Since
Lhasa is 3500 metres above sea level, it took us a full 4 days to get used
to the oxygen level. The first night was the worst, because no matter
how much I tried to breathe, there seems no air around! So, we were trying
to compete for air in the room in Yak Hotel, with the technique of making
as much breathing noise as possible, with mouth wide open....
And all of us had different reactions to altitude sickness: I fainted; binni vomited, more frequencies than Meiling; Susien, Weiling and Xiaoling had headaches, with Xiaoling the latest to develop AMS, and I think it's her anxiety of not having any reactions to the altitude that caused the headache!!
So
we spent 4 days regaining our strength and preparing for the tough journey
ahead, exploring Lhasa after the 4WD trip.
The
top 2 must-see sights in Lhasa: the Potala .......
The
Potala has a total of 13 stories and will kill us if we were ever to climb
up the impossible hill up to the Palace!! Our kind shifu drove us up to
the entrance and saved us from completing the feat. The inside of
Potala is very very impressive but photography is not allowed, and so you
have to imagine the gold and jewels on the Bhuddist statues.
and
Jokang (plus the Bakhor) 
Jokang
is The Temple of Tibet, and devotees are seen outside performing the kneeling
rituals everyday. The circumference of Jokang is the prayer circuit called
Bakhor. People are supposed to walk in the clockwise direction, and we
did more than one round, because we kept going back to the Bakhor for souvenirs!!!
Needless to say, the Bakhor is swarmed with souvenirs and tourists.
Other sights...
