Last day in Tibet

Today is the last day in Tibet. We have been to Gyantse, which is a little town and we visited the Kumbum Stupa which is 32 m high and holds 100,000 images of Buddha.


Kumbum Stupa

We saw lot of pray wheels that you move around by spinning them clock wise and it is to send prays to the sky.



Pray Wheels at the Kumbum Stupa
We also saw Gyantse Fort. This was in the centre of town. It was built on a massive rock. I found the traffic light in the middle of the city was very interesting. See picture.


The traffic light in the middle of town

Local travel is done by either horse and wagon, or motorcycle or walking. They are a few cars and other automobiles.


Local way of travelling



The scencey is beautiful from the top of the Fort. We also went to Shigatse which is Tibet's three largest city. It runs along side the Yarlung Tsangpo river passing through many narrow gorges. We went to Sakya and saw another monestary and found some happening night life.



Sakya Monestary



Jeu which is the other girl on the trip with me and the boys did a solo of a song from the Sound of Music. We had a good time.



Jeu singing at the happening night place in Sakya, Tibet


Then we entered Qomolngma National Nuatre preserve which is the area we first saw the various mountains including Everst.



Mount Everest

We saw Mount Makalu at 8463 m, Mt. Lhotse at 8516 m, Mt. Qomolangma (Mount Everst) at 8844.43 m, Mt. Cho Oyu at 8201 m and Mt. XiXiaBangMa at 8012 m. The view was incredible.



Mount Everest



The group at Mount Everest




Me at Mount Everest Base Camp




On the 30th we stayed in a traditonal guest house in Tibet. It was called Everest Rabar Guest House and Resaurant.



Everest Rabar Guest House and Resaurant

The Resuarant was down stairs and we had to climb a mental staircase to get upstair to the bedrooms. No heat and no running water was available, I was glad that I had my sleeping bag. We drove over a pass at 5200 m that was in Qomlagma Nature Preserve.



The group at the last pass of Tibet!!

The views of the mountains were amazing but not as amazing as being at Mount Everest base camp. It is amazing to believe that people could climb that mountain. We stopped in a little town and then had lunch and then drove for about an hour through developing roads and saw some amazing waterfalls as we are going down in elevation.



The beautiful waterfalls at lower elevations in Tibet.




Last night in Tibet.. I cannot believe it is almost over!!


Tomorrow we cross the border into Nepal.

Moving in Tibet

Another group pictures from the beginning of the trip




The group I am travelling with in Tibet and Nepal

We are moving in Tibet to various places from Lasa. Here are some interesting pictures outside of Lasa.



The mountains outside of Lasa, Tibet



Me and my new friend the Yak



Cows in the middle of town



Snow in the mountains

The search for the medication lake

We went to Nam Tso Lake which is outside of Lasa. It was a 240km trip which climbs to 5200 feet above sea level at the pass. The lake that we went to was amazing. It was at 4500 feet above sea level. This lake is used by Tibetans for reflections and to post pray flags to send into the sky.



prays on the stones at Nam Tso Lake







Parts of Nam Tso Lake



Me with the prayer flags at Lake Nam Tso

From Europe to Tibet

Last time I wrote I was in Prague. I have now travelled from Prague to Vienna Austria. The tour ended with an amazing Mozart Concert at a Palace in Vienna.
The next day I booked another plane to go to Beijing, China. It was a long journey as I flew from Vienna to Cairo Egypt to Bankock Thailand and finally arrived in Beijing 21 hours later. The tour that I am on had already started and the group had seen the Great Wall but we started with Tiamen Square. It is funny, I felt very comfortable here at Tiament Square, I guess it was because I have been here before.
After a day in Beijing, we (they are only 3 other people on the tour beside me not including the tour leader). I went to see the famous water dome and Bird's nest.





The water cube



The Bird's Nest

It is amazing, we can do some much more with a small group. We boarded a train from Beijing West Train Station to go to Lasa (yes you Canadian would spell it with an "H" however true Tibetean spell it the other way). The train ride took 48 hours, yes 2 days and we slepted on the train. The accommodations were really good compared to the trains in Egypt. We slept in a room that was called a "hard sleeper." That means that they are six in a room and not a lot of room for the luggage. However there was little fold down chairs to sit outside the sleeping rooms.
The scency was amazing that we saw. It is so untouched. I must have taken about 300 scency pictures.







On the way to Tibet

We stopped in several different places on the way up to Lasa, Tibet just to let people get off and on the train. We climbed over many mountain passages on the way up. It is amazing that they could bring a railway that could climb over passes that are at 5800 feet.
When we arrived it was dark and we had not had a shower. We were taken to our hotel which is on the main street in Lasa but is amazing close to the local shopping district and the Potala Palace.


Potala Palace

We are living at 3900 feet about sea level at the moment.
Today is Saturday, October 25 and we did a lot of things today. We went and visited the Potala Palace, Ganden Monestary which is at 4500 feet above sea level and went to an amazing Tibeaten culture show tonight.




The main square in Lasa



Ganden Monestary



Me with the local at Ganden Monestary







One of the Tibetean men in his traditional clothing at the cultural show with me




Some traditional Tibetain women dancers


Scency between Lasa and Ganden Monestery


One of the local Yaks


It is just plain incredible up here in the mountains.

Plaque Czech

Our Hotel the Crown Plaza on one of the main streets in Prague.

We went to a city tour of Plague. We went to the Old Town Square with famous Astronomical clock.



Astronomical Clock



I walked through the Wenceslas Square where the Czechs gather during key moments of their modern history. I saw the birthplace or should I say square of the writer F. Kafka nearby the Jewish Quarter.


Jewish Sign outside the Jewish Quater






We walked across the Charles Bridge. St. Vitus Cathedral had the grave of Saint Wenceslas in it.



St. Vitus Cathedral




For anyone that is Jewish we saw the Old and New Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter.

The history of the Ghetto of the Jewish Quarter.

Prague used to be one of the most important Jewish cultrual and religious centers in Central Europe. The first Jewish settlement in Prague was around 960 AD. The Jews worked as merchants,which was located at the junctions of important trade routes. The Jewish quarter was demolished after 1893 and the new district was almost entriely rebuilt in the first decade of the 20th century. The new area buildings are of the pseudo-historic styles and Art Noveau style. The Old Jewish Cemetary, the Jewish Town Hall and six synagogues have been preserved without change.



Leading to the Jewish Cemetary


The city of Prague is beautiful and unless last night when we walked around the city, it did not rain.




Prague



Ready to jump over the bridge in Prague!!!

Prague, Czech

On the way to Prague


Tonight we arrived in Prague and was welcomed by rain in the evening. We have been very fortuate that we have not had rain all the trip except tonight. I hope we have no rain tomorrow.
We saw the opera house and government building.

The Opera house


The square of Franze Kafky which leads into the Jewish square.



The sign leading to the Jewish square


An old church that looks like it belongs in Prague specially for Halloween. The square in Prague.




The Church with the Astronomical Clock at night

While walking around in the rain. We saw a car being towed. It is funny how they do it. See picture below.



The car being towed.


We saw various displays outside the art modern museum.



A piece of art work looking like a tree.




A woman flying in a tree which is part of the modern art museum



Another sculpture




The Old Town in Prague


We saw the Charles' bridge that joined the two sides of town.



Charles' bridge