26.10.07: - Today is our last day in Nepal & I spent most of my time updating the blog. In fact I set a new record in the Internet cafe of 5 hours, hilar!
Both Drew & I then went to the Radisson to have dinner with Catherine, Terry & Anne. It was a lovely hotel, something that our budget would not stretch to I'm Afraid. However we enjoyed the company & the all you can eat BBQ, the meat was so fresh & marinade in some fab spices. We had a really enjoyable evening.
Well as I said today is our last day & we are both sad to be leaving such a beautiful country & hope that we have the funds to return one day.
We have visited some wonderful towns & quiet villages & met many people along the way, with whom a few we are staying in contact with.
Nepal is a surprising country, one with such tradition & deep in culture. A country that once visited you will never forget, for all the right reasons.
27.10.07: - Slept in, ooops, but still had enough time to get our belongings together. Our time @ Nepal airport was short & sweet & also very organised. To our amazement we were able to get the last two seats on the left hand side of the plane, to get the great views of Mt Everest, Drew was very happy. The views from the plane did not disappoint, the sky was clear above the clouds so we were able to get some magnificent pictures of the highest point in the world, with snow dust dancing in the Jet Stream.
Our flight was short with only a little turbulence & we arrived @ Lhasa airport just after 14.00 which is 2.5 hours ahead of Nepal. Lhasa airport is so clean, modern & organized & we had no problem with our group visa of two. Security only let you out it seems if you have a tour guide waiting for you on the other side. Once outside we feel the heat of the afternoons sun & notice immediately the bright blue sky & clean sir, although a little low on the oxygen as we are now @ 3800m above sea level. Both of us feel ok @ the mo with just slight sinus problem. Our tour guide tells us to take it slow & do not rush things. Once on the road we see how China has developed the conditions of the roads, for once we have a bump free ride.
We come into Lhasa & we are both amazed by how modern the city is, car dealerships, glitzy hotels & department stores. In the distance we can see a fabulous white building "Potala Palace". It stands tall and looks like it has been carved into rock with no beginning or end!
The Yak Hotel is located on the left hand side of the main street Dekyi Shar Lam & we are pleasantly surprised with our room, not quite the radisson, but it is the best hotel we have stayed in so far. Ornate tibetan wood carvings make the room feel gozy while the paintings on the walls are intriguing.
After a short rest we take a very slow walk of 45mins to Potala Palace. You are warned by your body to walk slower once you start feeling dizzy. We have been taking Diamox for the last few days & will continue to take them for the next couple of days, I think they may of helped! Anyway I digress the reason for walking to the Potala Palace was to try & buy tickets for the following day. Once we found the correct gate, we were told to come back tomorrow as they had all sold out.
We head back to the hotel via a supermarket and end up buying plenty of water, coffee, dried bananas & peanuts @ a total of 3.00 pounds, bargain.
28.10.07: - Well we did not do well this morning, we woke up @ 7.57. we obviously needed the sleep. you don't realise how tired the high altitude makes you. Anyway we quickly had breakfast & confirmed with our travel agent that we have the train tickets. Which we do, what a relief. We also book another 2 nights @ the Yak hotel. As to be honest with you the room is great & we can not be bothered to move. Now for the challenge to get our voucher for the Potala Palace tomorrow. We headed back to the place where we saw the people yesterday, only to be told to go round the corner of the Palace. Basically this is what we had to do, we went to the west gates near the stupas @ 10.30am & managed to get a voucher for tomorrow @ an allocated time of 12.40. I beleive that vouchers are available from 8.00am & it is 1st come 1st served. You do not pay any money @ this point, you pay 100 Yuan when you turn up @ the main gate. After our Potala problems we walk through the peoples park & head into another supermarket. This time we buy our lunch of noodles @ a massive 25p. back @ the hotel we boil the kettle & slurp up the tasty noodles, cheap & satisfying. We have a litlle rest after lunch so we do bot feel too dazed for our afternoons outing.
We start the afternoon by heading to the Jokhang temple & Barker Square, considered to be the most holliest place in Tibet. At first we find Jokhang temple where about 50 pilgrims are continuosly lying down to pray, it is amazing to watch. Then we turned to face people walking towards us, they were walking anti clockwise around the temple, praying & thunbling with their prayer beads. Before we new it we had been swept along in this mesmorizing walk.
Ramoche temple was next on our agenda so we walked yet again in the heat of the afternoons sun. We paid 20Y per person to get into the temple & for us it was well worth it. As we walked into the temple a monk calls us over & points us in the correct direction. However we were not expecting to see what we did, behind two sets of double doors, we enter the monks prayer room. All of a sudden we felt like we were trespassing in someones home. We were the only ones in there & the silience was deafening. After our initial shock I for one felt peace & tranquility. Such an unforgettable event.
29.10.07: - Today we got up @ about 8.00, we can not get enough sleep at the moment. Hey I'm not complaining I like my sleep. This morning was spent walking around the superb potala Palace Park called Lukhang Park. We followed the pilgrims in their walk around the palace & then made a quick exit when we needed to enter the park. This is very modern & clean with many willow tress planted by the side of the paths, kind of reminds me of central park. Music plays out in every corner, speakers are hidden in plastic mushrooms. WE found the park very relaxing & decided to have a picnic in the shadow of the Potala Palace.
Once lunch was finished we headed into the Potala Palace. To get to the palace entrance you have to climb a small incline that zig zagged up. The views are amazing & well worth the effort. Inside the Palace we follow our insighte Tibet guide which tells us little sippets of history. The short synopsis's on the walls also give you some insight into this amazing building.
I find it incredible that there is so much wealth within the palace. All passed Dalai Lamas have their tombs here, (apart fromt eh 6th who died mysteriously on the road to China) many of the tombs are covered in gold & encrusted with jewels such as diamonds, pearls, turquoise, coral etc. The tallest tomb belongs to the 5th Dalai Lama & is 14m high & is gilded with more than 3 tons of gold. Unfortuantly we were unable to take any pictures inside of the palace, I did not even get to take a sneaky one as there are guards in every room you visit. Leaving the Potala palace we leave the impressive rooms smelling of burning Yak butter behind & head back to our hotel room for another pot noodle.
30.10.07: - Today is our last day in Tibet & I am sad that we do not have more time to explore the surrounding areas, but we must move on. We have been updating the blog, adding pictures etc @ an excellent place called Liu Xing Ineternet Cafe one ht same side of the road as the Yak hotel heading away from the Potala Palace. It only costs 3Y for an hour, thats about 25p. The only problem is we have to ask advice as the computers are set to chinese, you soon learn though.
Tibet is a place that has been taken over by the chinese, but if you look hard enough & go behind the surface facade you will find a touch of the true Tibetin lifestyle hiding. Don't get me wrong the chinese have done an incredible amount to this country & not all is bad. You just have to accept that Tibet has changed, maybe if we had made it outside of Lhasa we would have found the true Tibet!
