My road trip in South Island started off from Christchurch on a rented vehicle.

Day 7: Heading off to Wanaka from Christchuch (through Tekapo)

We set off early in the morning, our first stop was Lake Tekapo near Church of the Good Shepherd. Located on the shores of the beautiful Lake Tekapo, the Church of the Good Shepherd is nestled amongst the natural beauty of the region. Even though we arrived their before 9am, it was still crowded with tourists taking photographs. The turquoise-blue Lake Tekapo surrounded by snow-peaked mountains was a breathtaking site. It’s almost unreal milky blue colour comes from the glacial sediment left behind from a retreating glacier. (lupin flowers)

Next we headed to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park to see the highest mountain in South island. Along the way the views were amazing. But unfortunately Mount Cook peak was fully covered with thick clouds and we were not able to see the peak.

Hooker valley track is one of the most popular short hikes in New Zealand, which comes with some insane mountain views. It was an easy, mostly-flat gravel trail that is one of the nicest and most well-kept tracks.

After the hike we set off to Wanaka. After checking into the place we went near the Lake Wanaka to have a quiet, clam and a beautiful evening.

Day 8: In and around Wanaka

Next day it was time for another hike. And this time it’s a tough hike, Roys peak hike. The moment you start the hike, it’s a steep climb through a private farm. At the beginning thick clouds were covering the path an you cannot see the track ahead. After a while we passed the clouds and come to a clear area, and at a distance we could see the Lake Wanaka through the clouds. Even though the hike was really rough, the views were breathtaking and rewarding.

Tips: This hike is 8km one way. Take plenty of water with you and some snacks, but pack light as the track is very steep. Also layers of clothes as the weather can change quickly. There is one toilet near the car park, but after that until you return there are no toilets.

After the hike, we drove a bit further to see Diamond lake and . Then it was time to relax near the Lake Wanaka and enjoy our stay.

Day 9 : To Queenstown and Te anau

We drove to Queenstown in the morning. It was such a beautiful day to spend some time near the lake. And go up the Skyline Queenstown for great views and do some Luge riding

We drove around the nearby areas enjoying the beautiful views.

Then it was time to head to Te anau to stay over the night so that we can head to Milford sound early in the morning. For anyone who is planning to take a early morning ferry ride in Milford sound, I would recommend spending the previous night in Te anau to save time.

Day 10 : Milford Sound and returning back home

“Milford Sound runs 15 kilometers inland from the Tasman Sea at Dale Point (also named after a location close to Milford Haven in Wales)—the mouth of the Fiord—and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 1,200 meters (3,900 ft) or more on either side. Among the peaks are The Elephant at 1,517 meters (4,977 ft), said to resemble an elephant’s head, and The Lion, 1,302 meters (4,272 ft), in the shape of a crouching lion.

Milford Sound sports two permanent waterfalls, Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. After heavy rain temporary waterfalls can be seen running down the steep sided rock faces that line the fiord. They are fed by rain water drenched moss and will last a few days at most once the rain stops.” – wiki

That was the end of one awesome trip. I returned back home hoping to go back one day for more

To read about the North island of New Zealand, click here

Road trip plan – map

I spent 10 days in total in New Zealand in both North and South islands. In North island I used public transport for most of my travels, and in South island rented a car.

Hope you will find some inspiration here when planning your trip to NZ.

Day 1: I arrived in Auckland early in the morning.

Luckily one of my friends came to pick me up from the airport and drove me to Mt.Eden. It was such a beautiful sight!

After breakfast they took me to Shakespear Regional Park, which is situated North of Auckland.

Day 2: Rangitoto Island

In the morning I took a ferry to Rangitoto Island. (Tip: the early morning ferry ride is cheap, but the return ferries start after 12noon). If you want to take the 4WD road train in the island rather than walking to the summit please book in advance. They get sold out quickly. Make sure to take food and water with you as there are no shops in the island. Also in some days there might not be any toilets in the island too. So keep that in mind.

It’s like a 1 hour walk to the summit in the shortest path, but once you reach the top it will blow your mind away. The view was amazing.

Day 3: To Rotorua via Hobbiton and Waimoto caves (glow worm cave)

Anyone who has watched The lord of the rings movies dream about visiting Shire (Middle earth). And today was my day!

I took a tour from Intercity bus company to visit both Hobbiton and Waimoto caves starting from Auckland and returning to Rotorua, which is my next stop.

(The guided tours in Hobbiton are fairly rushed. So to take photos and listen to what those amazing guides say at the same time can be bit tough )

Unfortunately I don’t have any photos from Glove worm caves as we were asked not to take any photographs inside the caves.

Day 4 : Walking in and around Rotorua.. and leave to Taupo

Roturua is a small beautiful city with a lake. It is known for bubbling mud pools, shooting geysers, natural hot springs and fascinating Maori culture. The moment you step into Rotorua you can smell the sulphur But after a while you will get used to it.

Right at the corner of the city in Kuirau Park, you can witness natural geothermal activities for free. Bubbling mud pools and steam can be seen everywhere.

Government gardens, Polynesian spa and the beautiful building of the Rotorua museum is few more places that anyone should visit.

Later that day I travelled to Taupo.

Huka falls is a major attraction in Taupo. (Tip: Just keep in mind that a bus goes to Huka falls from Taupo city only twice a day. Unless you wanna walk 5km to reach the city please check the time table beforehand)

Day 5: More walking in Taupo and heading to Wellington.

After walking near the Taupo lake I took the bus heading to Wellington. The bus takes roughly 6 hours to reach Wellington from Taupo. These are double decker buses, but no toilets inside. They do stop over few times on the way.

Day 6: Wellington

Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, sits near the North Island’s southernmost point on the Cook Strait. A compact city, it encompasses a waterfront promenade, sandy beaches, a working harbour and colourful timber houses on surrounding hills. From Lambton Quay, the iconic red Wellington Cable Car heads to the Wellington Botanic Gardens. I had a whole day to explore Wellington on foot before I take a flight to Christchurch in the evening.

So I started off with heading to Lambton Quay to catch the cable car.

Then walked down to the city through the lovely botanic gardens.

Then for a long walk through the city towards the waterfront promenade.

Then it was time for me to head to the south island, Christchurch, to start off my road trip as the second phase of my trip.

Mornington peninsula, primarily a local tourist region with many popular attractions. Mainly variety of beaches and many scenic sights and views. I’ve written down here few of the things we did in one day, but there are so many others places and things to do there.

So it was time to visit Mornington peninsula on a sunny spring weekend. The day tour was started off at Cape Schanck. We arrived there early morning just when the sun started to shine. All the trails were deserted, no other people were there. We walked along the broad walk to the pebble beach… and to the pulpit rock.. It was a lovely morning with cool sea breeze and with lot of sun shine.

Next stop was, Fort Nepean. We arrived at the Fort nepean car park around 10am. We were hoping to catch the first shuttle bus .. but the shuttle bus service started after 11am that day. We took the shuttle bus to the fort at the end point of the peninsula along a scenic route.

Next we headed to Sorrento for lunch. After having a quick walk around the beach we had something to eat from a local restaurant. Next stop was Arthers seat lookout.

Arthurs Seat Eagle gondola is a new attraction in Mornington peninsula.  Get on a gondola and fly over the state forest to the highest point on the Peninsula, where the views will take your breath away. We got into the gondola from the below, and once you reach the top, you need to get down from the gondola. You cannot head down in the same gondola. At the top you can grab a snack or coffee and walk through trails in  Arthurs Seat State Park.

After indulging ourselves in the beauty of the Mornington peninsula from above, next stop was the Mount Martha beach.  Mount Martha beach is famous for its rainbow-coloured beach boxes.

That was the end of our one day trip to Mornington peninsula. We had a lovely day driving around the breathtaking beach side on a wonderful sunny weather.

Mt. Macedon area is famous for putting on a stunning show for Autumn. This autumn we decided to visit Daylesford for autumn foliage. Roughly around 115km away from Melbourne city.

We first arrived in Daylesford information centre and decided to visit the Daylesford lake first. Daylesford lake is a main attraction for all visitors. It is a place for everyone of all ages to relax, enjoy a picnic, take a scenic walk and enjoy the amazing views.

It was such a picturesque sight. The road towards the lake was highlighted with colorful autumn trees. It’s a good place to send a day with the family. You can hire paddle boats and go on a ride in the lake, children can play in the playground, few cozy places to have a coffee and a snack and also there are undercover barbecues. Most importantly there is a path around the lake with beautiful trees and wild mushrooms. This ‘Peace Mile’ walking track goes all the way around the lake. There are few places where you can stop along the tree-lined path and soak up the stunning views.

There is spillway and the foot bridge above it, also the historic change rooms and stone steps. There used to be a swimming pool in front of the change rooms and a diving tower on the other side of the lake years ago that were very popular in the warmer weather.

After indulging ourselves with the beauty of the lake, we headed towards to town to get something for lunch. We went to the Koukla restaurant, which is an iconic cafe which is located near the information centre.  After enjoying the lovely food, we drove around the streets nearby just enjoying the beautiful architecture and natural beauty.

The ‘Chocolate mill‘  is an amazing stop if you are a chocolate lover, where you get to see how chocolates are made and you can try our different flavored chocolates and of course don’t forget to have a hot chocolate

Wilsons Promontory National Park in Victoria is a popular area for camping lovers. It is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland and is located in the state of Victoria.

We’ve been waiting to go on a camping trip to Wilsons Promontory National Park. As we did a bit of research, it was found that there are so many camping areas in Wilsons Prom national park. So we decided to start from one corner

Hence, we planned to go to Walkerville camping reserve as the start of our Wilsons prom expedition Stretching along the coast from the sand barrier of Point Smythe to the sheltered waters of Waratah Bay, Cape Liptrap Coastal Park has strikingly beautiful scenery.

We reserved a camping site from this website liked here. It is better to book a spot early specially if you are planning to head there on a long weekend.

We reached Walkerville caming site around 10.30am on a Saturday morning on a cloudy and cold winter day. We were a bit worried that it might rain, but we were hoping for the best. We set up our tents in our designated camping site and walked around to see the beautiful beach.

There is an information centre at the camp site where you can get information on things to do around the camping area and hire a fire drum if you don’t already have one  The camp site has common washrooms with hot water showers. It was clean and well maintained. There are powered and un-powered site which you can chose while reserving your camp site.

There is a small kiosk just next to the information centre in the camp site, which has almost all the basic things you would need in the camp and also coffee, ice cream and pizza

After settling down a bit, we decided to head to a super market to buy some stuff for our camp fire. The nearest supermarket was the Tarwin Lower IGA, which is roughly around 20km away from the camp sight.

After this we walked to the look-out point, which starts from the camping site. It was a nice walk through trees and bushes, which is the cape liptrap coastal park. After walking for a while we came to the look-out point for a stunning view of the ocean. Even though it was cloudy we could slightly see peaks of Wilsons Promontory across the ocean. The sound of the waves and the breeze makes it such a calming area to spend your afternoon.

After the walk we came back to the camp site to set up the camp fire. It was such a great experience.

As we sat around the camp fire trying to stay warm, few neighbors paid us visits .. one was a wombat looking a bit annoyed to have his home overtaken by us and a possum was checking why we were having a fire on at night

The night was cold but luckily it didn’t rain even though the sky was covered with clouds. We were not lucky enough to see any stars that night. At night we went to the beach just to have a small walk in the sandy beach. That is when we noticed that the waves has gone down a lot due to low tides. We could walk in the sea bed for like 10-15m into the sea. It was my first time experiencing low tides. Even though there is a sandy beach at high tide, the beach was covered with rocks at low tides.

The next day morning the first things we wanted to do was to check the beach to see whether the tides has returned.. but it was not Still we could walk into the sea in the sea bed. The area was covered with heavy fog and clouds.. the rising sun was clearly seen behind heavy clouds.

Also in the morning we found out that the location where we had our tents was the home of a hungry wallerby as well.

After having coffee and some breakfast we started our day off with a walk to the historical lime kilns and heritage listed cemetery (You can drive there as well). Despite being a little cold, it was a lovely sunny day for a walk in the beach. We started our walk from the beach near our camping site and walked towards south. Still the tide has not returned to normal level so we could easily walk in the beach watching kids playing with the waves and surfers waiting for the waves and sea gulls and different birds waiting for their meal.

After walking in the beach for a while there is a small path which goes up and down and take you to a scenic lookout. It’s small open area where you can sit in a bench and have a snack  while enjoying the ocean view.

There is another path heading towards the historical cemetery and the lime kilns. The path to the lime kilns in along the coast with an elevation providing you with endless scenic views.

By the time we returned to the camp site after the walk the tide has returned to the shore.

After having lunch, we spend some time near the beach and headed back home.

On our way back we stopped at few places to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Our path was along Korumburra South with stunning views of grassy mountains and valleys.

That was the end of our first camping trip in winter. We came back home hoping to go on another trip again soon.

Out first stop was near a stream, with a view of the Potala palace at a distance amidst the morning sun. It’s the beginning of the spring season, so we could see light green trees with mist covered snow capped huge mountains at the background.

After that we started climbing up to a high altitude mountain pass called Kamba La pass which is around 4800m of altitude. And the scenery started to take our breath away with winding roads and never ending mountain ranges.

We reached the top of the Kambala pass, to see the breathtaking view of the Yamdrok lake. It is a freshwater lake in Tibet, it is one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet. It was a great sight! Just like a painting, the turquoise blue color of the lake was unbelievable. Even though it was windy and cold we were stunned by the beauty of the view that we stayed out a long time taking photographs. There were lot of prayer flags put up by pilgrims passing by, which is a common sight in Tibet.

Then we started to drive down the hill, to reach the Yamdroke lake. As we got down from the Yamdrok lake it was really chilly. But we didn’t want to miss the chance to witnessing this huge sacred lake up close.

These beautifully dressed Yaks are here for tourists to take photographs with. Their owners charge you for taking photographs. Tibetan mastiff dogs are also used for the same purpose. You can find big fluffy Tibetan mastiff dogs with their owner along the road in many places.

After driving along the lake we started to make our way up where we came across another unforgettable experience. It’s the Karola glacier, which a very beautiful glacier that comes down almost to the roadside.

After that we arrived in Gyantse to see the Palcho Monastery (Pelkor Chode Monastery). This monastery has spectacular Kumbum, which is a multi-storied aggregate of Buddhist chapels in Tibetan Buddhism. It believed to be the largest such structure in Tibet.

View of the Gyantse Fort can be seen from the monastery on a rugged hill surrounding the town.

Then we arrived in our hotel in Shigatse planning to to take good rest as we are heading to Everest base camp the next day.

The next day morning, we started our journey a bit later, as our tour guide had to get Aliens’ Travel Permits for us to enter the Everest mountain range national park. After that we started our journey passing many beautiful valleys, mountain ranges and several farming villages. It’s surprising to see so many settlements even at this high altitude.

On our way we came to the Gyatso La pass (5248m), which has great views of many mountain ranges.

Then we arrived in a small town called Shelkar for lunch.

As we continue to drive up, the next stop was Pang La Pass (5050m). The stunning view of the Himalayan mountain range was an unforgettable experience. Since I was small I dreamt  of seeing the Himalayan mountain range, and finally it came true.

 Then we slowly made our way to the Mt. Everest tourist base camp through many scenic valleys. On our way there were many check points where our passports and permits were checked. At one place we were required to go into the check point to show our passport and permits.

When we reached the Mt. Everest tourist base camp it was really chilly and clody and it was getting dark. We were excited to see all the tents set up. But unluckily we could not see the magnificent Mt. Everest as it was cloudy

This where the magnificent Mt. Everest should be seen.. but we were not lucky enough to see it today

The weather was really cold and windy.. soon it became so hard to stay outside so we went inside the tents to warm ourselves. The tents had benches/day beds around surrounding a fire fueled by yak dung (surprisingly there was no smell). We had noodled for dinner, which was cooked on the same fire. Yo do have meat and vegetarian options. Also plenty of green tea.

The public toilets were horrible, but I guess it has the best view in the world Take plenty of toilet paper, wet wipes and hand sanitizers. You don’t get running water in the camp. And you have just one light bulb in the tent powered by a battery, and no other electricity.

At night it was freeeeezing.. but there are plenty of quilts and you can crawl into your sleeping bags or cover yourself up with many cozy quilts.. (but still you will be cold )

In the morning when we woke up.. the area was fully covered with snow. It has snowed in the night, because when we came there was no snow at all. We were so excited to see the area covered with snow.. and most awaited moment..we could see the shadow of the Mt. Everest.. it was freezing so I could not take any pictures of the magnificent mountain.. but I will always remember that scene.

Then we started our journey back to Shigatse. The roads and all the areas were completely covered with snow. The journey back was slow as the road was slippery.

It was such a lovely sight… anywhere you look it’s all white and magical.

We arrived in Shigatse in the afternoon. We were all exhausted from the ride and the altitude, but we were not done for the day. After refreshing ourselves we were on our way again to see Tashi Lhunpo Monastery.

Tashi Lhunpo monastery was founded in 1447 by the 1st Dalai Lama. “On the west side is the tallest building of the monastery, which was built in 1914 by the Ninth Panchen Lama to house a gigantic statue of the Maitreya Buddha and is 26.2 metres (86 feet) in height.”

And also on the east side of the monastery is the old living quarters of the Panchen Lama.

That was the end of our stay in Shigatse. The next day we are headed to Namtso Lake, which I will continue in the next post

Enjoy!

To read my previous post on our first few days in Tibet : Tibet, China.. part 1

The beginning of the Tibet trip started with a long train ride. We wanted to witness the stunning views of the Tibet plateau so we decided to take the train from Xining to Lhasa. The train we took was Qinghai-Tibet train.

To sum everything up in this blog; main things to keep in mind;

1. Book train tickets early.
2. Decide which type of carriage you want to travel in. (soft sleeper, hard sleeper, soft seat, hard seat)
3. Before going to Tiber consult your local doctor regarding altitude sickness.
4. Keep all your documents together, take several copies of your entry permit.
5. Prepare for train toilets
6. Take your own food if you are not comfortable with Chinese food.

So in detail, there are few things to keep in mind if you are planning to visit Tibet by train. The train ride from Xining to Lhasa was around 22hrs, which is a long ride. So it’s better to be comfortable specially if you are taking the train towards Lhasa. You don’t want to be exhausted, sick and tired at the beginning of the tour. If you are taking to train from Beijing or Shanghai it will more like 44hrs, which is a very long time to be inside a train.

First thing is, you cannot buy train tickets directly (from overseas). You have to pay and reserve your ticket online, which is done through an agent. And later they will buy the tickets for you and send the ticket information to you. We reserved our tickets through China highlights. If you are in China mainland or in Hongkong you can get your tickets posted to your address.

Please book way ahead of time (atleast 1 month ahead of your planned trip). If you plan to take the train on a weekend, better to book it even before. Seats get filled up pretty fast.

There are four type of seats in Qinghai-Tibet train, soft sleeper, hard sleeper, soft seat and hard seat. You have to select what type of sleeper/seat you want when booking the ticket, but it’s not guaranteed that you will get what you selected. During weekends (during the high season) the train will be really crowded. So I recommend to go for a soft sleeper, which has only 4 bunks in one cabin, where as the hard sleeper has 6 bunks in a cabin. If it’s crowded toilets might not be clean too. So taking the soft sleeper will be more comfortable.

If you booked train tickets online like us, you will only have a screenshot of the paper ticket with a ticket pickup number. So once you reach the city from where you will be getting into the train, first you have to go and collect the ticket from the station. Online booked tickets can be collected at any ticket window except the refund and cancellation window. You have to show your passport and the pickup number at a window, and the staff will hand you the tickets. Also keep a copy of your Tibet entry permit with you to show if the staff ask for it. (If you cannot speak Chinese it’s better to hand it over with the documents to avoid any confusions )

When boarding the train, once the train arrived the platform you will be let into the platform. Your carriage number will be printed on your ticket. Near the carriage a attendant will be there to check your ticket, passport and the entry permit. Please keep them all together and hand it over. They will keep the copy of the Tibet entry permit.

On its way to Lhasa the train reaches high altitudes during its ride. The highest point is 5086m. There is a oxygen supply in the train when it reaches high altitudes, but still you are most probable to get headaches and dizziness. If you think you are not feeling despite the oxygen provided in the carriage, talk to the carriage attendant. Oxygen tubes will be given out to people in need for that. I think acclimatizing is the biggest challenge in taking the train, so be prepared for that. Talk to your local doctors before the tour and take necessary advice.

Drink lot of water and take your own food if you are not comfortable with Chinese food.

The squat toilets might not be so clean all the time, remember to take toilet papers, wet wipes and hand sanitizes. Take toiletries with you.

Food can be bought from a trolley that goes up and down the aisle ever hour. If you are in a soft sleeper you will have access to the dinning car. The food sold in the trolley are mostly Chinese food, so if you are not familiar with it take your own food and snack. You get boiling water in each carriage, so you can make some quick meals if you want.

And most importantly don’t forget to wake up early and enjoy the view!!!! and take lots of pictures!  

Once you arrive in Lhasa, if you do have a foreign passport, again you will be taken to an immigration check point outside the station to check your documents again. So don’t forget to keep all your documents together and in a reachable place.

Tibet is a part of China, situated in East Asia. It has some of the tallest mountain in the world and numerous high-altitude lakes. Several major rivers have their source in the Tibetan Plateau. And the ever famous the magnificent Mt. Everest, located on the border with Nepal.

Religion is extremely important to the Tibetans and has a strong influence over all aspects of their lives. Tibetan Buddhism is vastly followed in Tibet, which is a distinctive form of Mahayana and Vajrayana.

Three friends and I traveled to Tibet in April 2017. It was the end of winter season, and the weather was cold and sunny. We were on a 9 day (including arrival and departure dates) tour in Tibet. I will split the post in to couple of posts as it will be quite long.

The beginning of the Tibet trip started with a long train ride. We wanted to witness the stunning views of the Tibet plateau so we decided to take the train from Xining to Lhasa.

I have written a separate post on taking the train to Lhasa, Click here to check that out.

We checked into our hotel in Lhasa looking for a good rest. We stayed in “House of Shambhala” in Lhasa, which is a very cozy authentic Tibetan hotel :).

The next day morning we started off our first day of the trip with Drupung monastery.

“Drepung is the largest of all Tibetan monasteries and is located at the  foot of mount Gephel, five kilometers from the western suburb of Lhasa. It is one of the “great three” Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet. It was founded in 1416 by Jamyang Choge Tashi Palden (1397–1449), one of Tsongkhapa’s main disciples, and it was named after the sacred abode in South India of Shridhanyakataka” ~ wiki

It was really interesting to see the monks debating in the court yard.

“As part of the their training, monks participate in a series of debates. These debates are held in a courtyard of crushed stone. Senior monks grill junior monks on various doctrine. The junior monks are seated, while the monks questioning their knowledge of Buddhist scripture fire questions at them, accompanied by dramatic hand slapping. The hand slapping is a signal for the seated monk to respond.” ~ wiki

The next stop was Jokhang temple, which is a Buddhist temple in Barkhor Square in Lhasa. Tibetans, in general, consider this temple as the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. The temple is currently maintained by the Gelukpa school.

“The Jokhang was founded during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo. According to tradition, the temple was built for the king’s two brides: Princess Wencheng of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal. Both are said to have brought important Buddhist statues and images from China and Nepal to Tibet, which were housed here, as part of their dowries.” ~wiki

“The Barkhor is an area of narrow streets and a public square located around Jokhang Temple in Lhasa.The Barkor is a popular devotional circumambulation for pilgrims and locals. The walk was about one kilometre long and encircled the entire Jokhang.There were four large incense burners (sangkangs) in the four cardinal directions, with incense burning constantly, to please the gods protecting the Jokhang.”

“In addition to walking around the temple and spinning prayer wheels, pilgrims prostrate themselves before approaching the main deity; some crawl a considerable distance to the main shrine.”

Next day, it was time to see the Potala palace up close.

“The Potala Palace, winter palace of the Dalai Lama since the 7th century, symbolizes Tibetan Buddhism and its central role in the traditional administration of Tibet. The complex, comprising the White and Red Palaces with their ancillary buildings, is built on Red Mountain in the centre of Lhasa Valley, at an altitude of 3,700m.” ~ UNESCO

As we went there in the high season, there was a queue to enter the Palace. You are not allowed to take any kind of liquid inside, including water, beverages and cosmetics. Beverages can be purchased inside.

There are lot of steps, so most probably it will be hard to climb up if it’s your first day in high altitude. You will feel exhausted very frequently.

After the tour in Potala Palace, we headed to a tibetan restaurant to have a local meal. It was a vegetarian restaurant with many vegetarian option. They had a lightly sweet rice (Dresil), tibetan momos, lentil soup and many more vegetarian dishes. Also we had the pleasure of having tibetan black tea, which has a salty taste instead of the sweetness we are used to. (Sorry I don’t have a photo of the Tibetan black tea, but it looks same as the other black tea, just the taste is different)

Next stop was the Sera monastery. It is one of the “great three” Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet built in 1419. In this monastery also debating monks are one of the attractions.

In the courtyard of the monastery, young and old monks perform their debates. You are not allowed to use a camera to take photographs but you may use a phone to take photographs. Inside the courtyard in one side you can see the young monks and on the other side elder monks carry on their debates. It’s really interesting to watch these with all their hand and body gestures.

So that was the end of our awesome second day in Tibet. And next day we went to Shigatse, which is a long ride with amazing landscape views And the day after to Mt.Everest base camp.. We were all excited to experience all these new things. I will write all about it in the next blog post, with breathtaking photographs.

It was a beautiful sight with misty mountains surrounding a clam greenish lake.

In 2012 January I got the chance to visit Sweden for 4 weeks for work. During that time we wanted to visit Europe as much as we can. So…. Paris was one of the top destinations on the list

We visited Paris during a weekend. The plan was to leave Linköping very early morning on a saturday and return back to Linköping on Sunday night. We took the budget airline, Ryan air to fly to Paris. The airport which we flew into was a bit far away from the Paris city, so we then took a shuttle bus to reach Paris.

The weather was cold and breezy .. temperature was around 6-9C during the day time. Coming from tropical weather it was very cold for us It was clearly winter.. all trees are like skeletons all leaves have fallen, every pond and fountain was dried up… green was a rare sight.

In Paris we visited Louvre museum, Notre-Dame cathedral , Arc de Triomphe, Avenue des Champs-Élysées and the ever famous Eiffel tower.

The weather was so rough in the night and it was so hard to take pictures, as it was hard to keep out hands out. The drawback of traveling in the winter is that it’s hard to stay outside for long and it’s hard to take pictures. But it’s indeed an awesome experience in winter..