Yak Hotel Lhasa

Rolling into Lhasa after a surprisingly short 18 hour bus ride, the Potala greeted us in the early morning hours. We stumbled off the bus, tired, cramped, light-headed, (in emily's case: reeking of poo) and in desperate need of a bed, shower, and food. We took the 30 second cab ride to the Yak Hotel (courtesy of a decieving lonely planet map) and took care of the basic necessities. As we planned our day, we noticed that the lonely planet reccomended a massage clinic only a few blocks from our...

The day where we almost miss our ride to the airport, are threatened with deportion, Andrew get altitude sickness, and hugged by a monk! We got up ridiculously early at 4.15am, packed all our last minute items and creeped down to the lobby while it was still dark. The doors were chained with a padlock (good fire safety) so we guiltily woke the night guard to let us out. I bet he hates people on the early flight to Lhasa. We had agreed on a pick up at 5am, so at 4.45am we were posted at the en...

Well, got the hell out of Chengdu early this morning. I'll say it again: what a dump. Arrived Lhasa a little before lunch, got dropped off near the Potala, and walked along to the Bharkor. Checked in 'The Yak Hostel' which has the flashest lobby of any hostel I have ever stayed in anywhere in the world. Still no photos, I'm afraid. Great little internet setup here at the hostel, very fast connection...no card reader. So I'll hunt around over next couple days. There is bound to be one somewher...

As promised, the dits that go with the phots... I've spent the last few days in Lhasa, acclimatising while seeing some of the sights. The big attractions here are the Potala Palace (used to be seat of Dalai Lama's gov't) Drepung monastery (used to be largest in world) the Barkhor and the Jokhang (circuit and temple in Tibetan quarter) The Barkhor area is just across the road from my hostel (The Yak) and functions as a market place, bus terminal, religious site, pilgrim route, and residential ...

G'day, short update this time: still in Lhasa. Have been crook as ten men for last 48 hours with delhi belly and associated unpleasantness. Think I am now on the mend, but expect to continue feeling fairly average for a few days yet. Not going anywhere until health is restored, so next adventure is well and truly on hold. In meantime, have taken my own room at The Yak. Did this partly to avoid disturbances of dormitory life (esp. room 1003, which was particularly noisy) partly to have a heate...

Hoy supuestamente teniamos que ir a ver el Monasterio de Drepung, el mas grande de todo Tibet, pero la guia no nos decia nada que nos llamara la atencion acerca de este monasterio. Y como ibamos a ver el segundo mas grande de todas formas, pues decidimos en su lugar ir a visitar el Monasterio de Nechung.

En este monasterio, los Dalai Lamas solian visitar al Oraculo, que ahora vive en el exilio en Dharamsala, donde tambien esta exiliado el Dalai Lama actual (el numero 14). Ademas, esta...

Nos salio el dia lluvioso, pero aun asi no se nos estropeo la visita. Empezamos en el Palacio de Potala. Este solia ser la residencia de invierno del Dalai Lama, hasta que tuvo que irse al exilio en 1959. En este palacio se encuentran gran cantidad de budas (presentes, pasados y futuros - parte de la simbologia budista), tumbas de Lamas pasados esculpidas en oro, retratos, turistas chinos en grupo... pero no hay un aseo decente. Este consistia en un par de agujeros con una vista espectacular ...

Vuelo a Lasa desde Chengdu.

Supuestamente, nos teniamos que acostumbrar a la altitud (3.600m) pero nosotros ya habiamos estado a mas de tres mil en Jiuzhaigou, asi que no nos afecto. Pasamos el dia merodeando el centro de Lasa y sacando fotos desde la ventana del hotel.

Largo trecho en el 4x4, con incendio en la carretera incluido (afortunadamente, no fue nuestro coche el que se incendio).

Got up this morning at 7am for the flight to Tibet. I've got to say it was pretty cold. How cold was it? Well, a tap in the bathroom that was left dripping overnight had produced a stalactite! We went to the Tibet Cafe where we were to be picked up by the tour agent from Khampa Caravans. Unfortunately he didn't show up and the Khampa office was closed. We tried to call them from the Tibet Cafe but they said they didn't have a phone! As our flight was due to leave in less than an hour we decid...