拉薩 | Blue Lapis Road

EPILOGUE: FACES OF LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏)

Other than the spiritual monasteries, wonderful mountainous scenery and marvelous night sky, one thing we miss from our Tibetan trip is undoubtedly the faces of the Tibetan people. Their devotion to Buddhism, friendliness to foreigners, connection to their Himalayan homeland, and colourful clothing contribute to a unique and beautiful culture that we would always remember.

One face we would certain miss is the cute dog that always lingers at the entrance of Trichang Labrang Hotel (赤江拉讓藏式賓館).

Despite the presence of tourism, there is still a community atmosphere in Barkhor Old Town near our hotel, especially in the morning when locals comes out to get breakfast and grocery.

Near our hotel, delightful kids often run around the narrow alleyways.

And so as Buddhist monks who found their way towards Jokhang Monastery.

Vivid colours is everywhere to represent the unique Tibetan culture.

Large flag poles are pilgrim magnets along the kora route around the Jokhang Monastery.

The forecourt of Jokhang Monastery is always a great place for people watching.

Pilgrims on the kora route of Jokhang Monastery in traditional clothing and accessories.

Prostrating pilgrims express their devotion to Buddhism through their physical actions.

Pilgrim and prayer wheels along the kora of Jokhang Monastery.

Pilgrim and prayer wheels at Sera Monastery.

Pilgrim at the kora route of the Potala Palace.

And that concludes the posts on our Tibetan trip 2017.

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More blog posts on Tibet 2017:
JOURNEY ABOVE THE CLOUDS, Tibet 2017 (西藏之旅2017)
DAY 1: TOUCHDOWN ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD, Lhasa
DAY 1: TRICHANG LABRANG HOTEL (赤江拉讓藏式賓館), Lhasa
DAY 1: KORA AT BARKHOR STREET (八廓街), Lhasa
DAY 2: FIRST GLIMPSE OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 2: KORA OF DREPUNG MONASTERY (哲蚌寺), Lhasa
DAY 2: DREPUNG MONASTERY (哲蚌寺), Lhasa
DAY 2: JOKHANG MONASTERY (大昭寺), Lhasa
DAY 2 : SPINN CAFE (風轉咖啡館), Lhasa
DAY 2: NIGHT VIEW OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 3: POTALA PALACE (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 3: SERA MONASTERY (色拉寺), Lhasa
Day 4: KORA OF GANDEN MONASTERY (甘丹寺), Lhasa
Day 4: GANDEN MONASTERY (甘丹寺), Lhasa
DAY 4: TEA HOUSE AND FAMILY RESTAURANT, Lhasa
DAY 5: ON THE ROAD IN TIBET
DAY 5: MORNING IN SHANNAN (山南)
DAY 5: SAMYE MONASTERY (桑耶寺), Shannan
DAY 5: SAMYE TOWN (桑耶鎮), Shannan
DAY 6: YAMDROK LAKE (羊卓雍錯)
DAY 6: PALCHO MONASTERY (白居寺), Gyantse
DAY 6: WORDO COURTYARD (吾爾朵大宅院), Shigatse
DAY 7: ROAD TO EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營)
DAY 7: EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營)
DAY 7: STARRY NIGHT, Everest Base Camp
DAY 8: PANG LA PASS (加烏拉山口), Mount Everest Road
DAY 8: SAKYA MONASTERY (薩迦寺)
DAY 9: TASHI LHUNPO MONASTERY, (扎什倫布寺) Shigatse
DAY 9: ROAD TO NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 9: EVENING AT NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 10: SUNRISE AT NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 10: LAST DAY IN LHASA, Tibet
EPILOGUE: FACES OF LHASA, Tibet

February 4, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: བོད་, ལྷ་ས་, Barkhor, Buddhism, Buddhist, 西藏, Lhasa, people, pilgrim, pilgrimage, prayer, Tibet, Tibetan, wheel, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 10 (2/2): LAST DAY IN LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏), 2017.09.25

Our driver Sangzhu dropped us near our hotel Trichang Labrang (赤江拉讓藏式賓館) in Barkhor Old Town. After dropping off our bags, we stopped by the eatery beside the hotel for a quick bite. The friendly eatery owners, a talkative young couple, were excited to welcome us and chatted with us. We ordered a Nepali platter, fried momo and two cans of local beer to celebrate the completion of our road trip. The momos were quite delicious, and went well with the beer made with Highland Barley. It was the last full day of the trip. After filling our stomach, we didn’t want to visit any attractions, but spent time wandering in Barkhor Old Town, checking out souvenirs, watching people, and photographing anything that interested us, until the dinner time. For dinner, we decided to try the Tibetan hotpot at “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱们的藏餐馆).

After returning to Lhasa, we stopped by the small local eatery next door from Trichang Labrang Hotel. The young owners were friendly and talkative.

To celebrate the completion of our 6-day road trip, we ordered some local beer and highland barley wine.

The most delicious snack we ordered was the fried momo (Tibetan dumplings).

For dinner, we revisited the “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱们的藏餐馆), the atmospheric courtyard restaurant nearby.

Again we ordered the highland barley wine (青稞酒). The wine came in an interesting bird-like pottery jar.

The main dish of the meal was the Tibetan hotpot. It came with vegetables, melons, beef, ham and yak meat.

We wanted to linger around Barkhor Old Town for a little longer after dinner.

In front of Jokhang Monastery (གཙུག་ལག་ཁང༌། 大昭寺), pilgrims, worshiped on the stone pavers as usual.

Other than pilgrims, tourists also gathered at the Jokhang forecourt.

In front of Jokhang main entrance, more pilgrims gathered to worship, including some Buddhist monks.

The sky was getting dark but the Jokhang forecourt was getting even more crowded.

Some pilgrims preferred to stay near the large flag pole in front of the Jokhang.

Around Jokhang, groups after groups of pilgrims and tourists walked the kora in clockwise direction around Lhasa’s most sacred site.

The kora route was flanked one side by souvenir shops and the other by the majestic facade of the Jokhang.

Along the kora route, many pilgrims were performing prostration the entire way.

Some tourists treated the pilgrimage forecourt as a public plaza and sat on the pavers to chill out among the pilgrims.

Among pilgrims and tourists, chilling out in the Jokhang forecourt included this large and gorgeous husky.

We would certainly miss the spiritual atmosphere of the Jokhang forecourt.

On our way back to Trichang Labrang Hotel, we passed by one last time the store where we bought our bottled water everyday of our Lhasa stay. The next morning, we would take the airport shuttle bus near the Potala and fly back to Hong Kong via Chengdu. Although short, it was a delightful experience for the three of us on the unique Tibetan culture and magnificent Himalayan landscape. Hopefully next time we could have more time and travel further to the western corner of Tibet.

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February 3, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: གཙུག་ལག་ཁང༌།, བོད་, ལྷ་ས་, Barkhor, barley, beer, Buddhism, 西藏, food, highland, Jokhang, kora, Lhasa, momo, monastery, pilgrim, pilgrimage, restaurant, Tibet, Tibetan, 咱们的藏餐馆, 大昭寺, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 4 (3/3): TEA HOUSE AND FAMILY RESTAURANT, Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.19

Traveling to Lhasa is not complete without paying a visit to some of the city’s many tea houses and Tibetan restaurants. After returning to Lhasa from Ganden Monastery, we spent the rest of the afternoon at Guangming Gangqiong Sweet Tea House (光明港瓊甜茶館), one of Lhasa’s most well known sweet tea houses in Lhasa. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg defined “third place” as the place other than “home” and “workplace” where people spend most of their time hanging around to socializing. As a home away from home, a Tibetan sweet tea house is the venue where locals gather everyday for community news, causal chats, and a sip of traditional sweet tea. Located at Danjielin Road (丹傑林路) just a stone throw away from Jokhang Monastery (大昭寺), Guangming Gangqiong Sweet Tea House (光明港瓊甜茶館) is a popular mingling place for locals and foreign tourists. Once we stepped in the door, we were immediately overwhelmed by the animated atmosphere. It took us a while to find three empty seats at a communal table in the largest tea hall. From a shelf at the far corner we picked up three empty glasses. On the table, we each put a one yuan bill under the empty glass. Soon, a staff came by our table, took the money and filled our glasses with Tibetan sweet tea. From the serving counter at the back of the tea house, we ordered three bowls of beef noodles. As we chatted about the upcoming travel itinerary, sipped our tea and devoured our belated lunch, our eyes were rolling from left to right taking in scenes of lively interactions of local customers.

The vibrant Danjielin Road has many souvenir shops and restaurants, including Guangming Gangqiong Sweet Tea House (光明港瓊甜茶館).

We passed by a smaller tea hall where the ceiling was decorated with synthetic plants.

Other than Tibetan sweet tea, we also ordered beef noodles from the serving counter at the far side of the room.

Other than drinks and food, tea house is a popular venue for gossips and card games.

There were a few staff constantly walking around the tea house to refill for customers.

Also on Danjielin Road, the Tibetan Family Kitchen (更潘藏家廚房) is a pleasant place to get a taste of Tibetan family cuisine. Located on the second level of a residential block, it wasn’t easy to find the entrance to Tibetan Family Kitchen. From Danjielin Road, we found our way through a retail arcade into a tranquil skywell where a flight of staircase led up to the upper level. Stepping into the Tibetan Family Kitchen felt like walking into some local’s home. Beyond the entrance, the first thing we saw was the busy kitchen. We sat down at the communal table in one of the two dining rooms. On the communal table, two kids were doing homework at one side, while we sat at the other side going through the dinner menu. We chatted with the friendly hostess of the family restaurant, and ordered two dishes, a bowl of soup and rice. The food was excellent, and so as the interior decorations of Tibetan Family Restaurant. Surrounded by the walls of comments by visitors from around the globe, every single details of the interior design expressed a strong sense of Tibetan culture.

The Tibetan Family Kitchen is located on the second level of a mixed use building.

We followed a flight of stair up to the second level to reach Tibetan Family Kitchen.

Entering the family restaurant was like going into somebody’s home.

There are two dining rooms in Tibetan Family Kitchen.

Many walls in Tibetan Family Kitchen were filled with visitor comments.

All furniture and decorations in the family restaurant express a strong sense of Tibetan culture…

…including this traditional lantern.

We shared the table with two kids of the owner’s family.

Having dinner at Tibetan Family Kitchen really felt like being a guest in a local Tibetan home. Even the food was quite homey with nothing fancy but delicious and comforting.

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January 2, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: drink, 西藏, family, food, Gangqiong, Guangming, kichen, Lhasa, restaurant, tea, Tibet, 光明港瓊甜茶館, 拉薩, 更潘藏家廚房 | Leave a comment

Day 4 (2/3): GANDEN MONASTERY (དགའ་ལྡན་ 甘丹寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.19

After Drepung and Sera, Ganden was the last of Tibet’s three great Gelug university monasteries we visited. Ganden lies some 40km northeast of Lhasa atop Wangbur Mountain at an altitude of 4300m above the sea. Founded by famous Buddhist teacher Je Tsongkhapa in 1409, Ganden was once a powerful monastery with a few thousand monks until 1959 when much of the monastery was destroyed by the Chinese army. A further blow to the monastery occurred during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. As the ancestral monastery of Gelugpa (Gelug school), the abbots of Ganden Monastery are considered as the abbots of Gelugpa, and hence the most powerful figures in Tibetan Buddhism after Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. Despite its destruction in the 20th century, the monastery has been subjected to series of reconstructions which lasted from the 1980s until the present day. Today, Ganden is still very popular among the local pilgrims. The monastery is consisted of more than 50 buildings with prayer halls, monk quarters, colleges, etc. After the kora hike which passed around the back of the monastery, we had about 1.5 hour to wander around the religious compound.

Just like many Tibetan monasteries, Ganden is mainly finished with white and red paint.

Buildings are built on various levels on the mountain slope, connected by series of stairs and ramps.

We took our time to wander around the compound. Not many buildings were opened, but we were delighted to walk around and take pictures of the colourful environment.

We saw different groups of local pilgrims interacted with the monks. Some were visiting like tourists while others seek for blessing from senior monks in different buildings.

Despite most buildings were reconstructed, the atmospheric environment of the compound was spiritual and pleasant to walk around.

The traditional Tibetan motifs are present at entrance vestibules of many chapels and assembly halls.

Tsokchen Hall (措欽大殿), the main assembly hall, is an essential structure in the Ganden compound.

From the front terrace of the Tsokchen Hall (措欽大殿), we saw a large group of monks gathered outside the main parking lot engaged in some sort of rituals.

At the front terrace of the Tsokchen Hall (措欽大殿), two crows were attracted by the food offering on the balustrade.

With its golden roof, the Serdung (羊八犍) that houses the tomb of Tsongkhapa, is probably the most important building in Ganden Monastery.

The original tomb of Tsongkhapa was damaged by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. The new red building was reconstructed to house the salvaged fragments of Tsongkhapa’s skull.

We started heading back to the main parking lot half an hour before our bus departure time.

We walked towards the parking lot under the strong midday sun.

The sky was clear and the air was warm. The view of Ganden Monastery from the parking lot was spectacular.

By the time we reached the parking lot, the group of monks were returning to the monastery after some sort of rituals outside the compound.

The incoming monks were in a delightful mood, chatting with each other with frequent laughter.

On the way back to Lhasa, our bus stopped by another small temple for a 15 minute visit. We didn’t go in with the local pilgrims. Instead we stayed with the friendly driver at the parking lot, thinking of where to visit back in Lhasa.

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January 1, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: དགའ་ལྡན་, Buddhism, Buddhist, 甘丹, 羊八犍, 西藏, Ganden, Gelug, Je Tsongkhapa, lamasery, monastery, Serdung, Tibet, Tibetan, Tsokchen, 拉薩, 措欽大殿 | Leave a comment

DAY 3 (2/2): SERA MONASTERY ( སེ་ར་དགོན་པ 色拉寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.18

After a simple noodle lunch, we hopped on a taxi for Sera Monastery ( སེ་ར་དགོན་པ 色拉寺). At the northern suburb of Lhasa, Sera is a popular destination among foreign tourists where its famous debate sessions usually take place in the afternoon. Unlike Drepung where reaching the monastery required ascending the Mount Gephel, accessing Sera Monastery from the main road was just a few minutes’ walk. There weren’t too many tourists around. As one of the three main Gelug university monasteries in Tibet, Sera is consisted of a series of colleges, residences, and assembly halls on its 28 acres of land. Once with a monastic population of about 5000, the current monastery is a shadow of its past. Founded in 1419 by Sakya Yeshe, Sera Monastery has gone through ups and downs in history. Fortunately, the monastery was left relatively undamaged during the Cultural Revolution in 1960s.

Beyond the main entrance, we passed by the large stupa Tsangba Kangtsang and a row of prayer wheels circled by several devoted pilgrims. We turned left into a small alleyway between several small buildings and continued to the courtyard of Sera Me College. We entered the main hall and visited the upper deck of the building. There were hardly any tourists around, except a few prostrating pilgrims at the front veranda. We then headed over to Sera Je College, the largest college in Sera, and Tsogchen, the Main Assemble Hall, before finding our way to the famous debate courtyard. Many visitors had already gathered at the perimeter of the courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard sat a large group of monks all dressed in red robes. Full of anticipation, we sat down on the pavement curb behind the monks, hoping to witness their unique exchange despite we knew we couldn’t understand the Tibetan language. We soon realized that the particular day of our visit was an exam day for the young learners instead of a regular debate session. Instead of forming small debate groups, each young monk were given a brief time to perform his speeches and gestures in front of a panel of two teachers. It was interesting to watch how the young monks perform their hand clapping and speeches in attempt to win over the crowds and the teachers. We stayed for about half an hour before heading back to the monastery entrance and quickly hopped on a taxi returning to the Barkhor Old City of Lhasa.

There were more lamas than tourists at the entrance when we arrived at Sera Monastery.

The first thing in Sera Monastery we encountered was a large stupa and a row of prayer wheels.

We walked into a lane left of the entrance attempting to find Sera Me College.

The colourful monastery buildings were quite eye catching. We wandered into different empty courtyards before reaching Sera Me College.

The Sera Me College dates back to the earliest years of the monastery.

Like many other monasteries, the stair at Sera Me College was really steep.

The front veranda of Sera Me College were occupied by prostrating pilgrims.

We had seen this checker pattern several times at different Tibetan monasteries.

Next we walked over to the largest college at Sera Monastery: the Sera Je College.

We had a peaceful moment at the upper level of Sera Je College.

The flat roof of Sera Je College was also accessible, but we couldn’t stay for long because of the strong afternoon sun.

It was fortunate that most buildings at Sera Monastery escaped damages from the Cultural Revolution.

We then returned to the maze of alleyways and headed towards the Main Assembly Hall.

Dated back to 1710, the Tsogchen (Main Assembly Hall) is the largest buildings in Sera Monastery.

We rested a bit under the shade on the upper level of the Main Assembly Hall.

After Main Assembly Hall, we returned to the main path and walked to the Debate Courtyard at the far end.

Through the doorway, we could see the courtyard was already filled up with spectators.

The young monks walked out one by one to perform their debate speech and body gestures.

We sat down behind a group of monks for a while and watched the performances by several monks.

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December 6, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: སེ་ར་དགོན་པ, Buddhism, Buddhist, college, debate, 色拉寺, 西藏, Gelug, lama, lamasery, Lhasa, monastery, monk, Sera, Tibet, Tibetan, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 2 (6/6): NIGHT VIEW OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

Across the street from the Potala lies the 600m x 400m Potala Square (布達拉宮廣場). Every night, at the centre of the square the large musical fountain attracts a small group of spectators to watch the dancing water jets in front of the architectural icon of Lhasa. The once mystical scene of the Potala with flickering candle lights at each window is now replaced with consistent flood lights illuminated from below. Today, after the palace museum closes for the evening, there are hardly any light appear from inside the palace windows. In the evening, stream of pilgrims pass in front of the palace, and so as the busy traffic on Beijing Road, and groups of tourists by the musical fountain at the Potala Square.

We didn’t come for the fountain show, but for the water puddles on the floor. According to Pazu of Spinn Cafe, the water puddles of the musical fountain provide a great opportunity to photograph the splendid reflection of the Potala Palace. All we needed to do was to wait for the moments of gaps between the water jets changed their programmed movements. The uplights changed colours simultaneously as the water rose and fell. Beyond Beijing Road, the well-lit backdrop of the Potala seemed a little distant and lonely.

After a nice chat with Pazu of Spinn Cafe, we took a taxi to the Potala for its evening view.

Near Potala west entrance, we crossed Beijing Road via a pedestrian tunnel and arrived at the enormous Potala Square.

We walked to the musical fountain near the centre of Potala Square.

Then we waited for the photogenic moments when the water jets stopped and the tranquil reflection of the palace appeared on the ground.

Watching the tourist silhouettes posing in the reflection was quite a pleasant scene.

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November 14, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: lama, Lhasa, Potala, Tibet, Tibetan, water, 布達拉宮, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 2 (5/6): SPINN CAFE (風轉咖啡館), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

Pazu Kong (薯伯伯), a young gentleman from Hong Kong, traveled to Tibet in 2006 with Oat, his travel buddy from Thailand. They spent three months on the road from Thailand to Lhasa. Once arrived, they decided to stay at the sacred city and opened a cafe in the Barkhor Old City. Since then, Pazu’s Spinn Cafe (風轉咖啡館) has become a Lonely Planet recommended hub for travelers (from Hong Kong and elsewhere) to gather and seek for travel advises. Pazu also arranges jeep hire for travelers. We learnt about Pazu from his book “Spinning in Tibet, Selling Coffee in Lhasa (風轉西藏)”. Written in 2009, his book offers a glimpse of his interesting Tibetan experience. About a month before departure, we contacted Pazu for our jeep hire. We asked for an experienced Tibetan driver to take us to the Mount Everest Base Camp, Namtso Lake and a few other destinations along the way. Upon arrival in Tibet, Pazu told us to drop by Spinn Cafe to leave our ID for him to apply for our Everest permits.

After our visit to Jokhang Monastery, it was still too early for dinner. We decided to drop by Cafe Spinn. From Jokhang, it was just a few minutes’ walk to reach the cozy cafe at an alleyway behind the touristy Dan Jie Lin Road. At Spinn Cafe, Pazu was busy serving another group of Hong Kong tourists for their jeep arrangement. He looked talkative, energetic and friendly. We settled down at one of the low tables in the cafe. While waiting for Pazu, we ordered a specialty drink made with local goji berries, and toyed with a pulse oximeter on the table to examine the oxygen level in our blood. Soon Pazu came to sit down with us after he bid farewell to the other group of tourists. We first talked about our jeep arrangement, then soon drifted to Pazu’s hiking experience in Southeast Tibet, his recent travel diary in the Middle East, recommended alternative sights in Lhasa, social issues of Hong Kong, and so on, until Pazu had to leave and meet up with his friends for dinner.

Looking from outside, we could already sense the cozy atmosphere in the Spinn Cafe (風轉咖啡館).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA The Spinn Cafe (風轉咖啡館) is a great place to take a break after a day of sightseeing.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Pazu Kong (薯伯伯) was really friendly and informative as we chatted about Tibet and other topics.

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November 13, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: Barkhor, cafe, 薯伯伯, 風轉西藏, 風轉咖啡館, 西藏, Lhasa, Pazu, Spinn, Tibet, 拉薩 | 1 Comment

DAY 2 (4/6): JOKHANG MONASTERY (ཇོ་ཁང། / 大昭寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

Maggie and I arrived at the Trichang Labrang Hotel at around 2pm, and were delighted to find Angela feeling much better after a good rest. We decided to head out together for a decent Tibetan meal. Recommended by Pazu, the owner of Spinn Cafe in Lhasa who also helped us to arrange a 4 wheel drive for our 6-day excursion, we decided to go to a nearby restaurant called “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱們的藏餐館). We walked east from our hotel towards the Muslim neighborhood, searched for a while until finally arrived at the old courtyard compound called Bangdacang Compound (邦達倉大院) where the restaurant was located in the courtyard. “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱們的藏餐館) offered many options of Tibetan and Chinese dishes and we had a delightful late lunch under a parasol and atmospheric Tibetan flags.

At 3:30pm, we finished our meal and walked out to the Barkhor Street towards Jokhang Monastery (ཇོ་ཁང། / 大昭寺). At the heart of Barkhor old city, the Jokhang is often considered to be the most sacred destination in the entire Tibet. Despite not all chapels were opened in the afternoon, we still wanted to visit the Jokhang before it closed for the day. We entered the monastery through its side door next to the ticket office. Immediately we arrived at a series of courtyards. We followed a designated route around the perimeter of the central courtyard to reach the entrance of the main hall. Similar to prayer halls at other Tibetan monasteries, rows of monk seats occupied the centre of the hall. Small chapels with religious statues flanked three sides of the hall. The main chapel at the centre housed a small statue of the Buddha called Jowo Shakyamuni.

Considered as the most sacred Buddhist image in Tibet, the statue was brought to Tibet from China by Wencheng Princess (文成公主) during the Tang Dynasty in the 7th century. She came to Tibet to marry Songtsen Gampo, the King of Tibet. To consolidate the foundation of Buddhism in Tibet, Songtsen erected a monastery to house the Jowo Shakyamuni. Known as the Jokhang, the monastery soon became the primary pilgrimage spot for all Tibetan Buddhists. The oldest part of the Jokhang dates back to 652. Since then, the monastery had gone through up and down times, depending on the popularity of Buddhism and political situations. The monastery was damaged in the 1960s during the Cultural Revolutuon, and took eight years to restore during the 1970s. In 2000, Jokhang was inscribed in the World Heritage list as an extension to the Potala.

After the main hall, we walked one level up to the roof terrace, where we could admire the golden ornaments of the architecture. Unfortunately the roof terrace where visitors could enjoy the view of the Potala was closed for renovation. We could only wander around the roof for a little bit before heading back down. Our tour of the monastery was brief but it offered us a decent introduction to Lhasa’s history and Tibetan Buddhism.

Bangdacang Compound (邦達倉大院) was only a few minute walk from our hotel.

“Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱們的藏餐館) is located in the courtyard of the Bangdacang Compound (邦達倉大院).

We ordered yak meat and pancake.

The mushroom momos (Tibetan dumplings) were good and deserved a longer waiting time.

The forecourt of Jokhang is always busy with pilrims.

Inside Jokhang, the first courtyard beyond the ticket entrance was rather peaceful.

We walked around the inner perimeter of the central courtyard to admire the wall paintings.

It was late in the afternoon with few tourists.

Looking up, we could see parts of the golden ornament on the roof of Jokhang.

At one side of the courtyard, there was a seat reserved for the Dalai Lama.

Beautiful decorations could be seen everywhere in the building.

We walked around the central courtyard to check out the wall paintings.

The wall paintings had undergone extensive restorations in recent years.

Beyond the main hall were living quarters for monks.

After walking around the courtyard, we entered the main prayer hall through its old entrance door. Unfortunate photography was not allowed in the interior.

On the roof terrace, we were overwhelmed by the extensive golden decorations.

A long courtyard near the main hall indicated the start of monk living quarter.

On the roof terrace, the golden roof and decorations were clearly shown.

Details of the golden ornaments on the roof.

After visiting Jokhang, we walked over to the monastery’s forecourt where devoted pilgrims performed all kinds of worshiping rituals.

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October 31, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: ཇོ་ཁང།, Bangdacang, Barkhor, Buddhism, Buddist, courtyard, cuisine, 邦達倉大院, 西藏, Jokhang, Lhasa, momos, monastery, restaurant, Songtsen Gampo, Temple, Tibet, Tibetan, Wencheng, 咱們的藏餐館, 大昭寺, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 2 (3/6): DREPUNG MONASTERY (འབྲས་སྤུངས་ /哲蚌寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet, (西藏), 2017.09.17

Tsongkhapa was a famous teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, whose activities led to the founding of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism. Drepung Monastery was found in 1416 by Jamyang Choje Tashi Palden, one of Tsongkhapa’s disciple. He was also known as the second Dalai Lama. Soon after, Drepung had become a large institution consisted of lamaseries and colleges, forming a religious community of several thousand monks at the foot of Mount Gephel. Drepung remained as the residence of Dalai Lama until the 5th Dalai Lama moved to Lhasa’s Potala Palace. Today, a few hundred monks resided at Drepung. Compared to many Tibetan monasteries, damages caused by the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s was relatively small for Drepung.

Along with Ganden Palace, the residence established by the second Dalai Lama, the four Dratsang (college and administrative organization) still exist today at Drepung Monastery. After our kora hike, we started our brief visit of Drepung from Gomang College (果芒扎倉). As one of the four Dratsang, Gomang has its own main Sutra Hall and a number chapels. We were able to visit most of these spaces, including the flat roof above the Sutra Hall, despite we could not take photos inside the building. We spent roughly two hours to wander around Drepung Monastery and its main buildings, including Loseling College (洛色林扎倉), Tsogchen Main Assembly Hall (措欽大殿), Ngagpa College (阿巴扎倉), Ganden Phodrang (甘丹頗章), etc. The entire monastery was like a village with stairs, courtyards and winding alleyways connecting different buildings. There weren’t many tourists around, except two groups of Western tourists in front of the Main Assembly Hall.

After a thorough wander in the monastery compound, we waited a bit at the parking lot and asked around for the minibus. No one seemed to know when the minibus would leave. We decided to follow several pilgrims to walk down to the main gateway. The walk took about 20 minutes. We walked past the main monastery gate and continued along the main retail street out to the main road. Before we reached the main road, we flagged down a taxi who was willing to take us back to Central Lhasa.

A monk carrying a water container in front of the Gomang College (果芒扎倉).

A pilgrim with a bead necklace walking up the entrance stair of the Gomang College (果芒扎倉).

Gomang College (果芒扎倉), the second largest Dratsang (college) in Drepung, was the first building that we visited at the monastery.

The beautiful wall painting at the entrance of Gomang College (果芒扎倉) seemed recently repaired.

It was awfully hot with the sun above our head, but we couldn’t resist not to visit the flat roof above Gomang College (果芒扎倉).

Resembled a village, the Drepung Monastery is a huge compound with lots of buildings and alleyways.

Wandering around the alleyways in Drepung Monastery was quite pleasant especially when there weren’t too many tourists around.

After a while, we soon lost track on how many buildings we had visited as most halls looked quite similar with their white walls, golden roof decorations and entrance setting. Despite of their similarities, every single building we visited looked gorgeous both outside and inside.

With the powerful highland sunlight, most monastery windows are protected by textile awning canopies.

With 183 columns and an area of about 1800 square metres, Tsogchen Main Assembly Hall (措欽大殿) is the grandest structure in Drepung Monastery. The plaza in front of the hall is also the largest square in the compound.

The roof above the Tsogchen Main Assembly Hall (措欽大殿) is well worth a visit.

The row of windows on the left is actually celestial windows for the main assembly hall below.

A group of local tourists posted for photograph on the roof terrace of Tsogchen Main Assembly Hall.

We meandered through narrow alleyways and stairs between buildings.

Occasionally we would pass by small stupas where pilgrims would circle around in clockwise direction.

Loseling College (洛色林扎倉), the largest Dratsang (college) in Drepung Monastery, was another highlight in the monastery.

Before the establishment of the Potala, Ganden Phodrang was the residence of the Dalai Lama from the 2nd to the 5th Dalai Lama.

Our visit of the Drepung Monastery ended at Ganden Phodrang (甘丹頗章).

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October 26, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: Dratsang, 阿巴扎倉, Gephel, Gomang, lama, lamasery, Lhasa, Loseling, monastery, Ngagpa, Tibet, Tibetan, Tsogchen, 哲蚌寺, 拉薩, 措欽大殿, 果芒扎倉, 洛色林扎倉 | Leave a comment

DAY 2 (2/6): KORA OF DREPUNG MONASTERY (འབྲས་སྤུངས་/ 哲蚌寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

Ganden (དགའ་ལྡན་/甘丹寺), Sera (སེ་ར་དགོན་པ/色拉寺) and Drepung (འབྲས་སྤུངས་/哲蚌寺) Monastery are considered to be the three great Gelug (格魯派) or “Yellow Hat Sect” university monasteries of Tibet. Established in 1416 and held 7700 monks in its heyday, Drepung Monastery was one of the largest monasteries in the world. The taxi ride from the Potala to Drepung Monastery in the outskirt of Lhasa took about 15 minutes. Upon exiting the main road, our taxi passed through a busy street with religious shops and stopped at the outer entrance of Drepung Monastery. We were told that a minibus could take us up to the monastery at the lower slope of Mount Gephel (更丕烏孜山). After a ten minute wait, a minibus arrived. We were lucky to squeeze in the bus along with a full load of pilgrims. After only a few minutes, our minibus arrived at the monastery’s main parking lot.

Before the sun get too hot, we decided to walk up the mount behind Drepung Monastery on the kora trail. We followed the pilgrim path west of the compound towards a large platform several storey high. The large platform was the Thangka Exhibition Platform used during the Shoton or Sho Dun Festival (雪頓節) to display the 40m wide x 80m long Buddha tapestry. To witness the fantastic ceremonies of Shoton Festival, we came a month too late. To do the hour-long kora trail around the monastery, we came just at the right time of the day with the perfect weather. We were a little worry on whether we would be affected by altitude sickness during the hike. The actual kora trail began in a woods beyond the Thangka Exhibition Platform. We followed several Tibetan pilgrims to enter the ascending trail. The trail winded up the slope of Mount Gephel behind the monastery, and led us to a number of colourful prayer rocks. At the trail’s highest point, we were captivated by the singing of a group of women who were busy fixing the flat roof of a monastery building, and by the view of the distant mountains. We walked on the trail for roughly an hour before descending to the other end of the monastery.

After a brief taxi ride, we were dropped off at the main gateway of Drepung Monastery at the foot of Mount Gephel.

A minibus took us from the main gateway up to the parking lot in front of the monastery complex. Instead of visiting the monastery buildings right away, we ventured to the path left of Ganden Podrang towards a cluster of rock paintings and the huge Thangka Exhibition Platform.

Along the path there were many prayer wheels for pilgrims to circumambulate around the complex.

Lots of small offerings were left below the prayer wheels.

For pilgrims of all ages, interacting with the prayer wheels is a popular must-do to begin a monastery visit.

We could clearly see rock paintings above us, as well as the uncounted paintings of “ladder to the paradise”.

The Thangka Exhibition Platform looked gigantic as we walked past it. Too bad we were not here for the Sho Dun Festival.

The kora trail began at a prayer wheel adjacent to a small creek.

There are many small shrines and rock paintings along the kora trail.

The vivid colours of the prayer rocks allow visitors to see from afar.

Half way up the trail we had a close encounter with a yak/cow.

A bird landed on a prayer rock at the high point of the trail.

With the occasional pilgrims on the kora, it was not easy for us to get lost.

Small shrines were constructed at certain locations along the kora path.

A group of women staff were fixing the roof at Ganden Podrang.

Beyond the last prayer rock on the trail, we began to descend back to the monastery level.

We entered the monastery complex from the side. It was good to enjoy Drepung Monastery when not many tourists were around.

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October 24, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: འབྲས་སྤུངས་, Drepung, Gelug, Gephel, kora, lamasery, Lhasa, monastery, Tibet, Tibetan, 哲蚌寺, 拉薩, 更丕烏孜山, 格魯派 | Leave a comment

DAY 2 (1/6): FIRST GLIMPSE OF POTALA (ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་ 布達拉宮), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

A fine night of rest had rejuvenated our bodies. Angela decided to rest a little longer at the hotel to tackle her altitude reactions. Maggie and I headed out at around 6:45am for a special mission. We walked to the nearby main street Jiangsu Road and hopped on a shared taxi (all taxis in Lhasa are shared taxis, meaning that the driver can take other customers along the way as long as everyone are heading for the similar direction). We got off near the west gate of the Potala Palace. Our mission was simply to queue for a time slot of our visit at the next day. Apparently during the high season (May to October), visitors of the Potala can only line up for a time slot a day in advance. On the actual day of visit, one would then need to arrive at a specific checkpoint at the given time slot, in order to get onto the main path that goes up to the ticket office high up in the palace.

We were told that even obtaining a time slot the day before would involve considerable amount of queuing time. Luckily we were not visiting Lhasa during the hottest time of the year, namely in August or the October 1st golden week of the Chinese National Day, when visitors would arrive at Potala’s west gate before 5:30am to guarantee a visiting time slot for the next day (according to bloggers online). It was mid September and we were told to come at around 7:30am for the queue. We arrived at around 7:20am and there were about 40 people standing in front of us. Every individual visitor must have an ID in order to obtain a single time slot ticket for the next day.

The sun wasn’t entirely up yet at 7:20. The sky was getting brighter by the minute. We stood at the parking lot in front of the reservation office, and admired the majestic Potala under the morning sun. At around 8:40am, Maggie decided to get some takeout for breakfast. She set off to a small eatery over at another parking lot nearby. Two minutes after she walked away, the queue began to move. I had no choice but to follow. Fortunately I had the ID of my two travel buddies with me, so had no problem reserving a 9:20am time slot for everyone of us in the next morning. Time was still early after we got our reservation tickets. Maggie and I decided to hop on a taxi to visit Drepung Monastery in the western suburb of Lhasa.

We arrived at the time reservation office at 7:20am.

There were about 40 people standing in front of us.

While we stood at the queue, the sky to the east was getting brighter.

Most shops near the reservation office were tourist related such as travel agents.

At around 8am, the morning sun began to cast a golden glow onto the sacred palace of Potala.

The golden glow on the Potala lasted for about 10 minutes. The splendid architecture of the red and white palaces created a perfect harmony in a majestic manner.

At around 8:15am, there was no sign that the reservation office would open any time soon. We watched the golden glow gradually disappeared on the Potala.

After we got the reservations for the next day, we walked over to the main street in front of Potala. The street was full of pilgrims walking the kora around the palace, which takes appropriate half an hour to complete.

Devoted pilgrims stopped in front of the Potala to read prayers and spin their ritual wheels.

As we walked east along Beijing Road in front of the Potala, we passed by the central gate of the palace where we would return the next day for our visit.

Looking from the southeast, the Potala looks as if surrounded by rows of young evergreen.

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October 19, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་, 西藏, kora, lama, Lhasa, palace, pilgrimage, Potala, Tibet, Tibetan, 布達拉宮, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 1 (3/3): KORA AT BARKHOR STREET (八廓街), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.16

After we put down our bags into the hotel room, we couldn’t wait but to venture out into the alleyways of Barkhor Old Town. Soon we arrived at a security checkpoint where we needed to show our ID and put our bags through the x-ray. A little further beyond the checkpoint was a much wider stone paved street where almost all pedestrians moved in one direction. We knew we had arrived at the famous Barkhor Street (八廓街). We were all sleepy from the red eye flight. Angela got a bad headache from the high altitude. We had no particular itinerary for the day. We took our time to walk around the Barkhor Street, taking in the energy and Tibetan atmosphere of the ancient street, and dropping by the nearby Summit Cafe and Spinn Cafe for brief breaks.

Kora (སྐོར་ར) is the term for a pilgrimage circumambulation for Tibetan Buddhism around a sacred site or object in the clockwise direction. In Lhasa, if not the entire Tibet, the most popular kora route is undoubtedly the Barkhor Street (八廓街), the pedestrian circuit around the Jokhang Monastery (大昭寺). For over 1300 years the stone paved circuit was the most sacred pilgrim route for Tibetan Buddhists. Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo erected the Jokhang Monastery in 647, and the pilgrim path around the temple soon followed and had since then evolved into Barkhor Street. On the hand-polished stone pavers, uncounted pilgrims stepped on the Barkhor everyday, some would even perform prostration while moving clockwise along the Barkhor. Apart from prostrating, some pilgrims also spin their prayer wheels, chant mantra, or count their rosary beads.

Nowadays, other than its spiritual identity, Barkhor Street has also become a prime tourist destination of Lhasa. Souvenir shops have lined up along both sides of the famous street. For tourists, following the local pilgrims to stroll along Barkhor Street is compulsory. Beyond souvenir stores and gemstone shops, visitors may find religious shops selling all kinds of items for the pilgrims. For us, the Barkhor Street was the place that we walked by several times each day during our stay in Lhasa.

The route from our hotel opens to the Barkhor Street at the south side of the Jokhang Monastery, near a colourful flag post.

Many locals were dressed in traditional clothing while walking the kora on the Barkhor.

A turn near the colourful flag post led us to the square in front of Jokhang Monastery, where a group of pilgrims and tourists congregated.

At the Jokhang Square, local pilgrims passed by another colourful flag post.

There were constantly pilgrims prostrating in front of the Jokhang Monastery.

Visitors can no longer get in the original main entrance of Jokhang Monastery.

The original main entrance of Jokhang Monastery has become a small plaza for prostrating pilgrims and spectating tourists.

Going north from the Jokhang Square, the Barkhor Street gets narrow again into a retail street.

The Barkhor Street is flanked both sides by traditional Tibetan houses.

Along the Barkhor, there are quite a number of benches and seating areas for the pilgrims.

Makye Ame is a famous restaurant bar at the southeast corner of the Barkhor. Legend has it that Tsangyang Gyatso, the 6th Dalai Lama, met the girl he loved at this bar in the 17th century.

There are also hidden courtyards behind the traditional Tibetan houses on the Barkhor, where young artists and artisans gather to promote a new generation of Tibetan culture, as well as cool cafes and interesting bookstores targeted at the local youngsters.

Late afternoon is a popular time to walk the Barkhor, when the fierce highland sun becomes a more bearable.

Apart from Jokhang Monastery, there are a number of historical buildings at Barkhor, including this former office of the Qing government representatives.

Smaller in scale than the famous monasteries, local Buddhist temples such as this one on the Barkhor Street is equally interesting with vibrant worshiping scenes.

Both pilgrims and tourists love to interact with the Buddhist prayer wheels.

Inside the small temple there is a much bigger prayer wheel where pilgrims move clockwise with the turning wheel inside.

Police has a strong presence at Barkhor Street, with security stations set up at certain spots.

Tea shops and shopping centre of gemstone shops dotted around the Barkhor Street.

Before sunset, Barkhor Street can get pretty crowded with pilgrims and tourists.

Among all the pilgrims and tourists that we had seen on the Barkhor Street, probably this old man and his seven dogs had captured the most attention.

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October 17, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: སྐོར་ར, Barkhor, Buddhism, Buddhist, circumambulation, 西藏, Jokhang, kora, Lhasa, pilgrim, pilgrimage, prostration, Tibet, Tibetan, 八廓, 大昭寺, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 1 (2/3): TRICHANG LABRANG HOTEL (赤江拉讓藏式賓館) and Surrounding Neighborhood, Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.16

From the Airport Shuttle Bus Station near the Potala, we flagged down a taxi for the last bit of journey for reaching Trichang Labrang Hotel. Trichang Labrang is located in a small alley called Lugu Lane No. 5 (鲁固5巷) in the Barkhor (八廓) Old Town near the famous Jokhang Temple. Our taxi dropped us at one of the entrances of Lugu Lane along Jiangsu Road. In the labyrinth of small alleys, it took us a moment to figure out the way to reach the hotel’s main door. The courtyard building has been part of the old city for 300 years, and was once a former residence of Trijang Rinpoche, a former junior tutor to the current 14th Dalai Lama.

We entered the hotel through a courtyard. At the reception, each of us was greeted by the staff with a white scarf. The hotel was full of charming Tibetan touches, and dotted with vintage decorations in the common areas. The rooms were basic, decent in size and colorfully painted, but might need a renovation soon. A pleasant veranda overlooking the entrance courtyard connected all rooms and common areas on the upper level.

The area around Trichang Labrang Hotel is a quiet residential neighborhood in the Barkhor Old Town. With a vibrant street life, it is only a stone throw away from the popular tourist area of Barkhor Street and Jokhang Temple (大昭寺). Over the course of our stay in Lhasa, we had the opportunity to wander around the centuries old neighborhood around our hotel at different times of the day, discovering interesting small shops and eateries, and historical courtyard complexes and community Buddhist temples along the way.

The main entrance of Trichang Labrang Hotel could be easily missed. It was located at a T-intersection of two alleyways in a peaceful residential neighborhood in the Barkhor Old Town.

This playful little dog of the hotel hung out around the neighborhood and was a friend to many neighbors. Sometimes it sat on the chair at the hotel door to welcome us, sometimes it stretched under the chair to enjoy a peaceful nap.

The colourful painting on the hotel main door reminded visitors of its heritage and history.

The entrance courtyard of the hotel seemed under used but we loved the vine that stretched like a large canopy sheltering the fierce highland sun.

The hotel rooms on the second and third floor open around a veranda overlooking the courtyard.

There is a beautiful old photo of Potala Palace hung on the veranda wall. The photo captured the moment of Lhasa long before it was modernized.

An old sewing machine outside of our room.

The interior of the room was not as charming as the public space. It was spacious and had touches of Tibetan decoration. The accommodation was basic and equipped with a kettle and a humidifier. The ceiling mounted heat lamp in the bathroom was quite handy as it heated up the space while the shower water slowly warmed up. We generally had a fine stay except for the annoying mosquitoes that sometimes woke us up in the middle of the night.

Outside of the hotel, the alleyway to the right would lead us to the main street Jiangsu Road in a few minutes.

These playful dogs around the corner from the hotel loved to chase each other. They ran from store to store to get people’s attention, and barked at strangers occasionally. Every store owner seemed to know these dogs very well.

Deep fried potato chips seemed to be a popular snack in Tibet. It was usually served with chili powder.

It was a beautiful to watch the colorful prayer’s flag dancing in the air against the blue sky above the alleyways of the Barkhor Old Town.

We love strolling along the streets in Barkhor Old Town, either north to the area around Jokhang Temple or east to an area with several Muslim mosques alongside with Buddhist temples. In the east neighborhood there was also Pandatsang (邦達倉) Compound, another historical courtyard complex where we ended up enjoying two good Tibetan meals at the courtyard restaurant “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱们的藏餐馆).

At the end of the alleyway in front of our hotel, Angela discovered a small Buddhist temple popular with local pilgrims.

From our hotel enroute to the Barkhor Street (八廓) and Jokhang Temple (大昭寺), we would need to pass through a number of old shopping alleyways and a security checkpoint. Quite a number of shops were owned by young people whose merchandised offered a more unique and personal touch to the local culture.

When night fell, the shopping alleyways with atmospheric shopfronts turned peaceful. Many stores, such as the Tibetan textile shop and western cafe in this photo remained open till late in the evening.

We often passed by the same neighborhood convenient store where we get bottled water.

Finding our way back to the hotel at night was often a pleasant walk after dinner.

Our wayfinding was primarily based on special “landmarks” where we would need to make a turn. Despite every alleyway looked the same, this method of finding our way worked pretty well.

The alleyways could get quite dark at certain spots, but we never felt unsafe walking around at night.

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October 15, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: Barkhor, 邦達倉, 鲁固5巷, 赤江拉讓, hotel, Labrang, Lhasa, Tibet, Trichang, 八廓, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 1 (1/3): TOUCHDOWN ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD, Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.16

Leaving all daily troubles behind, we left Hong Kong for Chengdu on a Friday evening in mid September. By the time we arrived at the provincial capital of Sichuan two hours later, it was almost 11pm. We had several hours to kill at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (成都雙流國際機場) before our connecting flight to Lhasa at 6am the next morning. At Terminal 1 of Chengdu , we sat down at a quiet corner in the departure hall until 3am. Then we exited the terminal, and walked over to Terminal 2 for our Lhasa flight. We were sleepy as expected, and could only managed to get a bit more rest on the 2-hour flight. After an hour into the flight, the sun was already up above the clouds. As we approached Tibet, we could occasionally see beautiful snow-capped peaks sticking out of the clouds. During the descend, after our plane passed through the thick layer of clouds, we were excited to find the glorious terrains of the Tibetan Plateau below. The Yarlung Zangbo River (雅魯藏布江) and Lhasa River (拉薩河) near Lhasa Gonggar Airport (拉薩貢嘎機場) glowed under the morning sun. Our plane made a few turns before touching down onto the runway strip surrounded by patches of yellow trees. We didn’t prearrange any pick up from the airport. There were plenty of airport buses outside the airport and only costed us 25 RMB each (compared to 300 RMB for taxi and 500 RMB for private pickup). The ride to Central Lhasa took roughly an hour.

It was almost midnight when we arrived at Chengdu.

At 3am, we walked over to Terminal 2 for our Lhasa flight.

Occasional snow-capped peaks appeared above the clouds.

Despite exhaustion from the sleepless night, the excitement of seeing the mountainous landscape below kept our eyes opened until landing.

Descending below the layer of clouds was like entering a different world.

Under the clouds, the rugged landscape and the river valley received the first morning light of the day.

The flow of Yarlung Zangbo River (雅魯藏布江) offers a touch of colour to the otherwise dark brown terrain near Lhasa.

Under the light of morning sun, Yarlung Zangbo River (雅魯藏布江) glowed in the dark and rugged terrains.

The flood plains of Yarlung Zangbo River (雅魯藏布江) near the airport were dotted with yellow trees.

Surrounded by rugged mountains, Lhasa Gonggar Airport (拉薩貢嘎機場) is a simple airport that connects Lhasa to several Chinese cities including Chengdu and Beijing.

The bus ride out to Central Lhasa took about an hour. The journey passed by river valleys and through mountain tunnels until reaching the suburb of Lhasa.

The bus passed by the majestic Potala as it approached the station nearby.

At the bus station at the shadow of the Potala, our exploration of Lhasa officially began.

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October 14, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: airport, China, clouds, 雙流, 西藏, 貢嘎, 贡嘎机场, flight, Gonggar, highland, Lhasa, mountains, Potala, Tibet, 成都, 拉薩 | 1 Comment

Blue Lapis Road ultramarinus – beyond the sea

Posts tagged “拉薩”

EPILOGUE: FACES OF LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏)

DAY 10 (2/2): LAST DAY IN LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏), 2017.09.25

DAY 4 (3/3): TEA HOUSE AND FAMILY RESTAURANT, Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.19

Day 4 (2/3): GANDEN MONASTERY (དགའ་ལྡན་ 甘丹寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.19

DAY 3 (2/2): SERA MONASTERY ( སེ་ར་དགོན་པ 色拉寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.18

DAY 2 (6/6): NIGHT VIEW OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

DAY 2 (5/6): SPINN CAFE (風轉咖啡館), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

DAY 2 (4/6): JOKHANG MONASTERY (ཇོ་ཁང། / 大昭寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

DAY 2 (3/6): DREPUNG MONASTERY (འབྲས་སྤུངས་ /哲蚌寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet, (西藏), 2017.09.17

DAY 2 (2/6): KORA OF DREPUNG MONASTERY (འབྲས་སྤུངས་/ 哲蚌寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

DAY 2 (1/6): FIRST GLIMPSE OF POTALA (ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་ 布達拉宮), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

DAY 1 (3/3): KORA AT BARKHOR STREET (八廓街), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.16

DAY 1 (2/3): TRICHANG LABRANG HOTEL (赤江拉讓藏式賓館) and Surrounding Neighborhood, Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.16

DAY 1 (1/3): TOUCHDOWN ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD, Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.16