Greeting Hotel Lhasa

... was 3 storeys high with 3700kg of gold and imbedded precious stones.

Pilgrims come from all over Tibet to visit the Palace, often begging all the way here and then giving everything they have in offerings.

Norbulingka - the summer palace of the DLs was built by the 8th and the new part was built in 1956 by the 14th before he fled Lhasa into exile to India in 1959. It was a sad place but revealing and evocative to see his throne, study chamber; he ...

... as I did not want to put on PJ's
As the dawn broke was amazing scenery, all sorts of agriculture. Amazing rods and tunnels all the way. The chinese have built amazing roads out to the nmiddle of no where
at the 1st day wore on the scenery became less developed and into vast plains of nothing, you go through the most wonderful section of Qinghai-Tibet railway, they say the railway ...

... with him chatting and he seemed just fine. After he was taken to hospital they said he had a heart attack after having a shower at about midnight. Annie accompanied him to the hospital and then tried to contact his family. He was travelling alone and had not family. Very sad. When Annie caught up with us at lunch she was very upset. Poor dear.

We continued with todays activities ...

... Napalese Consulate in Tibet. The architecture and decoration was traditional Tibetan and was furnished with the bright and colourful chests and cupboards that we had seen outside the shops along the main streets. The hotel was both beautiful and low key and we were surprised that they agreed to our negotiations for a 45% discount per night from rack rate - to fit into our backpacker budget. From the roof of the hotel we could see the Potala ...

... on brocade (tapestries)

At the rear of the Chanting Hall there is the Chapel of the Three Ages. There is a stupa of a Yellow Hat Lama from 1998 for Lhamnm Rinoch. There is a large Hayagriva at the right of the door with a red face and a large Vajrapani on the left with a blue face. There are statues of the 8 spiritual sons of Buddha standing along the walls. There are lots of stupas along the back with the past, present and future Buddhas.

Back in the ...

... first yak! He was standing by the water and was completely black. We saw many others along the way. There are ones that are black with white faces that freak me out, they look like skeleton heads! We saw a tern flying above the water and a black and white bird with a red head. We saw some long, low brick buildings that are cellars/storage for fruits and vegetables that belong to Chinese people for the markets. We were told not to take pictures of the soldiers ...

... wheels. These generally contain the above mantra written 108 times (an auspicious number), so that one turn of the wheel equals 108 prayers. The same applies to the stationary prayer wheels around Buddhist temples, circuits or village squares. Most ways of life in Tibet are deeply interwoven with Buddhism, daily prayers integrated into the working day, and a spiritual undertone can be felt in most daily activities in Tibet. There are regular holy days (at least ...

... car one time when we were eating and lit up. I turned and looked at him and plugged my nose, he got up and left the car. So back to our seats and we laid down in our beds. The husband was now sleeping in the bed and the Mom and son outside in the hall. Realizing we were sleeping, the son came in and was making loud noises just to get his parents attention. This went on for quite sometime and eventually the Dad got up ...

... challenges, but still offered the same geographical route. But the most affecting of the guides was a desperate letter, called 'The Knowledge-Bearing Messenger', written in about 1560 by a Tibetan prince, Rinpungpa, who included instructions for the messenger carrying his letter to the secret land: 'Take this message and go to my father in Shambhala. May my words of truth, conquering the mountains of dualism, guide you along the way and help you to overcome the obstacles that lie ...

... was a wonderful journey. Photos of Qinghai-Tibet Railway Cabin Soft Sleeper Carbin Soft sleeper berth Restaurant Cabin more click: http://www.tibettravel.org/