a long, slow recipe that requires very little work, look at my next entry. If you haven't made bread ever before, have a look at this page for nice instructions: Also instructions on bread making at: http://www ...