When you step on to the narrow bustling streets for the first time, struggling for each breath of the thin air, you immediately encounter traditionally dressed folk, white peaked mountains, the smell of burning conifers and yak butter! This is the immediately intoxicating aurora of Lhasa- the holy city of Tibet!

The platform the train pulls into at Lhasa station is as big as any I have seen before and not exactly what i would expect from such a poor country- however the bland wide Chinese streets that lead away from the station soon transform into narrow bustling colourful city centre streets...with an abundant display of culture and history.

Lhasa is the biggest city in Tibet (3600m above sea level) and was the home of the Dalai Lama before he took excile in India in 1959. His primary abode was the impressive Potala Palace which dominates the skyline and can be seen from anywhere in the city. It is a vast structure containing hundreds of rooms within it's red or white sections. However with such a poor paint job unlike anything you will ever have seen it is virtually impossible to distinguish the white Palace walls from the pavement and surrounding bushes, windows or even trees. This is indeed a theme common with many of the local sights where 'cowboy' painters appear to use a jet wash with no regard for dust sheets in painting their most historical buildings!

There are many Monasteries and a Nunnery dotted around Lhasa all with their own significance and interesting differences but the common Tibetan Buddhist themes are central to them all. At fear of losing my audience I'm not going to go into too much detail (although I probably could now if required) but essentially Buddism is about worshipping Buddha or his earthly chosen one the Dalai Lama. All monasteries will contain 4 scary looking protector Buddhas in the entrance (who can take human form when required!), stupa which are basically tombs of past Lamas, a large assembly hall and a chapel room. The chapels are generally very impressive dominated by a large statue, 7 bowls of water representing the 7 holy lakes, big cauldrons of yaks butter and various other pictures etc.

Monks and Nuns live a very simple life in the monasteries beginning their day with morning prayer followed by studying numerous scriptures on Buddism. The monks then gather to put their own spin on what they have read by debating the preachings in the afternoon. This debating is open to the public at Sera Monastery and was very entertaining to witness. All monks are required to deliver questions with a loud slap of the hands whilst the others in their group offer their response. Some of the younger ones even include an elaborate leg lift and plant similar to a pitcher delivering a baseball before the hand slap!

The magnificence of the monastries are something to marvel at but for me Tibet is about the people and culture. I don't really know how to describe the devotion to worship that is evident from Tibetan people. It verges from impressive to down right ridiculous. Tibetan Buddhists believe that the more they worship Buddha and the Dalai Lama in this life the more they will be rewarded in the next life. As a result the really keen will sacrifice this life to ensure they have a good afterlife... It seems a very risky strategy to me! The worship can come in many forms and is the most interesting part of Buddhism in Tibet. Here are 10 ways in which a Tibetan can gain 'merit' which can ensure a fruitful next life:

1) Offering gifts to the Buddha in a monastery in the form of money, scarfs (although there is a proper name for these), prayer flags, barley, miniature Buddhas or ballpoint pens!
2) Throwing crushed conifers and barley in to the burning pots outside monasteries creating a dense smelling smoke.
3) Chanting Omani Padi Hum when doing pretty much anything- this will be familiar if you have seen the sacrificial scene in the Indiana Jones Temple of Doom film!
4) Spinning the numerous prayer wheels that occupy the entrance to monasteries in a clockwise direction.
5) Walking around holy places spinning a private prayer wheel in a clockwise direction.
6) Tipping or spooning kilos of yak butter into the cauldrons in the chapel area for the Buddha.
7) What appeared to be grinding dry rice into the bottom of a copper pot for many hours.
8) Circumnavigation of Buddhas, monasteries, lakes or pretty much anything which is called a kora- note this must be performed in a clockwise direction. Something we didn't master immediately and resulted in frantic prayer wheel spinning to reverse the negatively!
9) Our personal favourite- 'prostrating' which essentially involves doing burpees with an additional full stretch forward to the Buddha.
10) And for the really keen- combining number 9's with number 8's every 2-3 steps!

Prostrating has to be seen to be believed and can be taken to many levels. It is a strange first sight when you approach monasteries such as the Rokhang in the centre of Lhasa. There is a roped off area filled with pilgrims who are going through the burpee routine- it basically involves- a standing pray followed by kneeing on a padded matt, then the hands slide forward to lower the head to the ground followed by a reach forward to finish with arms outstretched in prayer in front. This is repeated for as long as the pilgrim fancies which can be hours on end- every action gaining more 'merit'.

This is good going but when combined with circumnavigation of crowded jostling street around the Jokhang it is even more impressive, but some 'extreme' pilgrims will actually go to the lengths of prostrating from their homeland to Lhasa in their pilgrimage. When heading out on the road to Namtso lake we saw many a pilgrim prostrating their way to Lhasa on the roads accompanied by a support vehicle (an open topped 3 wheeled tractor) carrying tents etc. It was no sponsorship challenge but just keenness to worship their Buddha in a voyage that may take 2-3 months to complete! They believe this action will not only gain merit but may also help them to become Buddha in their next life!

It is important to allow time on any visit to sit out in one of the rooftop restaurants overlooking Bhakor street just to soak up all of these interesting but slightly odd worship antics taking place on the streets below. The fascinating culture on display combined with the breathtaking mountain views, steamed dumplings and a bottle of Lhasa beer result in a lunch you will never forget!

After struggling through China on the odd noodle or two and a few nuts, Tibetan food is surprisingly pleasantly although it probably helped that the menu was finally in English! Having said that the hygiene standards may be a little questionable after we had to avoid a rat that scurried across the restaurant floor and under our table- fortunately we had just finished our dinner!

Before we left Lhasa to head South we made sure we took a trip out to the majestic Namtso lake which at an elevation of 4718m above sea level is the highest in the world! It was a fair trek in our land cruiser but the 8 hr round trip when accompanied by stunning mountain scenery and an insight into the Tibetan Nomadic lifestyle passed relatively quickly. The road gradually ascended through the valley out of Lhasa culminating in a steep rise up the Nagen Mountain Pass at 5100m before dropping down to shore of Lake Namtso. The stunning crystal blue waters glistening in the sun against the backdrop of 7000m high white peaked mountains certainly made the drive worthwhile.

The drive to Namtso also provided further opportunity to witness Alex's regular need for a nap. Many times during the 8hrs of conversation we would turn to see that the reason she had suddenly gone quiet was that she was fast asleep! This was even more impressive given that the highly entertaining banter was sometimes in full flow! I also learned a valuable lesson on this trip after turning down various mounds or bushes as potential toilet stops- the public toilets are certainly not worth holding on for! The smell and sight for which I paid 20p for the privilege of witnessing was difficult to erase from memory for the remainder of the day!

The next few 4 days will involve a large amount of travelling taking us away from Lhasa and south into the Himalayas and on to the Nepal border. With mountain passes, plateaus, a couple more monasteries and the small matter of Everest Base Camp awaiting it promises to be rather spectacular. After the wind chill experienced at lake Namtso, Sally and Alex will be battling to see who will be able to dress in the most layers of clothing. They don't appear as confident as me in my belief that a wind proof jacket and flip-flops will suffice! Join us next time to see if they will finally admit my meteorological prediction was correct!....

P.S- thanks for all your comments and messages so far-keep them coming! it's great to hear from you all and we are glad to hear you are enjoying hearing about our travels....we are all having a fantastic time and still there is so much to look forward to, so watch this space...