Tibet Pearl Star Garden Hotel Lhasa

... with colourful aprons of differing patterns. Many of these devotees had travelled from across Tibet’s far corners on a pilgrimage to come to Lhasa to pray at the holy temples. With the mass of people Meema led us through the crowd and pushing and shoving people who were tightly lined up to enter the temple complex. Many people were holding their prayer wheels, containers of yak butter and wads of small note yuans. Inside we paid our tourist entry fee of 85 yuan ( 12.50 AUD ...

... and all we could see were local Tibetans going about their business. The centre was established to preserve ancient Tibetan crafts such as carving, metalwork , weaving, dying and tent and fabric making.<br><br>The workers had left for the day so we wandered off into deeper and darker Barkor backstreet into real Lhasa. This is a fascinating place, with the most amazing smells, not all of them good. Glen and Chris talked us into trying the local street food, deep fried ...

... switched instantly as he became red-faced, defensive and outspoken in justification of his country's occupation of Tibet &#8211; a land that he asserted was theirs by right, having been re-claimed after years of unauthorised and illegitimate independence. And what's more, he declared, China are so powerful that they can do what they want! This, he stated, was the way of the world. His stance was determined, proud, inflexible and with his last point, (though I hate to admit it ...

... with sunblock. <br><br>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. <br><br>We went to Jokhang Temple the next morning. <br><br>Here we see prostrating pilgrims. The pilgrims travel from outskirts of Lhasa ...

... off the spout and water was spewing everywhere. OK, Pasang, time to go!<br><br>I asked Pasang to take a photo of us in front of the Palace. It is pretty funny, when we have the technology, Bill will post it for you.<br><br>The last place we visited was the Shabtan Lhakong. It had a screen with two fish at the entrance. There were statues of the Longevity Triad on the East and West walls. In the center of the room there was a sitting area and 2 elephant statues. Along the ...

... they get into alot of trouble with the authorities. You can also not go to any sights without your guide. Taking pictures is also a problem as you are not allowed to take pictures of any demonstrations or any police or army people. This is a little difficult as there are so many army troops marching around everywhere with guns and full riot gear that it is so easy to inadvertantly snap one of them. There are very few Westies walking around so you ...

... the most holy, untranslateable, bits). It was also mesmerising to observe some of the monks ritually contorting their hands into shapes and figures as they sang and mumbled the words of the scriptures. After a brief lunch stop in the farming town of Lhatse we entered the Everest region. Our aim was to visit the world's largest mountain from the Tibetan side where the base camp is accessible by dirt road rather than the 2-week overpopulated "trecker's highway" on ...

pour l'instant (03/09/2008), a priori, on ne peut obtenir d'autorisation pour le Tibet que si on prend un voyage organise, avec guide qui ne nous lache pas... exactement ce qu'on ne veut pas. mais ce serait la seule possibilite. Nous avons traverse le Tibet!! Nous avons finalement pris un tour par l'intermediaire de notre auberge a Chengdou, pour 500 euros chacun, soit 1/4 de notre budget total pour les ...

... buildings were still standing. Once packed with wealthy Buddhist monasteries, the city was converted to Islam in the 13th century, sacked by Mongols, then buried for ever by the European sailing ships that bypassed the Silk Road. Now nothing lived here, not even rats. We had wandered a whole long day in those ruins, in and out of palaces, through ancient gates, but only as we turned to leave at sunset did I have my second surprise. I had recognised nothing in this region, not even the ...