8 days in Tibet: Day 6 - More palaces?

Our fist stop of the day was the Potala, the Dalai Lama's winter palace. It dominates the Lhasa skyline and has over 2,000 rooms (we could only see 35% of them!). After climbing the "300 steps" to the upper courtyard we entered the palace itself. Sadly photos were forbidden so again you'll have to take my word for how incredible it was! The place used to house the Tibetan government before the Chinese occupation so seeing both the political and religious areas of the palace was fascinating. The palace also contains more tombs of previous Dalai Lamas, most of them covered with between 3,000-4,000 ounces of gold and jewels! 

The Potala, an amazing building! 

The courtyard, the black material over the door is made of Yak's wool 

After a lunch break we headed to another very special place, the Dalai Lama's summer palace compound. Alongside temples and previous summer palaces was the one built by the current Dalai Lama. He designed it himself and construction was finished in 1956. It was a beautiful building and all of it was open to visit, including his bedroom and meeting room where he would receive guests and pilgrims. Sadly he only got to enjoy this palace for 3 years before he fled to India to avoid a Chinese plot to kill him. The clock on the staircase is fixed at 9am, the time he left the palace. 

Me outside the current Dalai Lama's summer palace 

Taking a break on the pond in the Summer Palace compound 

After the palace we had a few hours for some souvenir shopping before dinner. Sadly our tour of Tibet was at an end and we now had 2 days of solid driving back to Kathmandu!

8 days in Tibet: Day 5 - Welcome to Lhasa

We had a long day of driving on this day, but the viewpoints were worth the drive. We saw amazing valleys, stand-alone 7,000 metre peaks and glaciers. The highlight though was a huge alpine lake (638 square kilometres!) and the viewpoint at a high pass above it. Here we got a special treat, getting up close and personal with the lion-like dog that is the Tibetan Mastiff! This is a very rare Tibetan breed of dog and at the moment will set you back £60,000 if you want one! 

Me at the viewpoint overlooking the valley, check out all those prayer flags over my left shoulder! 

Rest stop! Nice to be out of the van and check out the mountain! Over 7,000 meters high this one.

The glacier at the back of the mountain in the previous photo 

My new best friend! Me and an amazing Tibetan mastiff 

Enjoying the view of the the alpine lake 

We arrived in Lhasa around 3:00pm and checked in to the hotel. After lunch (handmade noodle soup - yum!) Norbu took us for a walk through the streets to visit the Jokhang temple. In this temple is one of the the oldest and most valuable Bhuda statues in the world. Made of solid gold, it was brought to Tibet by a Nepalese princess as a dowry when she married King Songsten Gampo. The view from the roof gave us our first proper look of the famous Potala, the Dalai Lama's winter Palace. Dinner gave me a chance to try the famous local beer, "Lhasa". This beer has altitude in mind, it's only 3.8% and is very tasty (and affordable; about £1 a bottle!). Day 6 would be our last day of sightseeing, but we'd be getting to know all about the Dalai Lamas! 

8 days in Tibet: Day 4 - A lesson in Tibetan Bhudism

We got to lie-in until 9 that day, very welcome! Our first stop was the Tashilhunpo monastery on the outskirts of town. You have to pay to take photos inside the monastery so that's why I don't have many photos of monastery visits, take it from me though the insides are pretty amazing! 

Tashilhunpo is one of the oldest and largest monasteries in Tibet. It was built in the mid 1400s by the first Dalai Lama and could house 3,000 monks. Sadly only 300 remain at the monastery following a series of restrictions placed on monk numbers following a series of protests against Chinese occupation in 2008. The Inside the monastery buildings was amazing, alongside hand-painted walls there were the tombs of past Dalai Lamas, some of them decorated in solid gold and jewels! Norbu was incredibly knowledgeable about everything, he ran us through everything from the Tibetan funeral procedure (known as "Sky Burial" as dead bodies are cut up and left on a mountainside for eagles to eat and carry their spirits to Nirvana) to Tibetan history, including how the great Tibetan king, Songsten Gampo, united Tibet under Bhudism in the early 1400s. 

Tashinlupo monastery 

After our two hour tour we drove to our overnight stop at Gyantse before visiting another monastery; Gyantse Pachu. This was much smaller than Tashinlupo and built in 1418 by the Panchen Lama (senior to the Dalai Lama in a religious sense - the Dalai Lama's role (before the Chinese occupation) is to be the political and spiritual leader of Tibet, whilst the Panchen Lama is its religious leader) and a local chieftain. Most of this monastery is still in its original construction despite parts being badly burnt during the cultural revolution (when China became communist). The most interesting part of this monastery was its collection of books and scriptures. The monastery holds nearly 1,000, all between 500 and 900 years old. But most amazing of all is that they are all written in real gold ink! Most of the books had also not been read for almost 300 years and are unlikely to ever be opened again. These were true Tibetan cultural treasures!

A shelf of some of the books inside the monastery, we all chipped in to take photos in this room 

An example of the gold writing 

Us at the monatary's Stupa 

After some photos by the monastery's impressive stupa we headed back to the hotel. That night was special for Rebecca, it was her 19th birthday! After dinner we surprised her with a huge cake at the restaurant. This day had to be one of my favourites of the the Tibet trip, I learnt loads and had great fun with everyone. Day 5 would see us arrive in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa! 

8 days in Tibet: Day 3 - Everest Base Camp to Shigatse

Early start that day but we caught up on sleep in the van on the way to EBC, helped a lot by the blankets provided by the hotel staff which we spread out in the back of the van. We drove across the plateau as the sun was rising, looked a lot like the surface of Mars! Thankfully we all weren't too badly affected by the altitude, only a few headaches and 10 minutes when my hands just wouldn't move! We reached EBC around 9am with amazingly clear views, Norbu told us it was only this clear around 3-5 times a year! 

Me at EBC, truly amazing views of Everest!

About to tie up our prayer flags at Base Camp 

Throwing up our mantra cards, make a wish! 

Me and Ollie 

Team photo :) 

After a warm up Jasmine tea in one of the tents we did a few rituals for our families and friends back home. First we wrote their names on a string of prayer flags and strung them up in the middle of base camp, the mantras on the flags would bring good luck to them. Secondly we did the same thing but on small mantra cards. We threw them up in the air together, made a wish and the wind scattered them all over base camp. Rituals complete we took some photos before heading back to the hotel for lunch. 

After lunch we drove 6 hours to the town of Shigatse, Tibet's second largest town, to stop for the night. After showers Norbu took us to a local restaurant for dinner, I ordered meat dumplings on soup (delicious!), and briefed us on the next day. This would be the start of the sightseeing part of the trip. 

8 days in Tibet: Day 2 - Reaching the Plateau

We left the hotel at 8 that morning under crystal clear sky. We made good progress throughout the morning, making our way out of the mountains and onto the seemingly never-ending Tibetan plateau. I saw some of the most amazing mountain scenery I've ever seen that day, thankfully there were lots of photo stops along the way. Some of my particular favourites were at a high pass (at a little under 5,000 meters). That afternoon we also got our first glimpse of Mt EVEREST! We all got a little excited as we would be heading to the Tibetan Everest Base Camp (EBC) the next day. 

Me with the Himalayas in the background just at the start of the Plateau 

At the first high pass, just posing :p 

Our first view of Mt Everest! It's the big peak second from left

Rebecca and Zoe enjoy views of the plateau outside Tanzing 

We reached our stop for the day, Tanzing (also known as "Dog-Town" due to the huge numbers of stray dogs!) in early afternoon. We took a walk to a hill just outside the town after lunch to make use of the clear weather to grab some photos. We all got a little bit cold even though the sky was virtually clear, the wind coming from the mountains was freezing! We were all in bed for 9:30 that night, we had a 6am departure for Everest Base Camp the next day! 

8 Days in Tibet: Day 1 - Kathmandu to Tibet

Hello again everyone, you find be back in Kathmandu once again after a truly amazing 8 day tour of Tibet! I've learnt so much about an amazing country and seen some incredible things. So let's get started! 

Our first day of our Tibet tour was mostly driving. We left the Utse at 6:30 in the morning and drove the four hours to the border. On the way we had a quick break to watch the bungee jumpers at "The Last Resort" bridge, looked pretty amazing!

"The last resort" bridge 

Ollie enjoys the view 

Crossing the border into Tibet via the "Friendship Bridge" proved to be painless, although we had to eat Laura and Sophie's stash of 28 bananas in under 5 minutes as we weren't allowed to bring them through customs! 

A quick note for you, Tibet is currently occupied by China (highly controversially) so we had to go through Chinese immigration to pass into Tibet (more on this story as we go on). 

Our Tibetan guide, Norbu, smoothed the process along nicely and before long we were across. A short drive up the side of a gorge (which separates Nepal and China) we reached our stop for the night. After a quick lunch we transferred to the Hotel, very basic with shared bathrooms (and no separate gents and ladies toilets! - Men and Women are equal in Tibetan society so they don't have separate toilets) and a little bit of damp on the walls. No worries though, it was only for one night. 

After settling in we took a walk through town to stretch our legs. There seemed to be a police station every two corners we turned, seemed a bit over the top for such a small town I thought. Over dinner Norbu gave us a quick overview of Tibetan history and explained prayer flags to us. Soon it was off to bed before a half day drive to our next stop. 

Mid Month Adventure part 3: 2 days in Pokhara!

And so we come to the final few days of the last week. A little but of a holiday in the lovely town of Pokhara, long considered the adventure-sports capital of Nepal! We arrived in the early afternoon and said goodbye to Ratna, who had accompanied us all the way. After settling in to the hotel we all took a walk down the lakeside strip to get our bearings and stretch our legs. Pokhara sits right next to a beautiful lake, there are proper pavements and there is MUCH less traffic than Kathmandu. After a great dinner by the lake we were all in bed by 9 to catch up on sleep. 

The next day was really a chance to relax. Ollie and I slept in until 9 and had brunch at a small lakeside restaurant, my first egg and toast breakfast for months! We chilled at the hotel for the rest of the morning before we headed out to the Gurkha museum on the outskirts of town. It's a compact little place but the displays were full of history on the Gurkha soldiers throughout their history and the displays on Gurkha Victoria Cross winners was truly amazing. After an hour or so walking around the museum we met up with the girls, who had spent the afternoon getting massages from blind masseuses, and relaxed in the hotel garden and hammocks. 

Our final day in Pokhara was a bit more busy than the day before. We all had a lie-in again and had an incredible lakeside breakfast at Mike's, an American run restaurant that's famous for its breakfasts. I had poached eggs and ham on toast with hollandaise sauce, absolutely delicious! 

Ordering breakfast at Mike's. Worse places to have breakfast, check out the view! 

At 1 we headed down to a kayak rental place by the lake and organised a three hour rental (at £2.50 equivalent each I might add!) for some paddling on the lake. We all enjoyed our afternoon on the lake and soaking up the scenery. It was a great way to end our time in Pokhara and one of the highlights of the week for me. Our final meal that evening was a first for most of us. Zoe had found a great Japanese restaurant and insisted we all give it a go. We didn't regret it, the terayaki beef was amazing! 

Rebecca, Zoe and Ollie on the lake, on top of the hill in the right of the photo is the "World Peace Pogoda"

Me with Pokhara in the background 

Ollie, Sophie and Laura take a break 

The lads! 

The next day we had another 7 hour bus ride back to Kathmandu. When we got back Sophie had to go to the clinic to get a little problem sorted out, so Zoe, Ollie and I had to carry her and Laura's bags back to the hotel under some impressive thunder! Today we got our briefing for the final trip of our month off; an 8 day tour of Tibet! We look set to have an incredible time and I can't wait to get started! I'll post again when I get back to Kathmandu. 

The end of our month off is approaching and after that I'll only have another month teaching before my time in Nepal comes to a close! It's been a truly incredible experience but I've got Tibet and another month of teaching ahead. Bring it on! 

Thanks for reading guys, see you next time :)