The epic train journey and the first few days in Lhasa

The journey finally began on Sunday night as I boarded the train for Tibet - 44 hours of nothing to do except read, sleep and enjoy the view! The first day proved to be just that, however the second morning I woke up with some symptoms of altitude sickness, a pounding headache and dizziness - no I hadn't been drinking! Luckily it disappeared when we got off the train on Tuesday night. The scenery on the train was spectacular - brown, deserted hills in China and then snow capped mountains with frozen streams once we hit Tibet. The train travelled along the highest route a train has ever been - 5072 metres above sea level.

Tibetan nomads paying their respects at the Jokhang Temple

After hunting for several hotels to stay at we finally decided upon one, only to pack our bags and leave first thing this morning. The women's bathroom was non-existent, you had to give an hours notice if you wanted a shower and the room was unbelieveably noisy! So, we are now residing at the Yak hotel at $4 a night, with clean bathrooms and 24 hour hot water! We spent our evening (it doesn't get dark until about 7pm even in winter) being swept up in the pilgram circuit around the Barkhor, where the Jokhang Temple is.

Sweet milk tea to warm us up on a cold Tibetan morning. Winter definitely is the time to be here as it is the time when all the nomads come in from the country to pay their respects at the most important Buddhist structures in Tibet. The Tibetan nomads are fascinating looking people - so weathered and wearing traditional clothes, they always have a smile on their face. Knowing the commercialised and materialistic societies that many countries contain now, it is humbling to witness these people who travel so far for something that they so strongly believe in. It is a special feeling to be part of their pilgrimage around these sacred places.

Hanging out with the monks at Jokhang Temple

This morning we visited the Potala Palace, once home to the Dalai Lamas. The walk up was very steep and with the altitude (3550 metres), it made me feel extremely unfit - a lot of huffing and puffing! We then went to the Jokhang Temple, where the smell of yak butter candles is quite powerful. Here, there were queues of nomads lined up to pay their respects to the various Buddhas inside.

Potala Palace in the background.

We have tried some fairly interesting Tibetan food here. The books warned us of bland, tasteless food, but it is actually pretty good! So far we have sampled yak and potato curry, momos (dumplings filled with yak meat), bopis (tortillas made from barley flour and filled with chicken and vegetables), tsampa (sweet barley flour dough) and yak butter tea (a once only experience I think!).

View from the train

It is strange not being home for Christmas, especially when I have just heard that there was a lot of food left over and Christmas pudding ready to eat! It was lovely to speak to everyone though, skype is a wonderful invention! I hope that everyone back at home is enjoying a wonderful Christmas with their families. Love from Tibet.

Another 'fairly average' view from the train!