Lhasa- Tibet, China

We finally made it! At 12,000 feet in elevation, Lhasa is the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It has a population of 200,000 & is now heavily reliant upon tourism.

The official Tibetan Tourism Bureau (TTB) permit that was needed to enter the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

We flew lengthwise with the Himalayas until landing in Lhasa. They were beautiful! The Himalayas contain nine of the world's ten highest peaks! Of course, the best of the aerial photos has a wing in it. Oh well, it still shows how lucky we were to get this weather!

Our hotel was in the Tibetan district/area of Lhasa, or old town. This is where I should mention that the majority of Lhasa is inhabited by the Chinese. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Tibetans to get good paying jobs in Lhasa. Unless, they know both the Tibetan & Chinese languages. Since Tibet opened for tourism, the place has flooded with Chinese looking to buy cheap land & open businesses. For the most part, the Chinese haven't attempted to adopt the architecture nor culture of the Tibetan way of life. Additionally, a new railroad was just finished this month & may already be open for business. The train starts in Beijing & will allow Tibet to be accessed with greater ease. There are many different arguments supporting both sides of the Chinese & the Tibetans, so I'll now let you do your own research.

Potala Palace could be seen from our hotel room!

A side street of the old town area.

A Tibetan area main street named Beijing Donglu.

A newer section of the Chinese delevoped area.

This photo & the following two are taken from our hotel rooftop patio.

Viewing South

The first night, I spent a couple hours on the rooftop. I just sat there & took in the whole experience. It was even snowing in the mountains, but beyond the camera's reach. A much different experience than Thailand!

POTALA PALACE

Making our way to the entrance of Potala Palace.

It's hard to understand the immensity of this! Especially considering that it was completed in 1694.

Potala Palace with the city below.

As you may have guessed, photos are not allowed inside.

Many of these ladies were singing & laughing all the way down. Our tour guide, Kelsang, said they must have been there on their pilgrimage. For more information on Potala Palace, please click here.

Jokhang Temple was only a minute from our hotel, but we soon had the chance to visit. The inner temple houses Tibet’s most sacred Buddha image, the Jowo Shakyamuni.

Jokhang Temple is 1300 years old & is the holiest shrine in Tibet.

Two deer protecting a Dharma wheel with roof cyliners in the background.

The top of Jokhang Temple provided a great view of Barkhor Square & beyond.

These Tibetans may have been on a pilgrimage. I snapped this photo, because I thought it was nice to see a westerner pull up a seat with them.

Men continued to work as the sun went down.

Their king of beers!

Chengdu, China

From Bangkok, the three of us flew to Kunming, China. Josh stayed here while Paul & I continued to Chengdu. We had to wait a couple days in Chengdu while our Tibetan Tourism Bureau (TTB) permit was being granted. When we traveled to China in May, you couldn't buy a plane ticket to Tibet without the TTB permit. So, while we stayed in this city of 4. 1 million, we thought we'd check out a little of town.

This was one of the historic areas of the city.

I loved the trees growing through the roof!

Chengdu has a 2300-year old history. When was this area built? I'm not sure.

The Tibetan Tour price included a hotel stay that offered this view.

We went from sunny Thailand, to a rainy day in Chengdu.

Everyone has to be somewhere.

Wuhou Temple was initially built in 223 AD. You can read more once expanding the picture to it's largest size.

As you can see from the rest of the photos, much care has gone into the temple grounds.

Side Note:

At this point, the swelling was gone & my leg was doing much better. Yet, it was still infected around the wound. We were leaving for Tibet the next morning & I thought it may be a good idea to visit a doctor before departing. I only had 2 more days of antibiotics & knew once off them, my leg could get worse. While at the hospital, as one might guess, the language barrier was difficult. Although, eventually one of the lady doctors came to assist me. She made it sound as if they wanted to perform surgery on my leg again! There could have been some miscommunication, but if we understood it correctly... Well, that scared me! I told them I was leaving the next morning, so they gave me some different antibiotics & sent us on our way. I figured my leg just needed a few more days to completely rid of the infection. So, you're wondering why I left the Thailand hospital if my leg wasn't completely healed? Americans are only allowed 30 days in Thailand without a visa. Our time was up!

Bangkok, Thailand

I had a great time in Bangkok, but it was certainly nothing like the beaches. Although, the city was vibrant & full of life!

Found this water lily while walking along the sidewalk. It was in the front water display of a hotel & begging for anyone to capture it's beauty.

I had to take this picture because I was excited to see so many cars with color! Korea doesn't have quite the array of choices.

A boat ride up the Mae Nam Chao Phraya.

There were so many different temples on this river! The motion of the boat ride made it difficult to snap a clear picture.

Wan Kanlaya

Wan Arun

This is at Wat Pho, where the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand is held.

Beautiful architecture of the many temples at Wat Pho.

More of Wat Pho.

One of the gates being protected by the stone guards.

Close up of the architectural work.

Once we found the 151 foot long Buddha, we felt our reason for coming had been satisfied.

The feet were intricately detailed with an abalone inlay.

Offering Bowls

These children demonstate how they're used.

Wat Intharawihan stood 105 feet above us.

The main train staion in Bangkok, Hua Lamphon.