King Sun Grand Hotel Lhasa

... many of them were<br>hanging out in the square outside the Mosque. The men were wearing<br>white caps, many had small beards, and the women were wearing black<br>velvet headscarves.<br>After<br>checking in our room &#8211; although still no heat &#8211; there is a huge<br>window facing south that lets in the sun not to mention an electric<br>blanket--yes!!! <br><br><br><br><br>In<br>our section there are tons of butcher shops &#8211; as Sonam explained to<br>us in ...

... the temple being built. I tried to get some photos of it, but they didn't turn out too well because of all of the people. <br>After we visited Jokhang Temple, our guide took us to visit Barkhor Street. It wasn't a far walk, because it is a round road that surrounds the temple. I had a lot of fun there. It was packed with tourists, Buddhist Monks, and pilgrims. It was a really neat mixture of peoples. Many of the ...

... The Chinese have provided an extensive infrastructure that allows everyone to relax and enjoy this unique place. This blog is not the place to examine the rights and wrongs of the last fifty years of Tibetan history. Have a wander around the net for more information. To an international tourist the place seemed happy, well fed and prosperous. <br><br>Our hotel was right in the centre of town and only walking distance to both the Jokan Temple and the stunning Potala Palace. We ...

... nicht einmarschiert hätt ich vielleicht dem 14. Dalai Lama das Händchen schütteln können . So aber zeugt dieser riesige Palast von der Vergangenheit der Führer Tibets. Obwohl im Reiseführer schon gewarnt wurde , dass man durchgehetzt wird ( wegen der vielen Touristen ) kann ich das nicht behaupten - es war genug Zeit - und man war auch sehr oft allein unterwegs. Fotos ...

... outside which is in better shape than the grounds on the inside. The grass is very tall inside and there are lots of weeds. They have a lot of sidewalks torn up right now. It looks like they are updating the water pipes. <br><br>Kelsang Palace had a screen with a dragon at the entrance that you had to walk around to enter the room. A monk was in the room chanting while we looked around. There were thangkas with Buddha on them overhead. There were beer offerings for the 7th ...

... erstmal unser eigenes Fruehstueck besorgt, weil man sich eventuell denken kann, was auf dem Speiseplan stand. Stattdessen gab es frisches Brot aus einer muslimischen Baeckerei und Butter (auch nicht unbedingt eine Erfuellung, aber immerhin.) Danach stand dann der Besuch des Potala Palastes an, dem ehemaligen Sitz des Dalai Lama, also praktisch sein Wohnzimmer (aber anwesend konnte er ja eh nicht seni, weil er 1959 nach Indien geflohen ist!). Es war hier alles so extrem durchgeplant ...

... the Potalla Palace more or less as a mausoleum in the 15th century. Since then all Dalai Llamas ruled from here. The majority of the Palace (the white bits) were secular governmental offices and are closed to the public. The tour of the religious parts starts on the roof with a tour of the 14th (present) Dalai Lama's living quarters and then works it's way into the bowels of the palace. We followed the streams of pilgrims past 1000s of statues, huge funeral ...

... Danes were quite taken with our travel plans and our trip to Everest, so Len went and got the video cord and we showed our pictures to the group. They were quite impressed with the trek and how rugged the trails looked. It ended up being quite a friendly time with the sharing of travel trips and experiences. One of the young Danes kept saying we are living his travel dreams, especially when we said we would like to get a campervan and camp around Europe, he just kept saying oh! oh ...

... coats, laughed easily and had no idea what a dried apricot was. We were all shy, each party awed by the other. Together we crossed the notorious 18,370ft Dolma La pass, a place of symbolic rebirth. A lammergeier, one of the immense carrion birds found at Tibetan sky burials, glided overhead, mocking our heaving lungs as Seamus and I, ignoring the warning that powerful demons guarded the pass, sat down to a meal of Danish luncheon meat and Nepali cheese. The nomads went on, their ...

... accurately, were "regrettable". Leaving aside the future of Tibet's supposed political autonomy and the religious clashes over the role of the Dalai Lama, the protests in Tibet and the subsequent military crackdown have been a disaster for China's attempts to use tourism to develop the province economically. Zhong Chunlei, sales manager for the Brahmaputra Hotel, the only luxury hotel in Lhasa, said it had received hardly any custom since the protests broke out in March. "Only ...