When you are in Tibet, you know it. The wind whispers across the even green valleys of the mountains as if you are on a verdant moonscape. And then you look up. Silent and omniscient, the mountains rise around you with snow topped peaks and a jagged architecture of cliffs that seem impossible. When you make your way to Yamdrok Tso Lake, the water matches the blue of the sky. Far from the activity of Beijing and Shanghai, Tibet sets itself apart with a landscape like nothing else in the world. After all, it is home to Mt. Everest (known by the locals as Chomolungma “Holy Mother” ), our planet’s highest summit.
But Tibet offers more then a beautiful background. It is also a land that is defined by the culture of its people. Potala Palace, the former home of the Dalai Lama, rises out of Lhasa a white washed castle and a mountain unto itself. Such a historical past has left its impact on Tibet, and Buddhism’s influence is all around you. You smell it in monasteries thick with the sweet smoke of incense, and you see it with young monks draped in red cloaks running and laughing through the plazas and courtyards of the cities. When you attend a morning prayer in Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, and the droning chants build to a crescendo that washes over you, it is truly otherworldly. As Scott Olson who traveled to Tibet with AsiaTravel in May noted, Tibet “was a once in a life time experience and although we have traveled to many places we would say this trip was the best.”
Have you ever wondered what yak butter tea tastes like? Have ever wondered what is inside a Tibetan home? AsiaTravel will take you there, with access that takes you into a Tibetan family’s residence to discover what people talk about at dinner on the other side of the world. When your trip finally ends and you head home, your friends will not believe where you have gone, and when you look at your pictures, you may not believe it yourself.
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Tibet is an area you cannot always go to. Presently Tibet is open, and if the country has been on your radar, we urge you take advantage of this opportunity. If you are traveling with your family, AsiaTravel would recommend “Escape to Lhasa.” If you have a hankering for adventure, you may want to take a look at “Expedition to Tibet’s West.” Or if you have something else in mind, get in touch with AsiaTravel at info@wildchina.com and we can customize a journey you can call your own.