Lhasa, China

With 4 nights in the Tibetan holy city of Lhasa everyone was quite excited to explore the sights and have a few days of eating recognisable Western food.

First we all had a tour around the Jokhang temple dating to the 7th century in the older centre of the city. Although the temple was a busy tourist trap it was a brilliant insight to Buddism and great to see the prostrating pilgrims and little old ladies spinning the prayer wheels as they walked around. Inside the temple were lots of Buddha statues, all with an Indian influence and the wooden ceiling beams were beautifully painted. The highlight was definitely the views from the roof top.

In the afternoon we headed to Potala Palace which is the Dalai Lama's winter residence. The palace is cut into the rock and divided into 2 sectors; the red sector for religious purposes and the white is for living in. With 13 stories and 1000's of rooms we had a short tour around some of the rooms which featured statues of Buddhas, thrones, gold and gems covered tombs, and stacks of commandment translations. Was really worth the visit despite the fact that the climbing of the steps at the front in the heat of day nearly killed us!

I allocated an entire day to shopping around Lhasa with the aim to buy some more outdoor clothes. Unfortunately, despite the abundance of shops and international hikers, all the clothes were made for the Chinese and I got a lot of laughs as I went into all the shops and asked for a size 45 shoe- the biggest was 44! The area around the Jokhang temple is called the Barkhor and is a selection of stalls selling bits and bobs. It was really interesting to see the pilgrims and the tourists mixed together, all following the clockwise walking system around the temple.

Another highlight for most was a trip to the nearby Sera Monastery, the 2nd biggest in Tibet where you can view debating monks. The monks gathered in small groups and debated topics, reinforcing the points with a quick step and clap motion. Fascinating to watch, it was just a shame about some of the other tourists there.

We all left Lhasa thinking that we could have spent another few days there but we headed on towards Everest, stopping off in Shigaste for a night before the tough and uncertain roads began.