Patan, Nepal

Rain everywhere! For lunch we went to a palace restaurant in Patan. The rainfalls were awkward and we did the sightseeing by ‚rapid method’. We found a beautiful painting that we bought and in the evening we left Asia via Doha. It’s been an exciting trip to East Asia where we saw gorgeous landmarks and where we met pleasant people. Something special, something new!

Kathmandu, Nepal

In the evening we met our friend Evi at our hotel in Kathmandu (Himalaya Hotel). She worked voluntarily for half a year in Nepal. The next day we tried to do a mountain flight but it was too cloudy – what a pitty. We visited the temples and palaces of Kathmandu and due to the pre-monsoon season we fled into our bus of the heavy rainfalls.

Araniko Highway, Nepal

After customs we entered Nepal via the Friendship bridge to the town of Kodari. Our Nepalese bus brought us on a narrow and steep road to Kathmandu. The road trip lasted almost a day.

Zhangmu, Tibet

The customs town of Zhangmu was crowded with trucks. At 2,300 metres above sea level it has a mild and humid subtropical climate, which is a rarity for Tibet. Welcome to the jungle!

On the Friendship Highway

Some more impressions from our road trip! ;-)

Qomolangma

The day we saw the mountains! On our way to Nepal we had a great view of Mount Lhotse, Mount Makalu, Mount Cho Oyu and – last but not least – Mount Everest – the Tibetans call the Earth’s highest mountain Qomolangma. Thus we saw four of the six highest mountains in the world.

Tingri, Tibet

We spent our last night on the Tibetan Plateau at Tingri at an altitude of about 4,300 metres. It became cold in the night – brrrr!

Gyatso La, Tibet

The highest point of our trip! We went up to 5,248 metres! Due to the excellent weather conditions we had a spectacular view. There is also a ‚harmony hall’ at the summit oft he Gyatso La pass (prettified by a styrian heart).

Shigatse, Tibet

Shigatse is Tibet’s second-largest city. We spent there a night and in the morning we visited the Tashilhunpo monastery. This monastery is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama. Pilgrims circumambulate the monastery on the sacred path outside the walls.

Gyantse, Tibet

Our next stop was Gyantse. There are two objects of interest – the Palcho monastery and the Gyantse Dzong (fortress). There’s been a religious festival in the monastery where the monks wore masks. We went up the pagoda and had an awesome view of the dzong.

Manak Reservoir, Tibet

A small pass (Sim La – 4,330 m) offers a gorgeous view of the Manak reservoir. This barrier lake supports Shigatse with electricity.

Kharola Glacier, Tibet

The next pass was Kharu La (5,030 m). It is also a beautiful scenery with the surmounting Kharola glacier.

Yamzhog Yumco, Tibet

After the pass we had a beautiful view of the surreal Yamdrok tso (Yamzhog Yumco). The lake is one of Tibet’s three sacred lakes. It is over 72 km long and you can see snow covered mountains in its background. Very nice!

Brahmaputra, Tibet

On our way south we crossed the Brahmaputra. The Tibetan people call the river Yarlung Tsangpo. The river originates near Mount Kailash and runs east for about 1,700 km. After this we went up the Gampa La pass (4,794 m).

Lhasa, Tibet

Potala was gorgeous! Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world (3,490 m). The most impressive landmark is the Potala Palace that is located on a hill in the city. It’s been the chief residence oft he Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. The construction started in 1645 and today the palace is a museum. We couldn’t look the other way. The palace is awesome and you’ll always feel happy when you see it from other parts of the town. As you might have recognized – we enjoyed the Potala Palace!

The Jokhang temple is located in the middle of the city. For most Tibetans it ist he most sacred and important temple. Its architectural style is a mixture of Indian, Chinese and Nepalese design. This temple has remained a key center of Buddhist pilgrimage for centuries.

On the outskirts of Lhasa we visited the Sera Monastery. It is on of the university monasteries of Tibet. It is also noted for its ‚Monk Debates’ which are held every day in the ‚Debating Courtyard’ of the monastery.

Tanggula Shan, Qinghai-Tibet

The Tanggula Mountains are a mountain range in the central part of the Tibetan Plateau. They form the northern border to the Tibet Autonomous Region. It’s also been our highest point (5,050 m) during the train trip. The Yangtze River originates in this mountain range.

Gaoyuan, Qinghai

After passing the mountains we saw interesting nature and rivers as well as hills and mountains on the horizon. The wildlife (yaks etc.) was close.

Kunlun Shan, Qinghai

After a night in the train we arrived at Golmud early in the morning. Here started our ‚visible’ trip to Tibet. After two hours of flat and arid landscape the first landmark appeared. The train started to climb up the Kunlun Shan. The Kunlun Mountains are one of the longest mountain chains in Asia. They form the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. It is always ‚cool’ to see snowy mountains in summer!

Xining, China

Xining is located on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This town is not a must see in China. We won’t have been there if it wasn’t the starting point of the Lhasa train. You can visit the Dongguan Mosque which was built in the 14th century as well as the Tibet Medicine Culture Museum where you can see a Thangka (colored painting) with a length of 618 metres which costs more than 400 crafts masters four years to finish it.

Qin Shi Huang's Terracotta Army, Xi'an, China

Don’t leave Xi’an without visiting the famous Terracotta Army. The sculptures were discovered on 29 March 1974 by a group of farmers digging for a water well. The collection consists of over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife. It’s really overwhelming when you stand in front of the ‚Army’!

Xi'an, China

Xi’an is one of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history. It is also one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Xi'an is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army. We saw the ancient city walls, the historic center with the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower as well as the gracile Small Wild Goose Pagoda. In the evening we visited the awesome water games in front of the Great Wild Goose Pagoda which are known as the largest fountain in Asia which projects water high into the air, rising and falling in time to music. Both Pagodas are spectacular towers and well over 1,000 years old. Overall we enjoyed our stay in Xi’an and we will remember it ‚more chinese’ than Beijing.

Beijing, China

When coming back to Beijing after the visit of the Great Wall we went to the Summer Palace (Yíhé Yuán). It’s a former palace and now a park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The central Kunming Lake was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build the nearby Longevity Hill. One finds there a variety of palaces, gardens, splendid halls and pavilions. It is a real ‚masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design’.

On the way back to our hotel we did a stop at the Olympic green with its main attraction – the national stadium (also called bird’s nest).

The next day the first visit was the Temple of Heaven which is a complex of religious buildings and one of the town’s landmarks. It is – surprising – also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The surroundings of the Temple of Heaven are now a very popular park for exercising (Qigong). As it was sunday there were a lot of people playing games, doing exercises or just sitting around.

Beijing’s best known city square is Tiananmen Square. It is the third largest square in the world and outside China it is also known for the protests of 1989. The square is surrounded by several impressive buildings (the Great Hall of the People, the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, the National Museum of China) and has the Monument to the People’s Heroes in its middle. To the north of the square is the gate tower to the ...

... Forbidden City – which was our next spot. The ‚ Gùgōng’ is huge in dimension. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. The complex consists of 980 buildings and is traditionally divided into two parts. The Outer Court includes the southern sections, and was used for ceremonial purposes. The Inner Court includes the northern sections, and was the residence of the Emperor and his family, and therefore was also used for day-to-day affairs of state.

Beijing is a very impressive city with many spots for sightseeing. We were a little bit irritated by the masses of people and the strenuous traffic (congestion and traffic jam every day and everywhere you go). Nevertheless it is worth a visit once in a life-time.

the Great Wall, Badaling, China

After extended talks (!) we found a ‚cool’ destination for this years vacation trip – China! Via Doha we flew to Beijing. Our first hot spot was the Great Wall at Badaling. The area was overcrowded with tourists nevertheless we did a nice walk on the wall. It’s been a little bit exhausting because of the unexpected steepness of the building. The wall is impressive and shouldn’t be missed when visiting China.

Genuss Festival – festival of treats

I wanted to attend this festival for years. Never found the time to do so. This year we did it! Just in time before the evening rain started we spent three nice hours at the different culinary booths tasting specialities from all over Austria.

Munich meets Schönbrunn

dj Oetzi in the Prater

On May Day a free concert of dj Oetzi took place in front of the giant wheel. I couldn’t resist the temptation for a bratwurst therefore we did a nice evening walk from our flat through the Prater. Mmmh, bratwurst.