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04 Jun 2009
After our visit to Drepung Monastery in the morning, our afternoon trip took us to the Nobulingka (Summer Palace). It was built in 1783 under the eighth Dalai Lama and shares UNESCO World Heritage Site status with the Potala Palace. Unfortunately, heavy renovation works were on-going.
Entrance to the Nobulingka
One of the many compounds
Some items of the Dalai Lama are impounded here, e.g. a horse carriage
Nice flowers adorn much of the summer residence
The summer palace even has an in-house zoo!
The New Palace where the 14th Dalai Lama lived before fleeing to India
Very modern furnishing inside
No pictures allowed inside all the buildings
A pavilion
An indigenous Tibetan dog perched on the wall. It is said that these dogs are very loyal and very ferocious, being able to take on wolves on their own.
We left the Summer Palace and took some time to walk around Lhasa before dinner
Dinner was steamboat at this Communist-Revolutionary-PLA themed restaurant
The restaurant was right beside the Lhasa river
Portraits and icons of famous communists decorate the interior
A taste of the local beer that only has an alcohol content of 3.5%. But for some reason, my ears became really red quickly. Perhaps it's the altitude
Steamboat pot full of mushrooms and nice spices
After dinner, we headed over to the Potala Palace. Every night, there is a musical fountain display at the people's square in front of the palace. The palace will also be lit up.
At 9pm, the show is ongoing
A greenish glow as the Potala Palace lights up
The lit up Potala Palace at 9:15pm
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Unfortunately, the sky was still too bright when we had to return to our hotel
We came back later at 10:30pm to catch a night shot. Looks like the best time to take pictures is exactly at 9:45pm when the palace is still lit up and the sky is dark. That ends our last night in Lhasa. Tomorrow morning, we will bid the highlands a slow goodbye as we embark on a 24 hour train ride aboard the highest railway in the world -- the Qinghai-Tibet railway.
View the next post here. Return to the trip index here.
View the next post here. Return to the trip index here.
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