Kathmandu Old Town
At last, here comes the travel blog of our trip to Tibet. On both the outbound and return flights we had an overnight stopover in Kathmandu, with barely half a day to explore the city a little. When w…
Travelblog Tibet
Three weeks in Tibet: pilgrims at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, sunrise at the Potala Palace and prayer flags in the wind. By car we travelled via Gyantse and Shigatse to Mount Everest, where we spent the night at the foot of the mountain under a starry sky I will never forget, and on to the monasteries of Samye, Ganden and Drigung. On the way there and back, a short stop in Kathmandu each time. Here you’ll find all the stages of my journey through Tibet – thin air, warm-hearted people and a silence you take home with you.
Flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa
The flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa could have been a highlight: almost two hours right across the Himalayas, straight past Mount Everest. But if ifs and ands were pots and pans – it was the only cloud…
Lhasa – Barkhor Square
We arrived in Lhasa towards evening, and after dinner we went straight to nearby Barkhor Square with the famous Jokhang Temple, right in the middle of the Tibetan old town. On our three-week tour we k…
Lhasa – Jokhang & Sera Monastery
On our first full day in Tibet we started the morning at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa's old town. It is the Tibetans' most important shrine, to which everyone should make a pilgrimage at least once in …
Phabongkha Temple & Norbulingka Summer Palace
The next day, after sunrise on Barkhor Square, we headed out of Lhasa again to the Phabongkha Temple in the nearby mountains and then to the Dalai Lama's summer residence, the Norbulingka Palace. Phab…
Lhasa to Gyantse
After a beautiful sunrise at the Potala Palace we finally set off the next day: out of Lhasa, towards Mount Everest. The first “stage” took us through central Tibet to Gyantse. On the first pass, at a…
Gyantse to Shigatse
After a night in Gyantse we continued towards Mount Everest, with an overnight stop in Shigatse. We arrived in the early afternoon and spent the day on the circuit around Tashilhunpo Monastery, lazing…
From Shigatse to Shegar
Before heading on towards Mount Everest, in the morning we visited the well-known Tashilhunpo Monastery, which today, with around 600 monks, has the liveliest religious life of any monastery in Tibet.…
Mount Everest/Qomolangma
After a night in Shegar we drove on, at last with Everest as our goal – on surprisingly well-built roads that even a Peugeot 206 managed all the way to base camp. The barren mountain landscape on the …
Mount Everest, Rongbuk Monastery and Back to Gyantse
After a few weeks I'm finally getting round to continuing the travel blog from Tibet. After a beautiful starry night at the foot of Mount Everest we got up early to experience the sunrise in front of …
From Gyantse to Tsetang
The next day we drove from Gyantse past Lhasa to Tsetang – at almost seven hours the longest drive of our entire Tibet trip. After a beautiful sunrise and a delicious breakfast we set off, with a few …
Tsetang – Yumbulakhang
Our first evening in a “real” Chinese town was rather funny: finding a restaurant whose menu had at least a few photos wasn't easy, but that way we at least had a rough idea of what would end up on…
The Royal Tombs of Tsetang
On our second full day in Tsetang we visited several royal tombs in the Shantung Singh Valley on which temples were built, some of them centuries ago.
Samye Monastery
Before breakfast we were still chuckling about the Olympic rings at Tsetang's stadium, then we set off for Samye Monastery. The drive there was an experience in itself: first over a beautiful mountain…
Lhasa – Barkhor Street
After our visit to Samye Monastery we were back in Lhasa in the afternoon, with nothing left on the day's plan. So we went back to Barkhor Square, sat in the sun, let the time pass and soaked up the…
Ganden Monastery
Ganden Monastery – honestly hard to describe. For us it was the most impressive monastery of our three-week tour: about an hour's drive from Lhasa, set in the mountains at around 4,200 metres. During …
Tsurphu Temple & Barkhor Square
The next morning we got up long before sunrise to photograph the pilgrims on Barkhor Square in the cold. After breakfast we went on a day trip out of Lhasa to the Tsurphu Temple, about an hour's drive…
Lake Nam Tso
After a few nights in Lhasa we headed out into the highlands again. Our first stop after five hours' drive was Nam Tso, at around 4,700 metres one of the highest salt lakes in the world. On the way, a…
From Nam Tso to Reting Monastery
After a cold night at Nam Tso we got up early to find a good spot for the sunrise. Even the short climb up the nearby hill was exhausting in the thin mountain air, but it was worth it. After…
Drigung & Terdom
After the night in Reting Monastery we continued across the Tibetan high plateau to Drigung Monastery, through an impressive landscape. Our guide's mood here was strange and anxious. Apparently photog…
Terdom Monastery & Lhasa
In the morning we briefly visited Terdom Monastery, then drove back to Lhasa through the beautiful mountain scenery. Once there, we first used up the shower's entire supply of hot water. Then it was o…
Last Day in Lhasa
On our last day in Lhasa there was nothing left on the plan. We bought a few more souvenirs and soaked up the atmosphere of Barkhor Square one last time. I think it was a Wednesday – the day of…
Flight over the Himalayas to Kathmandu
What more can you say? We were incredibly lucky that the flight back from Lhasa to Kathmandu over the Himalayas was cloud-free. Visibility was perfect, we were sitting on the “right” side, and shortly…
Kathmandu and the Boudhanath Stupa
On the way back to Europe we treated ourselves to one more night in Kathmandu, because the Boudhanath Stupa had been at the top of my list for years and was supposed to have survived the earthquake. B…
Stopover on the Way Home – Istanbul
On our way back from Tibet and Nepal, we treated ourselves to a two-night stay in Istanbul – a stopover, wild and welcome. We used our full day there to enjoy the best breakfast we’d had in weeks, bef…
Tibet – a Look Back… (Video)
Long before our Tibet trip last year, I had an idea floating around in my head: to make a short video from some of the pictures, set to sounds we recorded in the streets or in temples. Today seems a…