The associate of the travel agent we had visited in Kunming to arrange our Tibet travel permits arrived at our hotel at precisely the time he said he would and took us to the airport and through the permit/ticketing process. Very soon afterwards we were winging our way over the Himalayas bound for Lhasa. The views out of the plane were spectacular with soaring snow-covered mountains and glaciers below. The approach into Lhasa was also impressive with the flight path following a valley bordered by very high mountains on both sides. Lhasa airport is about 80km from the city and we hire a minibus to take us there.
We checked into the Mandala Hotel, but not the Mandala Hotel we had previously planned to. We discovered a couple of days later that there were two entirely different hotels with this name within 500 metres of one another. The other one was right on the pilgrim circuit around the Johkang Temple, and it was here that we had planned to stay. However, our Mandala Hotel was fine too, and also in the Tibetan part of Lhasa, the only place to stay on a visit to Lhasa in our opinion.
Over the next few days we saw the sights in Lhasa. The highlights were certainly the Barkhor pilgrim circuit around the Johkang Temple, and the Potala Palace. The Barkhor circuit is tremendously exotic and atmospheric, with crowds of pilgrims from near and far dressed in all types of clothing, and many prostrating themselves on the ground as they followed the path clockwise around the temple. The Potala Palace was also an amazing sight (and site). This architectural wonder containing thousands of rooms was once the seat of Tibetan government, and also contains the tombs of many former Dalai Lamas from centuries past. All are decorated with gold leaf and precious stones, and the tombs and corridors are illuminated by yak butter candles.
Speaking of yaks, there are thousands in the countryside around Lhasa, and they are farmed here as beef cattle are elsewhere. At one café I had a delicious yak burger so good that we returned the following day for yak chow mein. Fusion food at its best.
We checked into the Mandala Hotel, but not the Mandala Hotel we had previously planned to. We discovered a couple of days later that there were two entirely different hotels with this name within 500 metres of one another. The other one was right on the pilgrim circuit around the Johkang Temple, and it was here that we had planned to stay. However, our Mandala Hotel was fine too, and also in the Tibetan part of Lhasa, the only place to stay on a visit to Lhasa in our opinion.
Over the next few days we saw the sights in Lhasa. The highlights were certainly the Barkhor pilgrim circuit around the Johkang Temple, and the Potala Palace. The Barkhor circuit is tremendously exotic and atmospheric, with crowds of pilgrims from near and far dressed in all types of clothing, and many prostrating themselves on the ground as they followed the path clockwise around the temple. The Potala Palace was also an amazing sight (and site). This architectural wonder containing thousands of rooms was once the seat of Tibetan government, and also contains the tombs of many former Dalai Lamas from centuries past. All are decorated with gold leaf and precious stones, and the tombs and corridors are illuminated by yak butter candles.
Speaking of yaks, there are thousands in the countryside around Lhasa, and they are farmed here as beef cattle are elsewhere. At one café I had a delicious yak burger so good that we returned the following day for yak chow mein. Fusion food at its best.
The younger members of our group also found time to go white-water rafting on a river somewhere, and Susan continued to indulge her interest in temples and monasteries, catching a local bus out of town to visit a couple more including the large Deprung monastery.
