Tibet as a country is steeped in a Buddhist history that stretches back through the ages. It’s famed as a gentle and peaceful kingdom that sits nestled on the top of the world. A journey to Tibet is a breathtaking passage beyond the Himalaya, over snow-covered passes and ice falls, past emerald lakes and through isolated yak pasture’s, into quaint daub and thatch villages, magnificent monasteries and imposing forts, it is, surely a journey outside of our time and existence, that leaves the modern world temporarily behind, before rolling into Lhasa, a city of contradictions. The ancient and the new all mingle, fighting for supremacy in the highest city in the world.
Lhasa, it’s self is an amazing place, sitting in a river valley; this city is dotted with monasteries, crisscrossed with cobbled lanes and scented with incense and butter lamps. Towering above the city is the imposing Potala Palace, one time home to the spiritual Buddhist leader his holiness the Dalai Lama. Wander around the Bharkor Square; rubbing shoulders with maroon-clad monks and burly nomads dressed in heavy yak’s wool jackets, it’s truly one of the most splendid places on earth.
The allure of traveling the fabled overland route across the highest plateau in the world is one that many travelers cannot resist. For some time, this mystical country was locked away from the world and off limits to travelers. Nowadays Tibet is a popular tourist destination, readily accessible from Nepal and mainland China, thanks to the opening of the new high altitude train from Beijing.
