Top Tibet hotels
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Inside the Pelkor Chöde Monastery of Gyantse you find the Kumbum Chörten or Stupa. You can walk up all the way over five floors. Take your time, because on every floor there are plenty of rooms beautifully decorated with Bhuddas and Demons. From the top you have a great outlook over the monastery and the town all the way to the Gyantse Dzong.
Ganden Monestary sits on top of a mountain to the east of Lhasa. There are only a few buses one of which you can get just down the street from the Yak Hotel. The monestary is beautiful. It is a steep windy road to the top where the monestary is located. You pass many Yak grazing along the side of the road.Once at the monestary, walk towards the main assembly hall. Around lunch time is a good time to go. The monks go through their chants and rituals and welcome people to observe, however they do not like you taking pictures inside the hall. You can take picture inside the hall afterwards but there is a fee.
It's a Tibetan staple. Always a good idea to try the local delicacy at least once. It's amazing that the locals will, upon entering an eatery or restaurant, will order for themselves a flask full of it.It's best drank piping hot. As expected, it takes a bit of getting used to, at first. It's also a good opportunity to do a video capture of your fellow companion's reaction when they first try it. ;pYou haven't really visited Tibet if you haven't tried their Yak Butter Tea. There's also the sweet butter tea, for the not so adventurous.
At Simi La Pass, located at an altitude of 4,330 metres above sea level, there is no commercialism. For a while we are the only people there. Stones are piled up with the usual prayer flags and ceremonial scarves attached, and after we’ve been there a while, a pilgrim arrives and scatters confetti-like colourful pieces of paper, another way of making wishing into the wind. It was very atmospheric. From the pass you have a very good view of a lake which was created when a hydroelectric dam was built in 1995. There is a small hill which you can climb if you are feeling energetic. I got half way up and started to feel dizzy, so came back down again and sat in the bus to recover.
The Friendship Road from Lhasa to Gyangtse goes right past the Karo La Pass, and close to the hanging glacier nearby. The pass is at an altitude of 5,010 metres above sea level, and the air is thin here. Move slowly and carefully. There is a lot of commercialism going on here, with hawkers selling souvenirs which include crystals – warning: they are fake imports from mainland China! Yak rides are available; there are traditionally dressed women and children with cute little lambs and goats who charge to have their photos taken, and some basic toilet facilities.
Lake Yamzho Yumco is a lake located on the southern Tibetan Plateau (28?‹56?Œ N 90?‹41?Œ E), situated 120 km south of Lhasa, it is over 72 km (45 miles) long. The lake is also known as the Scorpion Lake, due to its unusual shape which can (with a bit of imagination) resemble a scorpion. Other popular names are the Holy Lake or Yamdrok Tso. It is the largest freshwater lake in TibetThe lake is surrounded by many snow-capped mountains and is fed by numerous small streams. The lake does have an outlet stream at its far western end. Yamzho Yumco has a power station that was completed and dedicated in 1996 near the small village of Pai-Ti at the lake?fs western end. This power station is the largest in Tibet.The lake is located at an elevation of 4,400 meters above sea level. It covers an area of 800 square kilometres and is 30-40 meters deep. Yamzho means upper pasture and Yum means jade in...
Kamba La Pass, at an altitude of 4,794 metres above sea level, is traditionally the divide between ‘front’ and ‘back’ Tibet. At the top there is a splendid panorama with the Yarlung Tsangpo Valley behind (having just climbed from the river) while in front is a superb vista of the stunning scorpion-shaped turquoise lake of Yanzho Yumco. At the pass, you will find the usual prayer flags and ceremonial scarves attached to a pole, yak riding salesmen and a very basic toilet.
The summer palace of the Dalai Lama, which is said to have been preferable to the Potala Palace as the rat population was less. The first palace was built by the 7th Dalai Lama in 1755 as a place where he could handle political affairs, practice religious activities and spend holidays. Today there are three palaces in the park. During the days of the 8th Dalai Lama, a lake was dug and now there is also a zoo in the park. The name means ‘jewelled garden’ and the Dalai Lama would spend six months of the year here. A number of the buildings here were destroyed during the 1959 uprising, and the once magnificent gardens are now mostly derelict. The summer palace is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The highlight of any visit to Sera, is the Debating Courtyard, where monks can be seen debating in the traditional method, with the antagonist standing and aggressively questioning his seated protagonist by clapping his hands together near the opponent’s face. It is a lively and noisy discussion and an absolute cacophony of slapping hands, animated dialogue and raucous arguments interspersed with a little laughter. It is totally captivating to watch.
Drepung is scattered over a large area on a hillside, some 8 miles west of Lhasa. In the hillsides around the Drepung complex, a few nuns eke out an existence in ruins of the dormitories and caves. The spend most of their time meditating – they are pilgrims who never left. We were lucky enough to be invited inside to have a look at one of the caves, it was laid out more like a temple than a home, with very few home comforts. Water is boiled using the traditional solar heating method – at this altitude, water boils at 80C. Drepung was once the world’s largest monastery, with 10,000 resident monks, who hailed from 321 different branch monasteries and lived according to nationality in various accommodation buildings. Today there are only about 600 monks remaining, but most of the 20,000 square metre complex remains. The name Drepung means head of rice symbolising the way the white buildings...
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.
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...
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