Tibet
Overview
Going to Tibet is something a lot of people have as a dream. It has something of myth, of mysterious, of forbidden… Well, if you go there, Tibet will more than fulfill all your expectations. The land of snows is a magical place, almost untouched by tourism, totally authentic and a lot of times you will think you are being part of a movie, a videogame or a theme park. The only difference is that everything is real, no place for faking or touristry things, here.
You will see beautiful landscapes, from grasslands with yaks to the highest mountains in the world with the chance of admiring the Himalaya Range and spotting five 8000m plus peaks at the same time. You will see real Buddhist monasteries and monks having their daily routines, you will join the several Koras and mix among pilgrims, you will eat in tiny cute Tibetan restaurants, have tea in even more beautiful teahouses, drive along one of the most scenic roads you have ever seen on the way to Nepal and you will pray to Buddha to give you a Chinese nationality to be able to stay in Tibet forever!
Tibet has it all, and despite having to join an expensive tour to visit it unless you are Chinese, it is worth every single cent you spend!
You will see beautiful landscapes, from grasslands with yaks to the highest mountains in the world with the chance of admiring the Himalaya Range and spotting five 8000m plus peaks at the same time. You will see real Buddhist monasteries and monks having their daily routines, you will join the several Koras and mix among pilgrims, you will eat in tiny cute Tibetan restaurants, have tea in even more beautiful teahouses, drive along one of the most scenic roads you have ever seen on the way to Nepal and you will pray to Buddha to give you a Chinese nationality to be able to stay in Tibet forever!
Tibet has it all, and despite having to join an expensive tour to visit it unless you are Chinese, it is worth every single cent you spend!
Sightseeing
Tibet has plenty of sights to keep you busy for months, but as you are visiting it as a part of a tour, your time is limited and normally your travel agency arranges previously the sights you are going to visit. However, in places like Lhasa you can go and visit almost everywhere on your own. The following list is the places we visited as a part of a 6-day tour. Still, we missed two of the most important sights of Tibet (Yamdrok Lake and Gyantse) due to a heavy snowfall.
-Lhasa: The capital of Tibet has two faces: one half of the city is totally Chinese, exactly as any other city you can see in China. The other half, and this is the one you want to see, is the Tibetan one. This is the Old Town, the area comprising Barkhor and its surroundings. As you don’t need your guide at all to walk in Lhasa, the best thing to do is get lost in the area, walking around its narrow streets, visiting its tiny shops, restaurants, teahouses, temples… For more detailed information, here’s the list of the main sights in Lhasa:
· Potala Palace: You need your guide to enter. Admission price in low season: 100 RMB (200 RMB in high season). The landmark of Lhasa is definitely more impressive from the outside than from the inside. Anyway, it is a place you must visit inside.
The palace is located in the Chinese part of the city, although only some 15 minutes walk from Barkhor. When you approach the surroundings of the palace you have to go through a security control. It is probably the only time you will need to go through the Chinese part of the city.
Before or after entering the palace you can follow the Kora surrounding the whole palace and see the people praying on the ground and spinning the, literally, thousands of prayer wheels. It will take you a bit less than one hour.
To enter the palace you will go through a security control. Notice that you cannot bring any banner inside (my Earthlooping banner was retained), but everything you leave there can be taken back at the end.
The main entrance of the palace is located on the top of it, and you get there after an exhausting climb of hundreds of steps. Inside the palace what you see is basically small temples and rooms where the Dalai Lamas used to carry their daily activities (praying, learning, writing…) There are also the tombs of several past Dalai Lamas, buried under immense golden stupas. You can easily spend an hour and a half going through all the rooms and small temples.
Right now, and as the Dalai Lama is exiled in India, Potala Palace is more like a museum, so you feel you miss a bit of real life as in, for example, Sera Monastery, but anyway the visit to the place where once the Dalai Lamas lived is an unmissable stop in Lhasa.
Make also sure to visit the viewpoint platform on the other side of the street for the typical view of the Palace. It’s open until 19:00 and it costs 2 RMB per person. As well, a view of the palace from the Potala Square at night is a must, as it is beautifully lit.
· Jokhang Temple: You have to go with your guide here. Admission price: 80 RMB. The main Buddhist temple of Lhasa is located in Barkhor Square. To enter the Barkhor area you need to go through a security control from wherever you get in.
Try to go to the temple in the morning, as it is full of activity, although this means you won’t be able to enter some of the small chapels inside it. Anyway, whatever time you approach the temple, you will see plenty of people praying in front of it, using even matresses and special clothes and gloves to go on the ground. Besides, a continuous burning of incense and herbs is going all at all times in the two main burning places in front of the temple.
Inside of it, you will see the beautiful courtyard, you can climb to the top for sublime views of the Barkhor square and even the Potala Palace. The interior of temple itself is actually quite small, but the smell of the butter and wax burning, the pilgrims and what you see inside there is a real experience. Walk clockwise and try to enter as many chapels as you can, you will see different statues of Buddhas, smaller and bigger ones and plenty of religious stuff.
Another must is following the Kora surrounding the temple, at all times you see hundreds of people walking around it spinning their prayer wheels and even following the kora by praying and dragging themselves on the ground. Probably the best sight of Lhasa!
Don’t even try to miss Jokhang Temple!
· Barkhor Street: This is the most important street of Lhasa. It is the one surrounding the Jokhang Temple and where the Barkhor Kora takes place. Even if you don’t want to, you will end up several times in the middle of the kora. All over the street there are plenty of shops where to buy all kind of religious stuff, clothes or thangkas. You can also stop for a tea in a beautiful teahouse located in an alley off Barkhor Street.
· Barkhor: It is the main area of the Old Town. All the area surrounding the Jokhang Temple is Barkhor. To enter you have to go through a security control as there were some immolations only a few years ago in the area.
Barkhor is beautiful, is where you feel you are in a movie, in a videogame or in a theme park, but everything is authentic and real. So much that many times is hard to believe. Almost all people you will see are Tibetans, from different parts of the country as you will notice by their costumes and faces, and the best thing is to join the Kora around Jokhang Temple and see the people praying, saying mantras, spinning their prayer wheels…
Besides that, just take any street off Barkhor street and get lost. You will find Tibetan restaurants, nice alleys, small temples… beautiful. And the best of all is that you are likely to be one of the only few tourists there!
Some reccomendable sights besides Jokhang Temple are the small temple just East of Jokhang featuring an enormous prayer wheel as well as the temple just behind it. You have another beautiful temple just following the alley and entering the courtyard in the corner. All these temples are free.
· Sera Monastery: You need your guide here. Admission price: 50 RMB. The most beautiful monastery in Lhasa and the one you have to visit if you don’t have much time. It is totally authentic and fully functional. It is a really big complex, actually it’s like a small town and you can easily spend 3 or 4 hours there, visiting the temples, the monks debate and wandering around the alleys.
Go there in the evening, as every day at around 3 the monks debate takes place. It consists on a debate that takes part in a courtyard especially for this purpose. The monks sit in pairs and they start debating about religious matters all at the same time. The place gets noisy and it is really an experience to see all their movements and actions. The thing is that one monk (standing) raises a question and the one sitting tries to answer it. Then, they change roles.
Besides the debate, the monastery has temples, thrones where the Dalai Lamas uses to seat… It is, really, beautiful, and all the architecture of the place is typically Tibetan, with white houses with the windows decorated with the beautiful Tibetan colorful “courtains”.
One of the best sights of Lhasa!
· Drepung Monastery: Again, you need your guide here. Admission price: 50 RMB. If you have to miss something in Lhasa, miss Drepung Monastery. Even if it is beautiful and really reccomendable to visit, it lacks something Jokhang and Sera have. Maybe it’s the monks debate, maybe the pilgrims, but Drepung, despite being really nice, it’s not that something, especially after visiting the other two first. So, try to visit first Drepung and then Sera and Jokhang!
As in Sera, here you will see small temples, courtyards, chapels, monks… all the usual stuff, and of course, it is fully functional so you’ll see monks carrying on their daily duties.
· Koras: Following a Kora is one of the best experiences of Tibet. Koras are pilgrimage circuits around a temple, a monastery or a sacred place. They are filled up with thousands of prayer wheels and you will also find small temples and stupas on the way. Pilgrims walk all the way spinning the prayer wheels, saying mantras and some of them even pray on the ground. These are the most impressive ones to see, as they are dressed with special “clothes” consisting sometimes in an old bag and gloves or wooden pieces in order not to hurt their hands that much. They follow all the Kora like this: 3 steps, praying and to the ground.
The most important Kora and the one you don’t want to miss in Lhasa is the Barkhor Kora, going around Jokhang temple. Another reccomendable one is the Kora around Potala Palace. Sera and Drepung also have Koras, although not as popular.
-Shigatse: The reason to visit this city, included in most of the tour packages, is to arrange your EBC (Everest Base Camp) permit and to visit the impressive Tashihunpo Monastery. Similar to Drepung and Sera but unmissable. Plenty of pavillions, small temples, chapels and monks. Allow at least 2 hours to visit the whole comples, as it is really big and going through all the places you are even likely to get lost.
-Everest Base Camp: If you visit Tibet, go to the EBC. Even if you have been to the one in Nepal. Actually, you cannot access the real Base Camp, but you will get to see impressive views of the highest mountain of the world from Rongbuk Monastery. You will have it right in front of you.
Besides the views of the Everest, a real highlight is when, after leaving the main road and starting driving through the Everest National Park towards the EBC, you get to the top of a 5200m mountain pass. There’s a viewpoint from where you can see the Himalaya Range. You will see five mountains of more than 8000m at the same time: Makalu, Lhotse, Everest, Cho Oyu and Shisha Pangma. Absolutely breathtaking! From the moment you start descending the pass, you enjoy permanent views of all the range, so prepare your camera!
-Friendship Highway: It is the road linking Lhasa with Kathmandu. Most of the part it is a normal paved road and quite annoying, as there are several police checkpoints and the speed is limited to 50 kmph most of the time, at some points even 40 or 30 kmph. This is quite desperating because the road is actually quite good but because of the checkpoints you cannot go faster or, if you do, then you have to wait.
Anyway, the special thing about this road is the part between the Everest Base Camp (the part of the road close to it) and Zhangmu, the Chinese/Nepalese border. All this part of about 6 hours goes through one of the most beautiful (and a lot of times scary) road landscapes you heve ever seen. You will cross a mountain pass and you will have the Shisha Pangma mountain right in front of you, to then descent all the way to Zhangmu through a narrow road having all the time a deep gorge with a river down there on your right. Scary, yes, but breathtaking, so you can sleep from Lhasa until near the Everest, from then on keep your eyes opened!
Accomodation
You can choose your accommodation in Lhasa. From then on, your guide is likely to choose it for you according to your budget.
In Lhasa we stayed at the Lhasa Hostel, one of the cheapest places in town that accept foreigners. Still, Lhasa is more expensive than China, and the price was 180 RMB per room. The hostel is quite ok and it is located between Barkhor and Potala Palace, so perfect. The staff doesn’t speak good English and they are not especially helpful.
Try to look for some other option, otherwise it makes for a couple of days.
Food & Drink
There are a lot of options to eat and drink in Lhasa, both Chinese and Tibetan. Avoid the Chinese ones, and head for the tiny small and beautiful Tibetan restaurants scattered around the Barkhor area. You will recognize them by the smoking chimney going out from them or by the purple Tibetan curtain. They are really small places with a few tables serving all kinds of Tibetan food and drink: momos (dumplings filled with yak meat), curry yak meat with potatoes, thukpa (Tibetan noodles)… everything delicious and really cheap (the only cheaper thing in Tibet than in China).
As to drinks, try the famous Tibetan butter tea and Lhasa Beer, much better than the beers in China!
As to drinks, try the famous Tibetan butter tea and Lhasa Beer, much better than the beers in China!
Transportation
You cannot visit Tibet on your own unless you are Chinese. This means you have to arrange a tour through a travel agency or through one of the hostels in, for example, Chengdu. We did it through Chengdu Mix Hostel, as it was the cheapest one. You need to give a copy of your Chinese visa and of your passport and they will send them to the Tibetan Office Bureau exactly 15 days before your tour starts, so plan ahead.
The tour was about 4000 RMB per person for a 7-day tour excluding train tickets, accommodation, entrance tickets and meals. Still, it was one of the cheapest options, but if you have the time and the money, go for a better option and avoid Mix Hostel, as the guide was totally useless and we had some problems. When we finished the tour, we complaint but of course they gave hundreds of excuses, so avoid Mix Hostel. Anyway, you will love Tibet regardless of your tour.
You don’t need to worry for your transportation as you will be driven everywhere in Tibet. What you do need to do is buy the train tickets to Lhasa on your own. We went from Chengdu in a hard sleeper and it took us 43 hours for around 750 RMB. Despite being the highest train in the world (you reach a maximum altitude of 5100m), the only difference with a normal train are the oxygen outlets it has in case you need a blow of fresh air. Even if you notice a bit the altitude, no problems at all during all the trip, partly because during the last part of the trip (at an average altitude of 4000m) the staff release the oxygen in most of the outlets. The train ride itself is one of the highlights of the trip.
In Lhasa you will be picked up by your guide and driven to your accommodation. Once in town, it is the only place you can wander on your own but foreigners are forbidden to take public transportation, although the Old Town is perfectly walkable.
When visiting Drepung Monastery, tell your guide you want to come back by bus, as the taxi ride is more expensive. Going there, a taxi is advisable, as it is quite an uphill walk and buses don’t reach there.
The tour was about 4000 RMB per person for a 7-day tour excluding train tickets, accommodation, entrance tickets and meals. Still, it was one of the cheapest options, but if you have the time and the money, go for a better option and avoid Mix Hostel, as the guide was totally useless and we had some problems. When we finished the tour, we complaint but of course they gave hundreds of excuses, so avoid Mix Hostel. Anyway, you will love Tibet regardless of your tour.
You don’t need to worry for your transportation as you will be driven everywhere in Tibet. What you do need to do is buy the train tickets to Lhasa on your own. We went from Chengdu in a hard sleeper and it took us 43 hours for around 750 RMB. Despite being the highest train in the world (you reach a maximum altitude of 5100m), the only difference with a normal train are the oxygen outlets it has in case you need a blow of fresh air. Even if you notice a bit the altitude, no problems at all during all the trip, partly because during the last part of the trip (at an average altitude of 4000m) the staff release the oxygen in most of the outlets. The train ride itself is one of the highlights of the trip.
In Lhasa you will be picked up by your guide and driven to your accommodation. Once in town, it is the only place you can wander on your own but foreigners are forbidden to take public transportation, although the Old Town is perfectly walkable.
When visiting Drepung Monastery, tell your guide you want to come back by bus, as the taxi ride is more expensive. Going there, a taxi is advisable, as it is quite an uphill walk and buses don’t reach there.
Safety
The main danger in Tibet is the AMS or altitude sickness. They say it appears from 2700m and in Tibet you will be all the time above these 2700. If visiting the EBC you will reach a maximum altitude of 5200m.
You will feel the altitude sickness at some point, some way or another, but normally only as a headache and as having some difficulties to breathe, especially at night.
But it depends on every person how much they feel the altitude, in my case it was just some headache one night and feeling it was a bit difficult to breathe at some points. Other people have even nauseas and vomits.
Besides AMS, no other dangers in Tibet. Tibetan people are extremely friendly and helpful, so if you happen to be in trouble they will help you for sure.
You will feel the altitude sickness at some point, some way or another, but normally only as a headache and as having some difficulties to breathe, especially at night.
But it depends on every person how much they feel the altitude, in my case it was just some headache one night and feeling it was a bit difficult to breathe at some points. Other people have even nauseas and vomits.
Besides AMS, no other dangers in Tibet. Tibetan people are extremely friendly and helpful, so if you happen to be in trouble they will help you for sure.
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