Travel Adventure Asia
Photos and notes of a journey of more than six months through 9 countries in Asia: Russia, Mongolia, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos.
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Carpet factory in Lhasa
Tibetans working in a small carpet factory near Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet
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Prayer wheels & debating monks at Sera Monastery
Prayer wheels and debating monks at Sera Monastery in the northern part of Lhasa, capital of Tibet. Beautiful golden colored prayer wheels with the text “Om mani padme hum”. Debating monks in the garden of Sera Monastery:
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Potala Palace from Jokhang Temple
Lhasa and the Potala Palace as seen from the Jokhang Temple in the old town of Lhasa The Potala Palace is visible just slightly to the right of the center of the photo. It is located on a hill outside the old town. Jokhang Temple Square
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The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet
Potala Palace in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The Potala Palace in Lhasa used to be the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas. Unfortunately this ended when the fourteenth Dalai Lama (the current one) fled to India in 1959. The impressive building is located on a hilltop near the old town of Lhasa.
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Flying over the Himalayas from Shangri-La to Lhasa
Flying over the Himalayas from Shangri-La to Lhasa in Tibet. The beginning of a very special part of our trip through Asia. During our flight to Lhasa we had spectacular views over the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Plane at Lhasa Airport at an elevation of 3570 meters. Since we spend several days in Shangrila we didn’t experience difficulties with this altitude. People coming from Kathmandu or other cities may have trouble breathing.
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Bicycle trip to Bita Hai
From Shangri-La we made a bicycle and hiking trip to Bita Hai (Emerald Pagoda Lake). Bita Lake is beautifully situated at an an elevation of 3539 m in Pudacuo National Park and has a total area of about 1.4 square kilometers. Shangri-La is located at an elevation of 3160 m so the 20 km bicycle ride and the 8 km hiking up and down to the lake was quite hard. However at the end of the journey we got the reward of enjoying the beautiful scenery. Along the way we rode through several Tibetan villages.
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Tibetans busy with harvest, Shangri-La
Tibetan men and women busy with harvest near Napa Hai, northwest of Gandan Sumtseling Monastery in Shangri-La (Zhongdian), China
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Gandan Sumtseling Monastery in Shangri-La
Gandan Sumtseling (or Sōngzànlín Sì) is a Tibetan monastery in Shangri-La formerly known as Zhongdian or Gyalthang in Tibetan. Gyalthang is located in the northwest of Yunnan province in the prefecture of Diqing. This town / area used to be Tibet(an) and has been occupied by China in the 1940’s. Gandan Sumtseling is roughly 3 km north of the center of Shangri-La. In the monastery we where invited in the kitchen by some monks. They seemed to be very lonely. It must be hard not to be able to travel to your home country and to lose a lot of freedom due to the Chinese suppression.
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Bad weather in the old town of Shangri-La
Muddy roads in the old town of Shangri-La (Zhongdian) due to days of bad weather When travelling six months through Asia it is very hard to avoid both the rainy season and winter. We could avoid the winter, but therefore not the rainy season. So every now and then we had a lot of rain. Here in the old town of Shangri-La pigs didn’t seem to mind the rain and the mud.
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People in Lijiang
More Lijiang photos: lovely streets and Naxi people.
