It was my last day in Tibet. I would leave tomorrow. A lama that I met on my second day in Tibet asked me to visit his monastery so I came. Drepung Monastery wasn’t as grand as Potala Palace but it had that ‘monastic’ taste - very simple, but it was huge. There were many … Continue reading My Last Day In Tibet. Drepung Monastery
At around 7:30am, the sun rose. We got up to take photos of the sunrise around the beautiful Lake Namutsuo. It was a peaceful night for most of us last night except for the couple who had only stayed in Tibet for one day and didn’t give themselves enough time to acclimatize. The wife woke … Continue reading Sunrise in Lake Namutsuo. Was It Really A Peaceful Night?
We all gathered in a hostel at 9am and started our journey to Lake Namutsuo, the second highest salt lake in the world (some sources said it's the highest). After our dinner last night, we had closer ties with each other. We put all our money in a ‘central fund’ and we elected a treasurer … Continue reading A Night In Lake Namutsuo, The Second Highest Salt Lake In The World
The next morning, we were joined by the owner of the restaurant from Shigatse. He needed to go to Lhasa so our driver gave him a lift. On our way, everybody was in good spirit. My travel companion was feeling so much better, so good that he looked as if he had never suffered from … Continue reading Return To Lhasa
7 a.m. ? I looked through the broken window. The sky turned from jet-black to dark blue. Stars changed from sparkling white to faintly visible white. The other travellers in the room started to move around on their benches. One of them said energetically, ‘Finally! Let’s go out to take some photos.’ He sounded as … Continue reading Mountain Sickness. Near Death Experience
From Shigatse, we continued our journey to the base camp of Mt. Everest. Before that, we needed to go to the highest Monastery in the world, Ronghbuk Monastery, which was 5,200 metres above sea level. This monastery was the gateway to the base camp. This would test my reaction to mountain sickness. But before we … Continue reading Reaching The Highest Monastery In The World!
For those who want to go to the base camp of Mt. Everest, they have to go to Shigatse first. Shigatse is the second biggest city in Tibet. I am not a city person so it didn’t really matter to me. So, the itinerary of the first day of our tour was, journey to Shigatse. … Continue reading Journey To Shigatse
Refreshed. After a nice sleep last night, my first night in Lhasa, I felt so refreshed. It was 9 a.m. It was pouring outside. Heard that it was hailing earlier this morning. My plan was to check in to YHA, book a tour to the base camp of Mt. Everest, then visit Potala Palace today. … Continue reading Potala Palace, Lhasa!
Every time I think about my trip in Tibet, I smile and my heart melts. I call Tibet my beloved. It is still one of my favourite places. I flew from Chengdu to Tibet in 2005. It was the year before the Qinghai-Tibet railway started operating. I deliberately chose that year because I could imagine … Continue reading Oh! My Beloved Tibet
