Lhasa Hotel

... barrier didn't seem to matter. Of course I did have my guide to translate, but I could tell that this was a truly loving family. The father gave us a tour of the home, while the women prepared dinner. It was all local food. At first I wasn't sure I liked it, but after a few bites, it really seemed to grow on me. We had what they call Tsamba. It is a kind of dough made from barley. They had it plain, but offered some sugar ...

... King Gampo in order to placate his new Nepali wife. She brought a Buddha image from Nepal when she became one of his five wives and needed a place of worship so like a good husband he obliged.

The Cultural Revolution left its mark and a fair proportion of the Temple has been restored. Traditional methods were used to rebuild, repaint and re-plaster so it is very difficult to see the old from the new. Add to this the smoke from hundreds of butter fires and things just seem to ...

... with sunblock.

I passed by a school, and I saw a mom in traditional dress holding her child in school uniform, I did not have the thought to take a picture of different generations, that 5 years from now will have different prioritites. If child is lucky, she may want to wear the same traditional dress.

We went to Jokhang Temple the next morning.

Here we see prostrating pilgrims. The pilgrims travel from outskirts of Lhasa ...

... the region's, frozen stores of fresh water and to the Asian countries in its watersheds is of global importance. Nearly 40% of the world's population lives in the watersheds of the Himalayas according to chinadialogue in the launch of a new reporting project, "The Third Pole". It says that people's ways of life, their communities, their food and water supplies are all under threat because the glaciers of the Himalayas are disappearing fast. Not least any ...

... On the way back with our pre-arranged pick-up we had a rather annoying guide and an "Inshallah" speeder behind the wheel. But they were kind enough to stop at a few picture spots including at the Last Resort, a mountain adventure place where we could watch bungy jumping. We later encountered groups of whitewater rafters on our way along the Bhote Kosi River back to the smog and dust of the Kathmandu Valley. What a great trip we had! And we were very lucky to have suchgreat friends and companions in Beat and Esther.

... bezocht. Best hilarische momenten, vooral tijdens de fotoshoots ... kortom een fantastische vermoeiende dag die niet zal beeindigd worden met een godendrankje ... geen bier hier ... Enfin, wat maakt het ook uit. Morgen alweer een drukke dag laatste dag hier in Lhasa. Ik wens jullie allen samen nog een fijne werkdag en tot later. Jullie steeds toegenegen burgemeesterskandidaat Toine 2012 for president

... the actual show to begin. This included various singing and dancing, some of it good, some not so good and one female singer who was really good, she sang beautifully in the high pitched singing tradition which comes from the Eastern part of Tibet. One of Tashi's friends, who also was a guide, had joined us for the evening, and he was more frank with us than Tashi about the Chinese military presence in Tibet, saying that he had got into trouble with the Chinese ...

... near the Rongphu Monastery (16,400ft, 4,980m). · Day 4 - Monday March 3rd Trek 7km to EBC (17,000ft, 5,150m) for sunrise. Mid morning leave for Tingri (14,500ft, 4,390m). Overnight in Tingri. · Day 5 - Tuesday March 4th Leave Tingri for Zhangmu (7,590ft, 2,300m), on the Tibet-Nepal boarder. After clearing boarder formalities find onward transport to Kathmandu. So there you have it. We'll start that little adventure within an ...