Kyichu Hotel (Jiqu Fandian) Lhasa

... culture the lowest caste are usually the butchers<br>because their religion looks upon killing animals as wrong. Although<br>Tibetans can eat meat they just aren't supposed to kill it<br>themselves. Driving you see this mentality all the time &#8211; vans and<br>cars are constantly swerving or slamming on their breaks to avoid<br>hitting dogs, sheep, goats, birds, even little chipmunks. Since the<br>Muslims are not bound by these restrictions &#8211; they have a ...

... were crawling on the ground. Apparently, on their pilgrimage from their homes, they walk two steps, then prostrate themselves on the ground, then walk two more steps, then prostrate themselves on the ground. This is repeated for hundreds of miles, until they reach Lhasa. Talk about dedication. Many others were spinning prayer wheels. The street was lined with stalls selling all sorts of stuff. It was a bit of a tourist ...

... not have been better situated, although there was no inhouse massage service!<br><br>So we left the hotel and went straight to the Palace, traditional home of the Dalai Lama.<br><br>Lhasa is only 3650 metres high so breathing and walking around was much easier. We met a young Chinese girl from Hong Kong who had spent the first three days of her stay in hospital as she acclimatised. If you are considering visiting this area make sure you have enough time to adjust as it is a tough ...

... drinnen gibts leider nicht - da sind sie ziemlich streng - dafür hab ich jetzt mein eigenes Foto vom Potala auf der Startseite des blogs. :-)<br>Kann jedenfalls nur sagen, absolut beeindruckend wenn man vor dem Berg auf dem der Palast erbaut wurde steht - und ein einmaliges , unvergessliches Erlebnis. Allein schon deswegen lohnen die Strapazen.<br><br>Der Nachmittag f ...

... wir wirklich kaum laufen mussten, wir kamen aus dem Hotel und der Bus stand keine 2m vor der Tuer (wir wussten immer noch nicht so genau, warum den Guide keiner mochte, aber fuer uns machte er wirklich einen guten Job). Am Eingang wiesen diverse Schilder unter anderem darauf hin, dass man z.B. sein Schwert nicht mitbringen darf, Schade. Im Palast kam dann auch gleich ein Highlight der Tour, die eh schon ziemlich eigenartige Franzoesin aus unserer Gruppe pinkelte drinnen an die ...

... for the 5th to 12th Dalai Lamas (that for the 13th DL is sadly closed to the public, apparently it's mind-bogglingly huge, spanning several stories of the palace) and interesting 3D Mandalas. So who's the Dalai Lama anyway. I'm not entirely sure how it was postulated, but the Dalai Lama is generally recognised as a reincarnation of Avalokiteshwara, the Buddha of compassion. After one dies, there's a complicated search by high Lamas to find the next reincarnation and ...

... is my dream. We told them we would come for a visit to Copenhagen and Lake Constance. They all said yes, but did not leave their address! Back to the butter lamps at the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple. They are very large bowls/dishes about 12 - 16 inches in circumfrance with a row of candles burning in the middle, fueled by the butter everyone keeps putting in. We did watch one of the monks removing the butter from a full lamp, Len thought that maybe one of the local restaurants had ...

... jingling; lower down, by the greenish Lakes of Compassion, we would pass them taking tea. One long day downhill, through ice fields and under rainbows, another night with the Ancient Ones, and after three days we were back among the massage parlours and rancid hotels of Darchen. We had slain the demons of desire with our swords of wisdom, laid ignorance low with our overwhelming compassion, and achieved the special knowledge of wet feet. We celebrated in a restaurant with good whisky ...

... 20 per cent of our rooms are in service," he said. "It's tough on our managers." Although domestic tourists were allowed back in by the end of April, they have been discouraged by images of ethnic Han Chinese being attacked by Tibetans during the riots on March 14, as well as by the virtual lockdown of monasteries and other sites. Liu Jin, of the China Travel Service in Lhasa, said at least 3,000 customers had cancelled in the last three months. "We have been cancelling ...