Lhasa
Charming English-speaking Pentoc and her sister opened this simple local restaurant after working in longtime favourite Tashi I for many years. The menu includes breakfasts (yoghurt and honey) and homemade standards such as momos (dumplings) and shemdre (rice, potato and yak meat), plus butter tea, chang (barley beer) and even dal bhat (Nepali-style curry, lentils and rice).
The quiet upstairs room is a refuge. It’s 20m down an alleyway north off Beijing Donglu, on the left.
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The magnificent Potala Palace, once the seat of the Tibetan government and the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas, is Lhasa's cardinal landmark. Your…
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The 1300-year-old Jokhang Temple is the spiritual heart of Tibet: the continuous waves of awestruck pilgrims prostrating themselves outside are a…
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The main assembly hall, or Tsogchen, is the principal structure in the Drepung complex and is the one chapel you must not miss. The hall is reached…
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This is the largest of Sera’s colleges, generally accessed from a western side entrance. It has a breathtaking main hall, hung with thangkas and lit by…
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The red, fortress-like structure of Tsongkhapa’s mausoleum is probably the most impressive of the reconstructed buildings at Ganden. It’s above a…
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The main assembly hall (Tsogchen) is the largest of Sera’s buildings and dates to 1710. The central hall is particularly impressive and is noted for its…
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The recently renovated tsogchen (assembly hall) has statues of the 16 arhats (literally ‘worthy ones’) and two huge statues of Tsongkhapa (only visible…
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If you’re here in the afternoon, save some time to watch the monk debating (lots of shouting, hand slapping and gesticulation) between 2.30pm and 4pm in…
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The small but interesting Tsome Ling is one of the four ling temples of Lhasa (along with Kunde Ling and Tengye Ling). To the east of the residential…
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Once one of the six principal temples encircling the Jokhang, this partially renovated temple is connected to Reting Monastery. It’s in a housing…
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This obscure and little-visited Nyingmapa-sect temple is dedicated to the central red-faced deity Tseumar, as well as Pehar (a protector linked to Samye)…
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Just outside the Ramoche Temple, a doorway to the right by a collection of yak-butter and juniper-incense stalls leads to one of Lhasa's hidden gems, the…
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The main image at this temple is the fabulously ornate Jowo Mikyöba (Akshobhya) statue, which represents Sakyamuni at the age of eight. The statue is in…
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For your first visit to the Barkhor, enter from Barkhor Sq, a large plaza that was cleared in 1985. The square has been a focus for violent political…
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On the northern section of the Barkhor Circuit is a small building on the right, set off from the main path. This is the Mani Lhakhang, a chapel that…
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Gyüme was founded in the mid-15th century as one of Tibet’s foremost Tantric training colleges, second only in Lhasa to the monasteries of Sera and…