Oct 26, 2010 - Gyantse

Fahrt in die (noch) urspruenglichste tibetischste Stadt unsrer Reise – Gyantse. Farbenfrohe Shops, gutes Essen, Hotel mit dichten Fenstern, funktionierender Klospuelung und Strom, unsrer ersten (moeglichen!) Dusche, warmen Fruehstueck und genuegend Sitzplaetzen fuer uns , alles eine erfreuliche Neuigkeit am 4. Reisetag. Gyantse beeindruckt mit seinem Kloster und bisher ungesehenen holzgeschnitzten Buddhafiguren, andaechtigen Klosterhallen, den Moenchsgesaengen des Gelbhaubenordens, des auf ueber 4100m hoch gelegenen Forts in grandioser...

Nov 13, 2009 - Gyantse

In Gyantse we visited the Pelkhor Chode Monastery. The internal buddhas are quite exceptional. Gyanyse has a Tibetan old town. This is the first time on the trip that we have seen original Tibetan houses. You can see the cows and sheep tethered outside, the dung being rolled and stored for burning. Step away from the old town and you are back in China again - last two photos.....

May 10, 2009 - Gyantse

Sunday was an 8am start followed by a 10 hour drive from Lhasa southwest to a little town called Gyantse. The scenery was spectacular (I took way too many photos) but I did doze off for a bit of it... The road itself was in startlingly good condition and it was a very smooth drive. The the top of the mountain pass it was over 5000m above sea level and absolutely freezing! I had so many layers on I lost count, I even got in my sleeping bag as well on the bus. We have a new local guide and driver for the rest of the trip and now the same bus...

Nov 20, 2007 - Gyantse (3950moh)

Vi vurderte aa fly til Katmandu istedenfor aa vaage oss ut paa en kjoeretur ned Friendship highway til Nepal - En tur som innebaerer store hoeyder (inntil 5225 moh), lave temperaturer (ned i -10 grader C om natten) og lav standard paa overnatting, spesielt siden vi ble forkjoelet av turen til Drigung Til og Tidrum... Men naar vi fikk hoere at det fantes oppvarmede hoteller enkelte steder, tok vi sjansen paa en 5 dagers tur (Opprinnelig plan var 9 dager, for aa redusere kjoeretid pr. dag og for aa faa med seg mer av Tibet). Paa reisebyraaet...

Jun 17, 2007 - Tibet Jeep Tour Day 2 - Midroling, Yamdrok Tso Lake, Gyantse

Quickly * Tim fell in the water trying to prove his manhood pulling the ferry to shore!! * Tim helps out at Midroling monestary stamping the concrete * First glimpse of Himalayas at Yamdrok!! Altitude above 5000m at pass!! * Making fresh lone tracks a desert valley!!

Mar 21, 2007 - To Gyantse

Our first day in Lhasa was an administrative frenzy of Email and laundry, and we somehow in the midst of it managed to get ourselved signed up to join a group of three guys heading south to visit Everest base camp on a 6 day Landcruiser trip. Our driver Udo collected us at the end of the road, and off we went with there 3 guys named Eddy (Aussie), Phil (British/Norway) and Hugo (Dutch). holly and I spent most of the first half of the journey giggling in disbelief at what we were doing. Our first sight beyond the majestic hills and...

Oct 27, 2006 - Gyantse

We started our 5 day overland journey to Kathmandu from Lhasa at 6am. Prior to piling in the Toyota 4-wheel drive, we loaded up on muffins and REAL coffee from The Summit Cafe, an upscale, Starbucksish-type joint serving up fresh, brewed coffee. The cafe is completely out of place in the bohemian, cheap, touristy area of Lhasa but is a welcomed respite. And for coffee drinkers, like Adam, it sure beats Nescafe. I, (hello, my name is Abby and I'm a Coca-Cola addict), am fortunate enough to never be deprived of my beloved ice cold carbonated...

Sep 7, 2006 - Gyantse/Tsedang Day 2

Tsedang We stayed in Tsedang that night, still in the Yarlung Valley. The Yarlung Valley is a strange place, part desert, part river, part planted forest. Some of the sand dunes reach almost to the top of the surrounding peaks, quite spectacular. The The next day, on our way to Yamdroc-Tso Lake we actually ran into a sand storm. I for one (in ignorance I suppose) never expected to experience this phenomena in Tibet. Yamdroc-Tso Lake is quite beautiful. A brilliant clear turquoise colour surrounded by mountains. As seen from Kamba-la pass at...

May 29, 2006 - Samye, Samye but different...

OK, it's really more of a Thailand thing (Same, Same... but different), but I couldn't resist because one of the first stops after Lhasa was a place called Samye Monastery. So I was pretty much dead wrong about being out in the middle of nowhere. Since we left Lhasa, there have been many areas where there is really nothing, and the monasteries are really basic, but whenever you roll into one of the towns (We have been to Tsedang, Gyantse, and now Shigatse) the situation changes dramatically. This is all due of course to the Chinese. Each of...

May 24, 2006 - Gyantse - the journey begins

The long (oh ha long) journey began from Lhasa to Everest with a mere 270km and 9 hours(the shortest leg of all) over dirt and rubble passes. Within 15 minutes of leaving Lhasa, Danny and Helen became adept at finding a suitable niche in the surrounding scrub which doubled as toilets. The first pass (Kampa la pass) was remarkable; from the top it was possible to see one of the worlds highest freshwater lakes which reflected with the glow of the surrounding mountians - this was followed by a second pass (Karo la pass)which was inhibited by...

Apr 25, 2006 - Tibet Adventure - Day 4

Tuesday 25th. April Day 57 (Tibetan Experience - Day 4) Woke up to two inches of snow today. The journey today was to Gyantse and it was still snowing heavily. The first section of our journey although on a reasonable road in the valley, was slow, we stopped to let the other vehicles catch up and were visited by a hoopee on a nearby tree. We arrived at Gyantse before noon and booked into a crap hotel which looked from the outside like a prison - perhaps it was! We wandered around town a while until we found the Tibetan quarter in front of...

Apr 25, 2006 - Day 4 to Gyantse in Tibet

25 April - Day 4 to Gyantse 3950m ANZAC Day. It is now a year since Garry and I left NZ. Woke to find it had snowed again. "No Problems" was out cleaning off the car. . Traveling to third world countries has really made me appreciate that I was born in NZ. . We saw kids riding bikes, or sitting on the back of carts or horses going to school without gloves and hats. And whole villages out ploughing fields in the snow with yaks or dzo which are crosses between yaks and bulls. The drive was quite scary and I did say quite few prayers to...