22 August 2010

Seven Days in Tibet - Best of Tibet

We saw tons of amazing things in our week in Tibet. Aaron nicknamed our Tibet excursion "Where were you when we were getting high?" Here are some of the best shots we took while we were on the top of the world.


Literally about the highest I have ever been: 5190 meters baby!


This is a less than great shot of one of the coolest things I have ever seen: Tibetan monks engaged in their daily debate. You should really see this in video form.



The trading market we went to in Lhasa. This place was chalked full of pilgrims, tourists, and yak meat vendors.


Some awesome landscape shots taken on the Tibetan Highway. We spent hours on this road, but well worth the view we were able to soak up. I have never seen so much open space before.





In the middle of one of our trips on the Highway, we hit this freak hailstorm. It went from blue sky to thick hail for about 6-7 minutes straight and then stopped just as abruptly. Even our guide said he had never seen anything like it. It just kept hitting our van, so we pulled over and got some shots of the craziness.



We hiked up a bit in the Himalayas. We made it to about 17,000 feet before we puttered out like a VW bug running on fumes.



So the government makes you sign this health waiver before you enter into the plateau. Click on this picture and read the whole thing. We didn't stop laughing for hours. I can't decide whether C or E is my favorite.

Lovely Tibetan colors adorn the holy sites.


Check out some real Tibetan clothing. People dress traditionally all over, especially the women.

This was how much cash I dropped for my share of the price of the Tibet trip. 6,000 quay and worth every one.

Prayer flags are all over the place in Tibet. The Tibetans believe the wind carries the prayers, which isn't such a bad thing considering how windy it gets.

Prayer barrel. There are Buddhist prayers in these, and when the people spin them, they feel as it is almost like repeating the prayer. These things are all over the holy sites, and get used constantly.
This is the Dalai Llama's cat, or at least the cat at his palace.

The temple at Lake Namsto, the highest lake in the world. Below is our crew on the shore of Namsto.


Me at the main monastery where the monks take their examinations and where the Dalai Llama received his doctorate in philosophy. This place was amazing!

3 comments:

Court said...

What an adventure Brian! I have enjoyed looking at your photos and reading your commentary. -Court

Deb said...

Letter e) on the plateau instructions page is definitely my favorite. Beware of highly dangerous pregnant women!

Katie said...

So awesome! I am really glad you are blogging this for all of us. I think I will define myself as a highly dangerous pregnant woman until January. Sometimes I think it is a fitting title.