Tibet Post Lhasa

... we by passed the lines of devotees entering clockwise and we also slid past clockwise to the inside of this temple which was constructed from 7th century. It was dark and smokey inside with the fatty smell of yak butter candles lighting the inside. Thick old wooden beams and doorways were stepped through. Inside were walls covered in very old faded murals and at every turn statues of Buddhist deities and Buddhas which at every doorway and statue people were touching and praying at the ...

... and even hot chips, although the chilli salt was a killer.<br><br>Just in front of us was a place the Lonely planet says is very difficult to find, but we had just walked up to it. The Tsanking nunnery is home to about 80 nuns, all wearing the same red robes as the male monks and strangely with the same shaven heads. We were invited inside to a courtyard full of flowers. They use the flowers for medicinal purposes and are a centre for healing. The girls all headed of to the shop ...

... When I asked him what he thought about the worldwide condemnation of China's occupation and the support for an autonomous Tibet, he looked perplexed and refused to accept that such a movement existed. Clearly China's restrictions on free press and independent thought were tighter than I had realised, though how he had managed to miss the abundance of 'Free Tibet' merchandise on offer throughout Nepal was puzzling.<br><br>So I realised pretty early on that there was every ...

... or may live in Lhasa. They kneel, their whole body and the foreheads touch the ground. Jokhang is an icon in Tibetan Buddhism. This is the busiest temple. We did the circle walk around the temple, which is like a dedicated circuit walk. The stalls of goods around are very interesting. Not to mention the warm and gentle people that walk along with you. They meditate and they walk. Well, at least I am... and remember, prayer wheels MUST turn clockwise.<br>

... alot of attention. Some Americans arrived late on yesterday after getting the first train into Tibet that they let foreign tourists on. Bumped into an old German lady on the Barkhor kora. The German lady need needed a bit of steadying on her feet. Her nose and hands were going a bit blue so we told her to go and sit down and take some ginger and garlic tea (local solution to altitude sickness). She was so elated she was almost in tears telling ...

... Nepali side. We first made stop in a cozy guest house in Old Tingri from where we had splendid sunset views over the Everest Range and a large rising winter moon. Only interrupted in our marvel by a Chinese soldier wielding a stick who came bounding up the hill we were on to check our cameras to make sure we hadn't snapped the local military base and then, satisfied, spurted back to his base. 2 hours before sunrise the next day we departed on a dirt road jaunt to ...

... mois... C'est le moins cher qu'on ait trouve. Nous avons pris le train 'Lhasa express', avons teste l'oxygene dans le nez pour apaiser nos maux de tete, et sommes arrives la Lhasa le 28 septembre au soir. Lhasa etait comme j'aurais imagine Ulan Bator : assez calme, entouree de montagnes, dominee par Potala Palace, coloree et joyeuse. Cela dit la presence policiere et les circonstances gachaient un peu ...

... towns, but when I walked into the old central palace and looked up at the ceiling of the round reception room, my knees buckled. I knew at once that I had stood right here, in 1988. Never having heard of Shambhala, I had gone there anyway. I had already made this pilgrimage before. In the desert, a set of ruins, an entire kingdom, a moment in your life, could all disappear, and come again. The hidden was still present. An idea, like Shambhala, could wink in and out of legend, setting ...