the seventh century .
We played tourists and visited the Johang Temple ( 647AD ), the large market area surrounding , and saw the statue of Sakymum brought from China as a wedding gift longer ago than anyone could remember .
It was a lazy afternoon so after gifts had been bargained for , we settled into a few Lhasa beers , while watching the passing parade .
I knew a girl working in Lhasa as a doctor . A couple of phone calls later we had a get together with some Aussie and English expats organised for the night .
Starting off at the Dunya Bar for dinner , then progressing on to several other drinking holes of note , then finally to a cook your own , sort of Korean BBQ , drinking local firewater . At one stage I ’ d been offered BBQed duck ’ s feet . Very chewy !
A recovery day . We ’ d managed to get down to the market area by lunchtime and sat around on a rooftop garden sampling local cuisine and bottled water . Very quietly .
Touring the Potala Palace and its thirteen story ’ s , all stairs , no lifts here , even though we had semi adapted to the altitude it was a bit of an effort . The Dalai Lama ’ s bedroom is on top , reputedly the first place in Lhasa the sun strikes when rising in the morning .
We left the city by a different route
TRAVERSE 32