Lonely Planet Tibet

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• Publisher: Lonely Planet
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781786573759
• eBook ISBN: 9781788685832

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet Tibet is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Hike around sacred Mt Kailash, join pilgrims at the Jokhang, Tibet's holiest sanctum, or view Mt Everest unobstructed from Rongphu Monastery -all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Tibet and begin your journey now! Inside Lonely Planet's Tibet Travel Guide: Colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - including customs, religion, history, art, architecture, literature, music, dance, landscapesCovers Lhasa, Tsang, Kham, Ngari, U, Rawok, Bayi, Tashigang, Gyantse, Shigatse, Lhatse, Tingri, Nyalam, Pomi, Ganzi, Kangding, Lithang, Bathang, Baber, Zhangmu, Gongkar, Kathmandu, Chengdu, and more The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Tibet, our most comprehensive guide to Tibet, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled.About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves. eBook Features: (Best viewed on tablet devices and smartphones) Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews Add notes to personalise your guidebook experience Seamlessly flip between pages Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash Embedded links to recommendations' websites Zoom-in maps and images Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.

Lhasa ལྷ་ས་ 拉萨

Around Lhasa

Drepung Monastery

Nechung Monastery

Sera Monastery

Pabonka Monastery

Ganden Monastery

Drak Yerpa

Drölma Lhakhang

Shuksip Nunnery

Lhasa ལྷ་ས་ 拉萨

%0891 / POP 530,000 / ELEV 3650M

Why Go?

The centre of the Tibetan Buddhist world for over a millennium, Lhasa (ལྷ་ས་; 拉萨; Lāsà; literally the ‘Place of the Gods’) remains largely a city of wonders. Your first view of the red-and-white Potala Palace soaring above the Holy City raises goosebumps and the charming whitewashed old Tibetan quarter continues to preserve the essence of traditional Tibetan life. It is here in the Jokhang, an otherworldly mix of flickering butter lamps, wafting incense and prostrating pilgrims, and the encircling Barkhor pilgrim circuit, that most visitors first fall in love with Tibet.

These days the booming boulevards of the modern city threaten to overwhelm the winding alleyways and backstreet temples of the Tibetan old town, but it is in the latter that you should focus your time. If possible, budget a week to acclimatise, see the sights and roam the fascinating backstreets before heading off on a grand overland adventure.

When to Go

A Temperatures are comfortable from April to September, with days surprisingly warm and nights pleasantly cool. Sunlight is strong at this altitude, so always wear sunscreen.

A The major festival of Saga Dawa (spring) brings huge numbers of pilgrims to the city, and the August Shötun festival is also a major draw.

A Accommodation can be tight during the first weeks of May and October and the high-season months of July and August, when Chinese tourists flock to the city.

A Consider a winter visit (November to February) for few crowds and big accommodation discounts, but bring warm clothes.

Best Places to Eat

A Snowland Restaurant

A Woeser Zedroe Tibetan Restaurant

A Lhasa Kitchen

Best Places to Stay

A House of Shambhala

A Kyichu Hotel

A Yak Hotel

A Songtsam Choskyi Linka Lhasa

Lhasa Highlights

1 Barkhor Circuit Following monks, mendicants and pilgrims around this medieval pilgrim path.

2 Jokhang Temple Joining the lines of awed pilgrims at the glowing shrines of Tibet’s holiest sanctum.

3 Potala Palace Shuffling past murals and stupas in the impressive citadel of the Dalai Lamas.

4 Sera Monastery Taking in a prayer meeting or some monk-debating at this great monastic centre.

5 Ganden Monastery Taking a day trip out to this important monastery and its kora (pilgrim path).

6 Dropenling Visiting this top-notch crafts centre on a walk past the architecture and workshops of Lhasa’s old town.

7 Meru Nyingba Monastery Tracking down one of Lhasa’s most delightful off-the-beaten-track temples, located in a hidden courtyard.

History

Lhasa rose to prominence as an important administrative centre in the 7th century AD, when King Songtsen Gampo (c 618–49) moved his capital from the Yarlung Valley to Lhasa and built a palace on the site now occupied by the Potala. It was at this time that the temples of Ramoche and Jokhang were founded to house the priceless first Buddha statues brought to Tibet as the dowries of Songtsen Gampo’s Chinese and Nepali wives.

With the break-up of the Yarlung empire 250 years later, Tibet’s centre of power shifted to Sakya, Nedong (Ü) and then Shigatse (Tsang). No longer the capital, Lhasa languished in the backwaters...

Table of contents

• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Welcome to Tibet
• Tibet’s Top 20
• Need to Know
• If You Like…
• Month by Month
• Itineraries
• Qīnghǎi–Tibet Railway
• Tours & Permits
• Regions at a Glance
• Lhasa
• Ü
• Tsang
• Ngari
• Eastern Tibet
• Tibetan Treks
• Gateway Cities
• Understand Tibet
• Tibet Today
• History
• Tibetan Landscapes
• The People of Tibet
• Tibetan Buddhism
• Tibetan Art
• Food & Drink
• The Future of Tibet
• Directory A-Z
• Transport
• Health
• Language
• Behind the Scenes
• Our Writers