Tibet (Xizang) is a culturally, religiously, ethnically, linguistically and geographically distinct region located to the n.orth of India. For some people Tibet is the Shangri-La for travelers. A land of exotic sounds, sights and (rather unfortunately) smells. The best starting place to visit...

Tibet (Xizang) is a culturally, religiously, ethnically, linguistically and geographically distinct region located to the n.orth of India. For some people Tibet is the Shangri-La for travelers. A land of exotic sounds, sights and (rather unfortunately) smells. The best starting place to visit Tibet is Lhasa, the capital, where you can find the famous Potala palace.

Shigatse is a 5 hour ride from Lasa, and trips can be arranged from there. The main sights in Shigatse is the Tashilhunpo Monastery. 180 south of Lhasa you can find the Tibetan royal tombs in Chonggye. Lake Yamdrok Yamsto can be visited as a daytrip form Lhasa.

There are two things you have to take into account when traveling here. The first is the political situation - which means you need a special permit to go here and you should be careful of expressing any political ideas when you are there. Immediately prior to 1951 Tibet was a defacto independent country with its own governmental, political and judicial systems. For centuries Tibet had remained stubbornly isolated and aloof from the rest of the world, partly through its own volition and partly due to Chinese encouragement. However its independent status, though self-declared, was never recognised by any outside party. China has made consistent territorial claims over Tibet and has in the past exerted varying degrees of political control. Since 1951, when China invaded Tibet, it has been fully incorporated into the Peoples Republic of China. This pretty much forced the exile of the Dalai Lama.  Many Tibetans will ask tourists for pictures of the Dalai Lama, however you would be putting them danger if you were to distribute his photo.

The second advice is on altitude sickness: at a minimum, it can ruin your trip. Our advice is to be sure to drink enough and eat many sweets.  Many people are advised to take a diaretic drug called Dyamox and drink huge quantities of water starting on the morning of the day they fly into Tibet and take the Dyamox for the first 5 or six days in Tibet.  Our US guide kept distributing two, 2 liter bottles of water to us, first in the airport in Katmandu, then on our minibus when we arrived in Tibet.  He kept making sure we drank it, too, and we were all okay.  Of course, our mini bus had to make many rest stops for us.  When we were leaving Tibet, in the airport I talked with the wife of an American doctor who were also on their way home.  Despite taking precautions against altitude sickness, early one morning he suddenly became gravely ill with altitude sickness and stopped breathing.  Fortunately his wife was a former RN, and was able to give him CPR.  He ended up spending several days in a Tibetan hospital, which was about as primitive as you can get.  She told me that her husband has no idea how close to death he was.   This anecdote is not intended  to be medical advice, just to infrom you as to how serious altitude sickness can be. You should get advice form a real doctor, preferably one who specializes in travel medicine.

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