Neil in Tibet 2018

Lhasa is just as exotic a location in the world as it has been for many decades! It was great to see the Tibetan culture thriving in spite of years of oppression from the occupiers. The Potala from the plaza park A visit to the Potala, the iconic palace on the hill overlooking Lhasa, was quite special, however, very controlled by the authorities. Certain areas are not open to the public, groups must move through the exhibit areas within prescribed times and no photography in all temples. The Potala was used over the centuries The Potala lit up like a jewel at night The West Gate Chortans by the Dalai Lamas as their winter palace. It has been well maintained and is quite a walk from the streets below. The Chortan at the west gate was rebuilt after the Chinese blew it up in the late 1950's. The East face of the Potala

Departing Kathmandu airport My first trip to Tibet was in 2006. We went by 4 wheel drive from Kathmandu to Kodari, the border crossing into Tibet, stayed in Zhangmu at 2300 metres and climbed the next day to Nyalam, over 5000m passes to Tingri. Kodari is now closed and has been since the 2015 earthquake. Zhangmu is now a badly damaged ghost town as it has no traffic. Flying to Lhasa is now the best option. An hour flight over the Himalayas By road was not the best way to access Tibet as it required fast acclimatization to altitude and caused AMS for many people. It is less than an hour flight from Kathmandu, Nepal. Local Lhasa market Lhasa main road I had already planned a culture tour to Bhutan and some of the participants said why don't we go to Tibet while we are in that part of the world. So I set out to organize this group to Kathmandu for the required 3 days to submit to the Chinese Embassy our Visa application, passports, group travel permits a...