Our last day in Lhasa was rather uneventful, with Rami, Betty and David all leaving on the early morning train, leaving me with most of the day to wander around the city before taking a 4 pm flight to Xi'an. As usual, I found myself pulled back to Potala Palace, the majestic centerpiece of the city. I came back for both night and morning views, always impressed by the place. Other than that, I shopped for a few trinkets, bargained for a cheap t-shirt and returned to a nice Nepalese/Tibetan restaurant for both dinner and lunch. Wanting to try more local food before I left, I ended up with a rather bland set of dumpling-looking pieces of wheat dough and brown sugar called tsampas and a fried, yak filled piece of crispy bread called shabaleb. As usual, I couldn't resist a cheap piece of naan, so the starchy combo was a good, cheap local meal for my last night. In the afternoon, Wu and Dawa came back to take me on the one hour drive to the airport, passing by my final views of Tibet, replete with the wide river and ubiquitous mountains that had followed us for the entire eight days. The weather also seemed to be changing, with big dust storms sending dirt, debris and fallen leaves all over the sky, possibly bringing with it some colder weather, just in time for us to get away.
(The illuminated palace at night, just a short walk away from the small light and water show at the main square.)
(And a similar view from the next morning while the water was still calm.)
(Don't worry, this is the last picture you'll see of Potala Palace. Not having much to do, I joined the pilgrims in their circuit around the palace, ringed by prayer wheels, nice views and the occasional beggar.)
(The last shot of our group as they left for their train ride. Again, L to R: 77 yr old David from Israel, Wu - our friendly guide, Betty and Rami the Israeli couple, though Betty is originally from Costa Rica, Dawa - the driver, and me. We also met some extremely nice (but overworked) workers in this hotel who took this picture for us and served us at breakfast and dinner every day.)
0 comments:
Post a Comment