Drepung – Monastery of Collecting Rice
The night of Day 2 saw heavy downpours at my hotel area in Lhasa. The guides told us that such heavy rain were pretty rare in Tibet and should be seen as positive omens welcoming us to the country. I stepped out of my room the next day morning feeling sick, weak and nauseous. I […]
Potala Palace – Tombs of Past Dalai Lamas
The day started with horrible breakfast prepared by the hotel. It was so bad that most of the tour people decided to bring instant cup noodles down instead. But the guests from a local China Tour seem to be pretty satisfied … perhaps we Singaporeans are too accustomed to our typical international buffet spread. Nevertheless, the lousy breakfast failed to dampen our […]
Jokhang – Tibet’s First Buddhist Temple
Finally, the last stop for Day 2. The entire tour group seems to be on a super fast track course on all things Tibetian. I am physically exhausted and I sincerely hoped that dinner will be good….btw lunch sucks too… The Jokhang Temple is the first Buddhist temple in Tibet, located on Barkhor Square (a great shopping street not […]
Norbulingka – Summer Palace of Dalai Lamas
Shortly after The Potala Palace, our tour group made way to Norbulingka Park, garden to the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lamas where they solved the political problems and held festive celebrations. Today, it has been turned into a park open to the public. Norbulingka (Treasure Park in Tibetan) lies about one km southwest of the Potala Palace. With a gigantic land area of […]
Acclimatization on the Tibetan Plateau
There are a couple of ways of visiting Tibet. You can either take a direct domestic flight from Cheng Du and experience an orgasmic 3000+ metres altitude and atmospheric pressure difference like what my tour group did or board the Qinghai-Tibet railway which allow you to slowly adapt to the increasing altitude (continuous but moderate […]
