Shigatse Hotel Xigaze

... with that tour so we<br>left. <br><br><br><br><br>Had<br>a great dinner tonight at a hotpot restaurant&#8211; we all went out:<br>Allan, the Dutchman their guide (a young Tibetan woman they have<br>named Tinkerbell) and driver as well as Sonam and Pande. The<br>restaurant was in the new majority-Chinese part of town, which is<br>pretty cookie cutter &#8211; similar looking store and restaurants in a<br>row. But the restaurant we ate at was good. In the ...

... of food groups other than noodles are most welcome! <br><br>Our drive here brought us over several high passes, invariably decorated with a mass of prayer flags, affording views out over the seemingly infinite empty brown landscape interruped only by snow-capped peaks in the distance&#65294;The roads are a confusing mix of sputtering tractors and trucks decorated slightly alarmingly with swasticas (a 'good luck' symbol here ...

... expensive as the cost is usually divided by the number of passengers and generally a land cruiser can only fit four people + bags. so a full land cruiser tour to the nepali border will still cost about 250 dollars, not including accommodation and food along the way. that's a massive amount for china. considering the difficulties in not booking a tour, the amount could probably be justified...but i didn't budget for it and can't really afford it (here's where the lack of ...

We left Lhasa early in 3 jeeps down the Kyichu Valley towards Khamba La (Pass) at 4900m. The road had amazing views, and climbing up to the pass on a windy road stringing itself slowly up mountains was a gut wrenching, hang on to ur breakfast ride. The top itself was worth it tho, with a viewpoint overlooking a turquois lake and mountains etc. However there were loads of old ladies selling junk and men offering pics with yaks, they were a ...

... up to the hilltop fortress, which is actually the most striking feature of the town from any approach. I think much of it has been rebuilt, and it's largely empty. It was good for the views of the monastery and countryside, as well as the workout for lungs still adjusting to the altitude. It was the site of a key battle in the 1904 British (trade) expedition to Lhasa, and the site has kind of been hijacked by the Chinese ...

... to save the world, and I think I'm doing just that. I dole out my doses of Ocillococcinum, the best flu preventative I know of, and either save my friends from their terrible symptoms or get them horribly addicted. I figure handing this stuff out is also the best way to ensure that I don't get the flu so many in our troop have contracted. Being with each other 24/7 in rough conditions, germs float from body to body quickly. We don't know if it's the cold weather, the long ...

... priest still residing in Tibet (14th Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, along with many others). In Tashilhunpo hundreds of monks attended rituals presided by Panchen Lama; we also saw the Panchen Lama close-up in a blessing ceremony; he's a smiling boy of about 10 years of age protected by many security guards.