Not a great variety of things to do in Tibet but the landscape is pretty awesome and I’d spend most of my time outside Lhasa if I was to go back.
I arrived early morning around 830a.m and after the Explore Tibet guide finally showed up half an hour later he suggested we go straight to Yamdrok Lake (you can read more about this in “You Should Know This“). I said fine and off we went, about an hour and half drive. The drive up to Yamdrok Lake is mildly spectacular, it’s a like a giant Central Otago in New Zealand with massive baron mountains, blue lakes and you don’t see scenery like this in too many parts of the world. If you haven’t traveled much and are from a city, you’ll be blown away. One of the first things to do in Tibet I did was a bit touristy – You can stop near the top and get a nice view down and take some pics of some Tibetan dogs and some goats, if that’s your thing. Not normally my thing, but I thought fuck it, I’m here, let’s get in the mix. You have to pay the owners, I don’t even remember how much it is, bugger all, and your guide will tell you how much it is before you take a photo so you don’t need to worry about getting ripped or the touts asking for too much.
Near Yamdrok Lake, Tibet
Most tourists don’t actually go down to Yamdrok Lake and the view from down there is not really what you see in any of the things to do in Tibet guides, so naturally I went down to get away from the few busloads of tourists there were at the top. Again, if you haven’t done much of this type of traveling, it’s awesome. There’s some pretty wicked lakes and views in New Zealand so it wasn’t awe-inspiring, but still bloody nice and definitely worth going to see the view. There’s loads of Tibetan prayer flags around so get amongst those and find a photo most people won’t have. It’s also worth walking up the hill, to the left of where all the tour buses and vans park, you get a better view. If you walk up there you might start to feel how the altitude affects you. I could have spent a few hours up there just relaxing, but apparently you don’t do that.
Looking Down on Yamdrok Lake
The guide asked me if I wanted to go down the bottom in a hesitant voice, as he clearly didn’t want to, so of course I said yes. Not much to see down there but there’s a couple of Yaks you can jump on and get your photo with. Back up to the top with the view and then headed to Lhasa, which is a couple of hours drive. Long first day especially with the 615a.m flight.
The Shangri-La Lhasa is ok, a bit run down and probably as you might expect being in Tibet. Rooms are ok, big enough, clean and no smells so nothing to complain about. Check out my check-out experience from the Shangrila Lhasa though, what a performance! It was about 4p.m by the time I got back and checked in and decided to walk down the road (about 1 km) and do some pre-scouting at Potala Palace. Didn’t go inside, but walked around it and was quite interesting. Back to the hotel, shit dinner (which you can read about in “You Should Know This“, and off to sleep.
Next morning guide picked me up early and we went back to Potala Palace – this is what you will find on every single things to do in Tibet list and to be fair you’ve got to go there. Before it even opened, there was quite a large line forming, but my guide and Explore Tibet (the tour company who I booked the guide through), redeemed themselves here. We basically went to straight to the front of the line, and were quite literally the first ones in, which was excellent for taking photos. Some reviews say the walk up is hard, but don’t listen to any of them, it’s some stairs and unless you sit on your ass all day eating 22 hamburgers and watching the Kardashians, it’s not a problem. Inside Potala Palace is pretty good, a lot of history and religious stuff, after a while it got a bit tedious but that’s partly because I’m an uncultured twat and don’t care too much for 1/ religion and 2/ history. Still, it’s definitely worth going and even not to be missed. It’s pretty big so you can spend quite a bit of time in there. Note that in a lot of areas you can’t take photos.
Potala Palace
After that we walked over to Jokhang Temple in Barkhor Square. This is quite a good part of town, meaning it’s more traditional Tibetan. The temple is pretty good, but hundreds of people lining up to do their prayers inside. Still, it’s worth having a good look around and once you get upstairs and out onto the roof, you get some good views overlooking Barkhor square. It’s really interesting, I mean I’ve lived in Asia for almost 25 years and seen my share of temples, but this is something unique. Neither this or Potala Palace can compare the Tigers Nest in Bhutan, but both are good in their own right.
Jokhang Temple
Barkhor Street is also really interesting and I think I could have spent half a day just walking around taking photos I’d say that was one of the favourite things to do in Tibet. There seems to be mostly locals there and this was probably part of Lhasa. Definitely make sure you visit there and spend some time there. After this we drove over to Sera Monastery. By this stage I was well and truly templed and monasteried out, but glad I went as it’s still interesting to see. Sera Monastery is one of three famous monasteries in Lhasa, to a certain extent once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, but if you’ve got nothing better to do (which is likely the case in Lhasa), it’s worth a visit and not far from the city center. After this I headed back to the hotel and changed my flight to the next morning. I was originally scheduled to fly out the next night and stay the night at the Chengdu Airport Hotel, but after my first night there on the way over, I wasn’t that keen on going back.
Overall a really good trip with the exception of the food and a few other small things that I can overlook and that not everybody will encounter. Probably didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but glad I went. Not sure I’d be telling everybody to go, but if you’re into this kind of travel you’ll probably find it fascinating.
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