May 29, 2018
Hotel: Shambhala Palace; Lhasa, China
Today we were driving back to Lhasa, but along a much shorter route. We got a relatively late start at 8:40AM. It was raining this morning unfortunately. After picking up the couple at their hotel we went to the Tashilhumpa monastery. Despite the rain it was quite busy here with local worshipers. There were queue minders dressed in orange jumpsuits that were keeping everyone in line.






We left the monastery by 10:30, driving quite a ways south of town to connect with the new expressway which runs out to the airport. The train has now been extended from Lhasa to Shigatse. I think it would have been neat to catch the train back instead of the drive. The train route was quite impressive with long bridges and tunnels. We continued continued along the Yarlung river. At one point the mountains closed in and the river was rushing through a narrow gorge. We stopped for lunch at a roadside house, more yak with potatoes. Pretty good actually, especially for $3!







We finally got back to Lhasa about 4PM. I walked from the Ganggyan to the Shambhala Palace, good thing I had scouted out where it was a few days ago! The room was gorgeous with a cavelike bathroom made of flagstones. There was a great view out from the rooftop terrace. There was some event going on at the school nearby.







The weather was quite nice so I wandered out through Old Lhasa and did a few circuits around Bakhor street. All the other poeple on my tour had left already so it was nice to get some exploring time on my own. For dinner I went to the Tibetian Family Kitchen again.