Top Tibet hotels
Sponsored Links
Women usually wear an apron-like skirt over their outfit. It is a colorful fabric. One of our friends in the group bought two of them and somehow managed to wear it like a skirt, on in front, the other on back. An old Tibetan man got angry and shouted her. Then we learned that wearing that skirt means “I am married”. Two skirts had been understood as two husbands and the old man got mad. I have one and waiting for a husband to wear it. :)
Bon religion is the oldest local belief in Tibet. Now there are 100,000 followers, Bönpos, in Tibet. They are living in hard to reach parts of country. The original Bön religion is dated older than 16,000 BC. In 16,000 BC, Yungdrung Bön founded. Now, under the New Bön name, a sect is accepted by 14th Dalai Lama as a sect of Tibetan Buddhism.Original Bön was animistic and shamanistic. It is the main factor for the differences of Tibetan Buddhism. Recently, there are 264 Bön monasteries in Tibet.
Chinese is probably not that friendly on the street. However, they get completely changed when they travel. At dinner, they become extremely friendly to talk, drink and even invite you for the meal. They also become very talkative to introduce where they come from and what are the famous things in their city.
If you are visiting a monastery or temple always keep in mind to circumambulate the buildings and shrines clockwise.Don't smokeDon't take pictures without permission. In most monasteries you will need to pay.Don't wear shorts and take off your hat when going inside.
Wherever you go in Tibet, you will find colourful prayer flags in monasteries, on the roofs of Tibetan houses, on mountain passes, sacred lakes and holy peaks. They are placed outside, mostly hanging on ropes, where the wind can carry their prayers. Prayer flags are printed with sacred symbols and mantras. They are said to bring happiness, long life and prosperity. There are different colours, each representing an element: yellow (earth), green (water), red (fire), white (cloud), blue (sky). These flags are called Lung-ta (windhorse) in Tibetan language. They have a horse symbol in the middle, carrying Buddhist mantras. In its four corners are the four majestic mystical animals; the snow-lion, symbolizing destiny; the garuda, vitality; the dragon, prosperity; and the tiger, representing the human body.
Tibetan people still wear traditional clothing. The national dress is the chuba, a long sleeved sheepskin cloak. It is tied around the waist with a sash and often worn off of the shoulder. Most women wear a long dress topped with a colourful striped apron. They also wear a lot of jewelery, it shows their wealth. Woman from the northeastern and Qinghai areas wear their hair in 108 braids, an auspicious number in Buddhism. Khampa men wear a red or black tassel in a braid they wind around the head. Cowboy hats are commonly seen in summer and fur hats in winter.
In my opinion the best time to visit Tibet weatherwise is at the end of September - beginning of October. The raining season, starting April and at its worst during July and August, has come to an end. The days are still sunny and warm (up to 20°C) and the nights are not too cold yet.Take into account that during the raining season roads can be blocked because of landslides making it difficult to get to your destination.
We went to the Potala at 11:30am and was told today's tickets were already sold out, but recommended us to stand in line for tomorrow's ticket. So we did. The ticket window opened around noon and the line moved along quickly. After our passport were checked, we were given a sheet of paper indicating the right to enter Potala Palace the next day. The line was at the west gate of Potala. Being an icon of Lhasa and in such large scale, Potala is one of those places where you want to browse leisurely without time strain.These are what we got from the people at the ticket window:- Only 1000 tickets per day are issued for entry into Potala.- An organized tour can only stay for an hour vs. a whole day for an individual tourist. We wandered around for more than 3 hours and still did not see everything.- Tickets start selling at 9am. Once sold out (which usually happens before 11am), your options...
Yes there really are Yaks everywhere.There are wild herds on the mountain passes and domesticated herds on farms. the domesticated ones often have prayer flags attached to them -weird.I rode one up to a monastery and it was a very sturdy beast (believe me it had to be!) and very calm natured (altho the Yak handler said they could be quite dangerous and I can believe that)Yak is pretty good to eat to, you can get a lot of different types of food with Yak in the local restaurants. Its like a very beefy beef. I only had a mouthful as i tend to prefer to go veggie when I'm travelling.
We came across chanting monks both at the Samye and Drepung monasteries. It was very calming and hypnotic.You should be repectful and keep your distance when they are doing this and don't use a flash when taking a photo. Infact taking a video clip has a much better effect as you get the sound too.You can buy CDs with monks chanting in the markets and tourist shops.
Yak Hotel Lhasa
8 Reviews and 61 Opinions This is a supposedly 3 star hotel but why remains a mystery. We stayed there for 2 days on our...
Gyantse Hotel Gyangze
2 Reviews and 29 Opinions The hotel's official rating is ***, which did mean it was pretty basic - and so it was (it would not...
Kyichu Hotel (Jiqu Fandian) Lhasa
1 Review and 65 Opinions I stayed at this hotel in February 2007. The beds were hard, but that's normal in China. They had...
Reviews and photos of Tibet attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Tibet sightseeing.
More Cities in Tibet
Q: I am planning a trip of a life time and have two years to do so… so first I want to get some ideas from seasoned travelers and...
A: If you want to hike or bike, Tibet (which is stunning, by the way) is probably not going to work out. The Chinese government will only issue permits for people to enter...
Read 4 Replies
Sponsored Links
