Lhasa Nyingchi Shigatse – Another Side of Travel – Lhasa 1

On July 5, 2023, my buddy and I flew to Xining. The next day, we boarded the train from Xining to Lhasa, embarking on our first high-altitude journey.

This train passed Qinghai Lake, stopped at Golmud to change locomotives, traversed Hoh Xil, crossed Tanggula Pass, and reached Lhasa in about 20 hours. The scenery along the way shifted from green mountains and clear waters to gobi deserts and snowy peaks. Everyone kept wiping the window glass constantly to get decent photos.

After departing from Golmud Station, the train pressurizes and supplies oxygen, but the limited movement space and long journey still make motion sickness likely. At night, we encountered passengers in the next carriage vomiting and having diarrhea (some said it was altitude sickness; though pressurized and oxygenated, the artificial environment is fundamentally different from natural conditions, and some individuals react noticeably). So, if you're prone to motion sickness or worried, bring some motion sickness patches and various medications.

Worried about altitude sickness, we had many hesitations before departure. After much discussion, we decided to first stay in Lhasa for a few days to see how our bodies adapted. If all went well, we would plan further.

At 7 a.m. on July 7, we arrived in Lhasa. July and August are the rainy season across almost all of Tibet. Locals said this year's rainfall was much heavier than usual. When we got off the train, it was raining non-stop. The sky was just beginning to lighten, and dragging a lot of luggage made things awkward. We took a taxi to the hotel. In Lhasa, many taxis are shared rides, picking up other passengers along the way (even more so in Shigatse). DiDi works here too, but it takes a while to get a ride. In Shigatse, I even tried hailing five or six vehicle types at once and once waited over six minutes for a car.

The driver told us that in July, sunrise in Lhasa is around 7 a.m. and sunset around 9 p.m. Rain usually falls at night, and as the sun gradually rises, the rain stops, leaving clear skies and sun so intense it peels your skin. Definitely use sun protection! o(*￣︶￣*)o

In the following days in Lhasa, I literally experienced spring, summer, autumn, and winter all in one day—from short sleeves to sweaters. If you're visiting, it's wise to pack clothes for all seasons.

We stayed not far from the Potala Palace. Actually, the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple are on the same road: Beijing East Road, about 2 kilometers apart.

You can also stay near Jokhang Temple, where the commercial area is bustling, with plenty of shopping malls and supermarkets, and the architecture is very characteristic of the region.

We went straight to sleep at the hotel—the rest on the train wasn’t great. In the afternoon, the weather cleared, so we strolled around the Potala Palace Square.

In the evening, thinking of getting some supplies, we visited a supermarket and were constantly reminded that we were on the plateau. Lhasa sits at 3,650 meters, and many puffed snack packages were bulging like that. I remembered a passenger on the train whose Lay's chips bag burst open. So, this time, I swapped all tube skincare products for jarred ones and didn't fill them completely to avoid overflowing or spurting.

After a night of headache on the train, I adjusted with catch-up sleep, and by the afternoon at the square, I felt much better. Another night's rest later, though I wasn't bouncing around as at sea level, daily activities were no problem. My buddy felt he might have caught a chill at night, so he took some Ganmaoling (cold remedy) as a precaution. On the plateau, never catch a cold—it can easily lead to altitude sickness, and altitude sickness plus a cold can progress to pulmonary edema and such.

Lhasa has many pharmacies with comprehensive medicines, and delivery is available. The living facilities are complete and mature. Our whole trip, despite minor hiccups, went relatively smoothly and cautiously. We took Gaoyuan’an (altitude sickness pills) every day, though I can't say they were effective—more like a psychological comfort. What worked was glucose powder, which I mixed with boiling water and carried in an insulated bottle every day. At an altitude of 3,650 meters, it's no exaggeration: each additional flight of stairs can be a different story. Also, I don't recommend immediate oxygen use; our hotel didn't supply oxygen either. If things got really bad, we'd go to the hospital. Once you start oxygen, it's hard to break free. If possible, bring a blood oxygen saturation wristband or something to monitor; it's safer.

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On July 8, we gradually set out. That day we visited Norbulingka and the Tibet Museum.

Norbulingka is the summer palace of successive Dalai Lamas, essentially a garden, with many transplanted flowers and plants. It is the largest man-made garden in Tibet.

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The Tibet Museum and Norbulingka are neighbors, just a road apart. Actually, a better order would be to visit the museum in the morning, and in the afternoon, when the sunlight is good, go to the garden for better photos. But we were afraid of the sun, so we did the opposite.

The Tibet Museum was first completed and opened in 1999, expanded in 2016, and reopened in 2022. It has three floors in total.

The first floor mainly covers Tibetan folk culture, and the second floor focuses on Tibet's history and development. The third floor supposedly has some shops; only one was open, selling coffee and drinks, with an observation deck offering views of the Potala Palace. If you're not in a hurry, you can grab a drink, sit on the deck, and gaze at the Potala Palace.