A Rest Day in Lhasa

Trip Start Sep 01, 2007

Trip End Oct 22, 2007

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Flag of China Lhasa, China
Sunday, September 30, 2007

Yes it's true, we are having a day of nothingness. Hard to believe, even for us, when looking back at the active trip we have had so far. Actually we have a few more rest days in the itinerary ahead.

It is really good to just relax as the altitude really does take it out of you and every now and again we find ourselves quite "puffed".

We had our usual breakfast with waiters and waitresses scurrying around the moment we arrive and then delivering our food with flair and procession. It is actually a bit embarrassing but we all just smile and nod at each other and say intelligible things to each other in languages no-one understands.

While our room was being made up we went walking around the general area and found shops selling everything from duvets to primus stoves and everything in-between. We also passed a theatre advertising "Himalaya O2" with the strap line "Get some oxygen on your first night in Lhasa". It is not our first night in Lhasa so we decided to avoid the box office :-)

The rest of the day was total relaxation interspersed with a bit of clothes washing, packing and blogging.

In the evening we hailed a bicycle-rickshaw and, after a bit of negotiation on fares, headed off to the The New Mandala Restaurant near the Jokhang Temple where we ate lunch on our first day in Lhasa. We had a delicious meal of Nepali curry with rice, vegetables and nan bread while chatting to some fellow travellers from Germany.

For the bicycle-rickshaw back to the hotel we had a few drivers battling for our business. We chose the first one we spoke to and ended up having to give him directions to our hotel!

Tomorrow we are "on the road again", this time to Shigaste, the second largest city in Tibet.