Travel Tibet: the Mystical Shangri-La You Should Never Miss

When we decided to travel the world for a year, we had to give a lot of thought on which places to visit and which ones to leave for another occasion. A year might sound like a lot of time, but we could only fit 20 countries in, out of the 200 there are!

But, even if we had to spend several months researching in order to decide on some places, one place we were certain was unmissable from the beginning.

Why We Decided to Visit Tibet?

Authors like Hilton, who wrote about the mystical Shangri-La, have helped make Tibet one of those places that are known by most but have been visited by very few. Of course, the traditional no- foreigners-allowed policy of Tibet further enhanced this effect.

That is why, when we discovered that we had the chance to see this almost mythical country, we did not think twice. We intended to visit Nepal after China, so the 7-day Lhasa to Kathmandu itinerary was a perfect fit for us.

Fly from Xi’an to Lhasa

We flew into Lhasa from Xi’an, where we got our Tibet travel permit, which had been conveniently sent to our hostel by Tibet Vista. Flying to Lhasa is convenient and painless once you have the permit. It is the fastest way of getting there, and the views from the plane are unbelievable. In particular, the Lhasa valley and the Tsangpo river plain are seen from a very close distance during the last hour of flight, which must be flown manually due to the particularities of the terrain. It was indeed an amazing flight, and a fitting start of our trip.

How to Cope with Altitude Sickness?

We soon discovered, though, that by flying we had suddenly climbed up to an altitude of 3.600 meters in just a couple of hours, and our bodies felt it immediately. The slightest effort, like going up one floor by the stairs left us out of breath, and we felt light-headed all the time. It might have been a good idea to spend a couple of days somewhere with an elevation of at least 2.000 meters to get used to heights.

We were advised by a mountaineer friend to drink as much water as possible, as the dry air of Tibet can dehydrate you quickly, potentially making the altitude sickness go from a minor inconvenience to a major problem, including possible nausea and other symptoms. To avoid this, we drank over three liters of water every single day, and it did help a lot! So always keep a bottle handy and try to drink as much as your body can take, as this was the best remedy of all. - Learn how to prevent altitude sickness from the travel experts.

Eye-opening Experiences in Tibet during Saga Dawa Festival

After resting for the night in the excellent Yak Hotel, we spent the first day of our tour visiting two of the most relevant monasteries and lamaseries of the city: Sera and Drepung. While the atmosphere and the ancient knowledge of these places did not leave us indifferent, it all was belittled by what we saw that afternoon in the Barkhor Circuit, around Jokhang Temple.

Although we didn’t have a clue, we had arrived Tibet at the end of the month of the Saga Dawa, on the full moon (15th day) of the fourth lunar month of the Tibetan calendar. This was being celebrated by a large number of pilgrims, who were going around the Kora in a seemingly never-ending cycle. Among the pilgrims, people of many different origins could be seen, as was apparent by their hugely varied dressing styles, but all of these were completely unknown by us. This is one of the beauties of Tibet – the diverse cultures here were completely new to us, making us feel like real explorers of old in a new and exciting place.

The centrifugal tide of people circling around the Kora was not the only thing that captivated us, as there was another crowd prostrating, another thing we´d never seen before. It was deeply impressive and inspiring to see how devoted Tibetans are, and to witness their rituals in person. Tibet is indeed a uniquely spiritual place.

Head to the Legendary Everest Base Camp in Tibet

During the following days we visited the famous Potala Palace, residence of the Dalai Lamas throughout history, and left Lhasa to head to Shigatse, stopping to get a closer look to Lake Yamdrok, a holy lake where it is forbidden to fish. We got to witness some of the most incredible landscapes of Tibet, including a picturesque stupa in front of a glacier and the massive Tibetan mastiff, a dog the size of an adult lion.

During the long drives through the vast plateau and in particular going up and down some of the highest mountain passes in the world, often over 5.000 meters over sea level, it was of the utmost importance to stay hydrated as the elevation only increased, and with it some of the altitude sickness symptoms appeared again. Our driver did a great job, so we could relax and forget about the road conditions and serpent-like turns. Even though we spent most of the time on the road, this was never tedious to us, as we had the magnificent views of the rolling plains and the massive mountain ranges on the distance, dotted here and there with stupas, monasteries and villages. If that was not enough to distract us from the road, conversation with the rest of our group and sharing stories of past travels and advice for future trips was the perfect pastime.

After two days driving we got our first glimpse of the Himalayan range in the distance. It was like seeing a postcard in real life. There was not a single cloud in sight, something that only occurs once every other month. And above all, laying there like the king of them all, was Mt. Everest, the Roof of the World, saluting us.

We still had to go through two more mountain passes and drive for some hours that day, and during all this time we did not get a good view - so the effect when we arrived at Base Camp, 5.200 m high, and suddenly saw the massive mountain elevating 4.000 meters above us, was all the more shocking. It was there, like a gentle giant, almost inviting us. If we did not know about the dozens of experienced mountaineers who have perished in the attempt to summit it, we would have thought that the climb was not all that hard.

Tenzin - Our Devoted Tibet Guide

Our guide Tenzin was born and raised in a small village not far from Shigatse, so he could give us some insights into the Tibetan lifestyle and religion that were very helpful for our understanding of what we witnessed. Throughout our whole trip he was invested in our welfare, giving us advice on how to get ahead of the altitude sickness, pinpointing the most interesting landmarks and warning us of the condition of the roads ahead. Besides his excellent explanations of the places we visited, we were particularly impressed by his ability to perfectly answer every question that was asked.

Visiting Tibet has been the experience of a lifetime. It is definitely one of the most interesting places we have visited, and absolutely recommend it if you ever have the chance.