Min Shan Jin Sheng Hotel Lhasa

... refers<br>to China's desire to transform Lhasa into a modern tourist town as<br>&#8220;cultural genocide&#8221; and we quickly begin to see his point.<br>Second, there are Chinese soldiers in full riot gear (including<br>rifles) standing at entrances to the old quarter. Our hotel is<br>actually in the Muslim section of the old quarter &#8211; which is extra<br>interesting. According to the guidebook there are about 2000 Muslims<br>who live in this area. Since today is ...

... br>woman, with the lake at the heart. In order to build the temple, she suggested that they kill the old woman by filling in the lake. They were supposed to use 1,000 sheep to carry the soil. Those must have been some pretty strong sheep! The temple is really cool though. It is actually a large complex, and it was filled with pilgrims that had come from all parts of Tibet. There is a long passageway that had paintings ...

... unique history.<br><br>The Chinese to their credit have decided enough is enough and have recognised the value of the old town to both the small international tourist market and the developing inbound domestic tourist potential. More than 1 million Chinese visit each year filling the coffers of the state run bus and travel companies and the government run hotels in Lhasa. <br><br>To be honest you just do not see the domestic tourists as your attention is simply focussed on all things ...

Gestern hab´ ich das nicht mehr geschafft.... weu i woa hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii !<br>Aber eins nach dem anderen.<br><br>Der Morgen hat eigentlich ganz gut begonnen - hab eine Kleinigkeit zum Frühstück runtergebracht , und um 10 war Treffpunkt im Yakhotel mit der Gruppe - am Programm der Potala - also sicher eines der Highlights meiner Reise. <br>Wären die Chinesen vor 50 Jahren ...

... saw a monk blessing a new car for someone.<br><br>We did not see any more of Sera Monastery. We were told that the buildings are closed while the debates occur. I think we were taken out because of the schedule. Too bad, I think it would have been good to see some more.<br><br>We were taken to Norbulingka Park. It is the summer palace of the Dalai Lama. It was founded by the 7th Dalai Lama in 1755 and has been expanded since.<br><br>There is a nicely maintained public ...

... die tibetischen Teigtaschen "Momo" zu bestellen endete entweder in Schulterzucken oder Lachen. Am Ende wurde dann immer auf irgendein anderes Restaurant gezeigt, um den schwarzen Peter denen zuzuschieben. Nach einigem hin und her hatte ich dann aufgegeben "Momos" zu ordern, aber ein sensationelles tibetisches Brot, gefuellt mit etwa 1kg Fleisch bekommen (und hinerher Bauchschmerzen, weil es wohl eher fuer eine tibetische Grossfamilie gedacht war.) Am naechsten Morgen haben wir ...

... a bonus. Thankfully we were spared this treatment but still granted a peek. The next morning we visited the magnificent Potalla Palace, now a mere museaum and nothing near the bustling hub of political and ecclesiastical power it represented during the reign of the Dalai Lamas. It is situated on a hill overlooking the city, on a sight were the fabled King Songtsen Gampo built a simple fort around a meditational cave in the 7th century. The great fifth Dalai Lama then ...

Our evening was spent having dinner with two mature men from the Lake Constance area of southern Germany and two young men from Copenhagen Denmark. As the regular dinning room was being used for some sort of meeting or banquet we were moved to the 3rd floor dinning room. It was a small room with one table for 10 in it. Not too many guests at the hotel!! We had spoken with the two Germans the previous evening and asked about the food at the hotel and of course their journey. The two ...

... balls of yak butter mixed with tsampa, or barley flour, from his own fingertips. 'Think only of others and you may reach Shambhala some day.' I wanted some outright encouragement, but when I pressed, the abbot burst into song. We hiked that second day in the company of the wildest creatures we would see in Tibet: five tall, handsome nomads in brocaded robes, leading packhorses covered with bells. The women had braided their hair with cockle shells, coral, jade and silver. The men wore ...

... Zhang Qingli, a noted hardliner, said: "Tibet's sky will never change and the red flag with five stars will forever flutter high above it. We will certainly be able to totally smash the splittist schemes of the Dalai Lama clique." The IOC and China have both rejected calls for boycotts of the Beijing Games insisting that politics and sport should be kept separate, a principle Mr Zhang's speech seemed to contradict. A spokeswoman for the Games said Mr Zhang's remarks, if ...