Tibet has dominated my top bucket list for a long time. This abruptly ended when the IHG Rewards Club included the Intercontinental Lhasa Paradise on their point break list back in 2015. This meant I could stay for just 5000 points per night including breakfast. Those points I earned earlier through promotions and stays (I value those around 30 euro per 5000 points). I didn’t hesitate and booked for my son and me for a 10 night stay. We arrived from Shang-ri La by plane in the morning and after lunch we explored the Jokhang Temple. It would be our first experience in Tibet during these 10 days we stayed in Lhasa; it was a good one! Getting adjusted to the altitude in Lhasa
Lhasa is the capital of the autonomous region of Tibet in China. At an altitude of 3600 meters it’s wise to not do lots of intensive activities the first days. Due to the altitude you can get easily sick because of less oxygen in the air. As we travelled through the Yunnan Province in China before going to Tibet we already got used to the altitude. Only during day trips which went up to 5600 meters at for example the Namtso Lake we still had to take it easy.
Lhasa really amazed me and my son. It has an authentic Tibetan charm which is a great experience but it has also a lot of expansion with modern Chinese construction. That’s not helping to keep the traditional atmosphere and it just looks like any other Chinese city. As we arrived in the morning we decided to explore the Jokhang Temple and the streets radiating from it in the afternoon. The Potala Palace we would visit another day together with some other sights in Lhasa.
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