Supplementary notes on Lhasa

Was going to do some more editing and add more information but am finding a lack of time. Will add more information (to this thread?) as time permits. Feel free to comment/add notes.

I recently completed a 2 weeks stay in and around Lhasa, Tibet. This being my first visit to Tibet I mainly used last years Lonely Planet as a guiding light to find my footing. Here are some notes and tips supplementary to what I found useful in the LP research.

I was traveling with one other person.

All prices in RMB, as quoted during the high season of the start of August.

On Sleeping
The YAK

The Yak has several types of doubles (which is all we were concerned with):
- doubles without bathrooms (150)
- doubles with bathrooms standard (300)
- doubles with bathrooms deluxe (450)

The standard doubles with bathrooms should be avoided -- the bathrooms and showers for the doubles without bathrooms are respectively clean and strong. The bathroom in the "standard double with bathroom" was dark and dingy and depressing. If you aren't on too tight a budget, I recommend splurging for the deluxe doubles. The views from the 4th floor facing Beijin Dong Lu are filled with rooftops and mountains (nice to wake up to), the bathrooms are clean and include tubs (good for a soak or doing one's laundry), and the price also includes a fairly nice buffet breakfast on the roof with beautiful views of the mountains and Potala (100 value for two people).

On Eating
House of Shambala
We found the recently (as of last year) opened House of Shambala to have some of the best food in Lhasa. All cooks are Tibetian, trained in a variety of styles. Try the Tofu and Veggie Momos, or any of the curries. Avoid sandwiches at all costs. Price is about the same as what you'll pay at Dunyas but the food is heads and shoulders above.

Dunya
No matter how hard we tried we simply couldn't find any interesting food here. Given said blandness, a consistently full house and seemingly cheery and upbeat crowd was perhaps the biggest mystery we encountered in Tibet. Since we were staying at the Yak and were dumbfounded by the masses we gave Dunya a couple of chances. But after three tries, and not a single dish that really excited our pallets, we gave up. The bar upstairs is purported to have a nice (but expensive) selection of drinks but we did our drinking elsewhere.

Lhasa Kitchen
Excellent food. Perhaps some of the best curries we had on the trip. Horrid service. Without a doubt the slowest, least customer aware and patently illogical staff. We'd get bottles of beer to share, opened on our table only to receive glasses 20 minutes later. Curries delivered only to wait 10 minutes for the accompanying naan. During our several times dining here we witnessed half a dozen groups leaving in frustration of not being served, given menus or even acknowledged. The food is tasty though, so if you have patience it's worth it.

Pentoc Cafe
No longer exists. Replaced by Summit Cafe?

Summit Cafe
A nice cafe set behind the Pentoc Guesthouse. Good, real (i.e., not Nescafe) coffee. Excellent frozen drinks (mocha, etc). And very tasty cookies. They also have some pretty speedy computers so it's a good place to both get your caffeine fix and email fix on.

Spin Cafe
Located on a small side-street just off of Beijing Dong Lu, run by a cycle loving pair: Kong from Hong Kong and Otto from Thailand. Great, relaxed atmosphere. Cheap drinks. Cold beer. And some good Thai dishes prepared by Otto. Ask about their bike journeys and be prepared for an hour-long presentation. They biked up from Bangkok to Lhasa over three months. Plus many more south-east Asia bike adventures over the last three years. Also good salty (not sweet) microwave popcorn.

Nomad Cafe
Located near the Bangkor, on the second floor. To get there from Summit Cafe, leave the Summit Cafe premises and walk across the street and down about 100 meters away from the Bangkor. The entrance is just down the alley on the right. Excellent, excellent vegetarian food (curries). Good coffee. Large selection of Teas. Run by an American and Chinese couple. Also free WiFi and overall friendly atmosphere. Opened on August 1st this year. Found it on our last night -- would have spent a lot more time here.

On Trekking
We booked a 5 day camping / trekking tour with Windhorse Tours (located next to Pentoc Guesthouse near the Bangkor). Excellent experience. Slightly expensive but they provide all equipment, food, guides, horses, permit, etc. The equipment was fantastic -- the last night we were hit by a major wind/rain/snow storm camped out on the edge of Nam-tso Lake. The tent held up great, we didn't get a drop of rain on us. Was quite a surprise to find the zippers and outter-shell completely frozen and caked in ice in the morning though! Company was good -- group of 10 people altogether. Food was also pretty decent but then again everything tastes better out in the woods -- even if it is cold toast and NesCafe. We setup camp in Drolma Valley. Utterly isolated -- just us and the Yaks (and their shit, oh, their shit, everywhere). Basecamp was at 4800 meters which was a bit of a tough jump straight from Lhasa but everyone made it through OK. Some minor headaches experienced by most. Hiked up to a glacier at 5200 meters with the help of some horses.

We came with no equipment aside from a very thin sleeping bag. Here are our notes on shopping:
If you expect to get quality goods at ultra cheap prices, think again. Personally I recommend skipping all the copy-shops and heading straight to the outfitter across from the Kirey Hotel. The owner, who has the continence of a Native American Indian Chief, is honest and straightforward. All prices get a 15% discount. No more, no less. He stocks real equipment -- so if you want to spend $200 on a Goretex outter, you can. But he also stocks quality Chinese made goods at a fraction of the price. I picked up an Acme jacket which served me well. Also good selection of shoes.

We bought fake Northface day-packs at another retailer which broke within 2 days of using them (zippers falling off, straps ripping). We also picked up fake pants which were hot, humid, sticky and didn't ventilate properly. The only really cheap item we got that proved to be of decent quality were pairs of Jie Way hiking boots. They sell for 180 but are easily bargined down to 120. Felt great, kept my toes warm, and held up to five solid days of hiking. Good if you need a quick fix. We threw them away when we were done with the trek. They can be picked up in most of the equipment shops near the Yak hotel.

On Tickets and Tours
We didn't do many tours outside of the trekking -- everything we did in and around Lhasa we arranged ourselves. That said, everyone seems to have a good experience with the agent to the right of Windhorse Travel. We went and got quoted for a 7 day trip around Lhasa including an overnight at Nam-tso. Try to speak with the big-boned, straight-talking Chinese woman with the round face. She speaks perfect English and dishes it out quick and bullshit free.

On Visiting Things
Wake up early. Sleep can happen in the afternoon. In fact it's quite nice -- naps. But if you want to see anything without being surrounded and engulfed in a whirlwind of Chinese cell-phones, chatter, photography and other tourist nusiances, wake up as early as possible. We visited the Jangkor at 7:30, getting in line with pilgrims and entering as they did. We had a good 1 1/2 hours of time to explore the entire temple before signs of any other tourists started to appear. And this is during high-season. Simply put -- go through the pain of early rising. The sky is more beautiful, the town more subdued, and you'll get virgin temples and monestaries to explore.

On Biking to Drepung
Lonely Planet lists this as a 30 minute ride -- perhaps if you're Lance Armstrong. It's a hefty ride out into West Lhasa. And then it's a killer (read: impossible) climb up 2km (with 12% grades at some points) to the Monestary. That said, it's a nice ride: it just takes a bit of energy. The bonus is that once you've pushed all the way up the mountain, after spending 3-4 hours at Drepung, you get the supremely smile-enducing pleasure of coasting down the mountain. Definitely worth it. And a good bike ride is a good way to make all that delicious food back in the heart of Lhasa even tastier.

On Watching the Slapping Monks
We skipped Sera since we were able to catch the monk debates at Drepung. Tips: head down early, be patient and polite at the gates. We had made friends with one of the monks (my traveling partner speaks Mandarin) and he let us into the debating garden (after paying the requisite 15 RMB price) before everyone else. He also gave us 15 minutes alone in the courtyard, which was wonderful. I think we spent a good hour just sitting on the stones watching the faces and movement of all those around us. Definitely not to be missed.

On General Internet Tips
To limit potential for password theft (if you worry about these sorts of things) I suggest finding one nice computer to "claim" as your own and doing, as much as it's possible, all emailing, etc through that. Further actions to help maintain privacy -- use Firefox whenever possible and choose, from the Tools menu, "Clear Private Data" at the end of each browsing session.

On Getting There
We got our Lhasa permit through SIM'S Cozy guesthouse in Cheng-du. Fairly inexpensive an no need for tours or groups. No hassles. We booked our flights and paid for the permit before arriving in Chengdu. Arrived on Monday evening and were in Lhasa the next afternoon. While there have been rumors regarding permits and many travel agents stating you need to be part of an official tour group this does not seem to be the case. We were asked once for our Lhasa Permit when booking a room but we told them we didn't have it (the "tour company" was holding it) and it never came up again. Like many things in Tibet, I think there's a forced shroud of Chinese Bureaucracy held over tourist activities. Traveling outside of the Lhasa region was the only time when a guide was absolutely necessary during our trip.

On Altitude Sickness
Drink lots of water. Take it easy your first two days. Move slowly and deliberately. Embrace the altitude sickness -- it's your friend. It makes you move slow and look at what's happening around you. Meditate in your hotel room. As you're walking, take deep breaths. Don't forget to breath. Ingest more water. Do more meditating. Take a nap. Headache? Take some asprin. More water? Yes. More breathing. Slow.

We were fine by the end of the second day although I have to admit I never fully felt 100% during my two weeks. Even by the end of the trip (this is after hiking up to 5200 meters) I still felt a dull pang in the back of my head in Lhasa. That said we did the bike ride up to Drepung on the third day without much difficulty.

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I hope these notes prove to be useful for those thinking about visiting the region. I think Tibet has an image of being more difficult to reach than it is and I urge anyone with an interest in the country to put the small effort in and make the trip.