Lhasa is the gateway to Tibet. It was my first stop when I arrived from Nepal. These days (since 2012) you can no longer travel solo in Tibet. China requires a special visitors permit and you must join a government sanctioned tour group. This didn’t feel too constrictive to me but it was a my first experience in a country that was actively curated by the government. The itinerary was preplanned with hotels and stops arranged ahead of time. That being said, there was time to explore a few of the stops. Lhasa was an interesting place. It was very clean and orderly compared to Kathmandu where I had arrived from, All the scooters and motorbikes in Lhasa are electric now. It is a welcome change from the noise and exhaust of the gas powered countries that border Tibet.

In my limited time in the capital city I was able to walk through some of the markets, talk to a few locals and get a general vibe of the place. I had some wonderful food. This was the place I first tried Yak meat. I was so excited to find it on a menu in the Capital that I ordered it right away. I later found out that it would be on pretty much every other menu I would come across. It was great and not unlike beef really.

The people i met seemed to be happy with things in relation to the Chinese influence in the country. I didn’t get the sense that they were afraid to talk about China and its relationship with Tibet. I did feel like people were a bit reserved. This was in comparison to Nepal which is a very friendly and engaging place.

I spent 8 days traveling through Tibet on my way to Mount Everest. I was lucky enough to spend a few days at base-camp there. Make sure you check out my Mount Everest destination page if you want to know what that was like!