when i arrived in chengdu i realized how difficult it would be here concerning the language barrier. as some widely used words like “railway station”, “water” or “left” and “right” were understood in most countries so far, it was different once i walked out of the railway station and faced a city of 12 million with only… Continue reading couchsurfing chengdu
Category: locations
johkang temple
one of the most sacred and important temples in tibet, the johkang temple is situated in central lhasa. many pilgrims do prostations in front of the temple. some circuit the jokhang that way and few of them even made their way to lhasa in that fashion over 100 or 100o’s of miles. let us talk… Continue reading johkang temple
potala palace
the first morning in lhasa we took the bus to the potala palace, once the residence of the dalai lama. the palace is divided into the red and the white part. the original red part was built in the 7th century and was later extended by the fifth dalai lama and since then also used… Continue reading potala palace
hotel live
we stayed at a wonderful hotel, an old restored mansion. with a good restaurant and wonderful people to share the food with. lucia trying to lend raphael some of her hair. …and a roof terrace to read a book or to simply spend some time away from the group… because there were some troubles involved in… Continue reading hotel live
tashilhunpo monastery
after two days of sitting mostly in the bus we made our first stop to visit the monastery in shigatse. in some areas taking photographs is strictly prohibited as it was in the maitreya temple in which a 26 meter golden buddha sits on his lotus throne. in other rooms pictures are allowed if you… Continue reading tashilhunpo monastery
patan
patan is the twin city of kathmandu south of the bagmati river and like kathmandu was an independent kingdom until 300 years ago nepal was united under one king. the durbar square… former home of the king. patan is wonderful to take a walk and to get lost in the small alleys. still it feels… Continue reading patan
boudhanath stupa
on the other side of town in the east is another stupa, again unesco world heritage site but easier to access without monster stairs to climb. the stupa is the center of a round square around which nice little buildings are forming a ring with mostly tourist things: eat, sleep, buy, chat. but also nice… Continue reading boudhanath stupa
swayambhunath stupa
one morning i visited the swayambhunath stupa per cycle. without the luggage it is always amazing how close it feels to flying. there is almost a small village surrounding the stupa. today the buildings are mostly occupied by little handicraft shops. and the view over kathmandu… i’ll leave for tibet the 1st of may and… Continue reading swayambhunath stupa
coming down
the way down wasn’t much easier and i was thinking about cycling once in a while where mostly going uphill is the effort… after the pass, the head filled with impressions and the big goal no longer in front, the trekking felt as if coming slowly to an end… one of the highlights on the… Continue reading coming down
manang
with 3500 meters above sea level, manang was the first place where i felt the decreased amount of oxygen in the air. but after a good night’s sleep my body seemed to get along pretty well with that. built on a hill facing the annapurna peaks II, III & IV, manang is a nice place… Continue reading manang