Yak Hotel Xigaze

... take over in 1959 Tibet<br>was pretty much a theocracy &#8211; the Dalai Lama was the political and<br>religious head of the country. When the Chinese invaded the Dalai<br>Lama was forced to flee to India and the Chinese<br>trashed<br>many of the monasteries and religious structures in Tibet during the<br>Cultural Revolution. Currently, there is a big push underway to<br>renovate the ruined areas. Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse however<br>did not ...

... onto to stay at this other place SHIGATSE<br>pass Gangbala Mt. which is over than 5000m, then to Yamdrotso lake which is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet (another 2 is Namtso lake and Manasarova), after visiting Gyangtse Kumbum and having a far view of Zongshan ruins. <br>Overnight at Shigatse<br>Feeling lonely miss home<br>Tried to find somewhere to eat walked about town and finally bought noodles and added boiling water for 10 yuan Cold night as windows rattled must be zero here

... old town street and the modern essentials on the outskirts. Bar the monastery, there was no 'tourist industry' and few restaurants or bars. Our hotel - in its hayday 20 years ago (we were told) - was a bit delapidated, and bar the monastery, there isn't anything in particular to do or see here. However, Shigatse is being rebuilt and extended. As we left, about 15 mins drive out of town, we passed the ...

... y la comparti con chiel. A mi me sento como un tiro, la cabeza me daba unas punzadas admirables. En frente nuestra habia sentados dos senores bebiendo cervecitas, y mirandonos sin cortarse un pelo. Parece que es costumbre aqui la gente mira sin importar nada, y descaradamente. A mi por un lado me gusta porque tu tambien puedes hacer lo mismo y cotillear a tus anchas. la vuelta al hotel fue en taxi, nos duchamos y a dormir.

... to the bus station and tried to buy tickets. we were immediately told that no foreigners were allowed on buses except back to lhasa...chinese and tibetans only. as we walked out of the station we caught the attention of a group of men standing around near an unmarked car. at first they asked if we wanted to go to lhasa...we said no, to tingri. one man said he would drive us there for 500 yuan. thinking it might be our only chance we agreed (after getting the price down to ...

... the walls of the various chapels. There were only 80 monks currently studying there, down from a peak of 800 thanks to Chinese restrictions, but the place felt like an active centre of authentic Tibetan worship, unlike Shigatse. The monastery itself was founded by the 1st Panchen Lama and a powerful Tibetan prince (ancestor of those Tibetan aristocracy from whom China felt compelled to "liberate" the downtrodden Tibetans ...

... to the fortress. There's not a whole lot to see here, and just as the monastery seemed like a ghost monastery, so too does Shigatse seem a ghost town. It was pretty interesting to wander on the mountainside near the monastery, where the rocks are covered with carvings and paintings, and pilgrims make their way on the kora of the town. Pretty much everyone smiles, says "tashi dele" (hello) and carries on their way, spinning their prayer wheels or handling their ...

... nella sala di preghiera, un monastero è come una città dentro la città. Quello di Shalu, per esempio, ospitava circa 2000 monaci. Quindi dovete immaginarvi un intero complesso costituito da più edifici (dormitori, cucine, sala di preghiera, sala dedicata al dibattito religioso, cappelle varie...) e dove ci si può anche perdere! Domani è prevista alzataccia e 10 ore di macchina per raggiungere Tsetang, e due giorni dopo LHASA!

... with the travel agency. During the process we actually built up an even larger honky posse. Our group had two Austrians teachers, Christian and Barbara, two American southerners working in Beijing, Erin and Laura, and for a short while with Amanda, another American who had been travelling on her own for some time--she had that crazy please-for-the-love-of-god-be-my-friend look. We roamed the alleys of the Barkor in a huge white pack, consuming enormous dinners at ...

... the capital of fertile Tsang region and the traditional rival of Lhasa. However, despite its many modern buildings, Shigatse looked like a sleepy place in the harsh midday sun, without a lot of people or bustling commerce. Here the Tibetans are dressed in clean, neat traditional robes; apparently they are ...