Life with cats, and other things…
Potala Palace from roof of the Jokhang Temple https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/707/gallery/ The Potala Palace requires true photographic skills which are far beyond me. I would encourage to have a look at the Unesco World Heritage gallery, link posted above. This most impressive and stunning structure was commissioned in 1645 by the 5th Dalai Lama. It was built … Continue reading Potala Palace
Until the latter half of the 1980's it had been difficult to gain access to Tibet and only the fairly hardy attempted it. Photographer and adventurer Galen Rowell was one of those. The stunning photograph he captured in 1981 of a rainbow emanating from the Potala Palace is the kind of amazing thing that could … Continue reading Lhasa
Following two very long, difficult days on the road, we now had a whole day to spend in Shigatse, the second largest city of Tibet. It was the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, second in authority only to the Dalai Lama. The 10th Panchen Lama had remained in Tibet after the Chinese take-over. A … Continue reading Shigatse and Gysantse
Having survived the latest rockfall, our intrepid little group may have thought the worst was over. We had set out only the day before on our journey from Kathmandu, though it felt as if we had been underway a lot longer! But we had set foot in Tibet and I for one had been energized. … Continue reading Getting to Shigatse
The exhilaration I felt upon setting foot in Tibet was not momentary. For several weeks thereafter, I felt as though I was walking on air. Which was just as well, considering the assortment of complications that were to follow. Tourists had started to arrive in Tibet a year before we went, but at a very … Continue reading Zhangmu
It was the day of our actual departure for Lhasa, a place I had longed to see above all others. With some challenges, we had arrived at our departure point in Kathmandu. We had shopped for extra food supplements, we had listened to the briefing ref: altitude, possible anticipated problems along the way, and now … Continue reading Friendship Bridge
"This may turn out to be the unfinished epistle", I wrote on November 7th, 1986. It was the beginning of my latest and last, as it turned out, though not "unfinished" epistle, to friends who always claimed to enjoy what I wrote about my travels. Which was convenient, as I loved writing about them. Why … Continue reading Lost Horizon