Tashi delay :-)

Today we were going to go on an overnight cycling/ camping trip to some place high up, involving a large ascent over one pass or another :-) However the misfortune of my having a couple of nosebleeds during the night has prevented this from happening and instead we are going to go to the Sera monastery in a moment to watch the monks debate. Firstly though - we have been collecting various photos of people and "interesting" things around Lhasa - finally I have time to post them :-)

As always, eating is a great time of day for us, here are some more photos of us indulging ourselves - again!

I had eyed this "corn" ice lolly a number of times and K finally made the purchase for me. It was corn on the cob shaped - actually it just tasted like a vanilla ice cream with a wafer style corn shaped covering! Very bizzarre, the covering was the only thing that seemed to be corny about it.


Ah - here I am again about to indulge in a radish soup. It was fantastic, a clear soup with slices of radish/turnip - oh and the neccessary dried chilli peppers :-)


This is K's Yak burger - she quite enjoyed it and said that it tasted just like... a burger!


Ah now, Tibetan momos (small raviolis). My favourite version are vegetable with lots of chilli sauce. These momos were filled with apple, cinammon and raisin - YUM, needless to say, they all dissappeared.


This is K's response after taking a sip of Goodwood roast coffee with hot milk - she said that it tasted like yak (probably more yakky than the burger by the look of it :-)


Continuing with yak - every night each of the butchers has a yak meat delivery, this is what happens... An open topped flatbed truck pulls up (normally at dusk) and two people will grab an end each of an uncovered carcass and will then place it on top of some cardboard/ tarpaulin that is laid down in the middle of the street. The butcher will then make a cut to check the meat quality and the sale will then be agreed if the result is good. Then, the butcher will set about chopping up the carcass with an axe (fur and hooves still attached sometimes) - right in the middle of the walkway... :-)


...and this is how it ends up the next morning for sale... There are quite often many big fat flies buzzing around the butchers shop front so the owners will burn some juniper - this seems to do the trick and keep the flies to the minimum. Any of the flies that are left buzzing around are whipped away with something that looks like a piece of yak tail. Still, it is a lot better than what we saw in India :-)


Yak butter for sale in the streets near the Johkang.


We purchased some roasted sweet potato on the street. It had a fantastic taste having been cooked over coals.



Here is our favourite beer in Lhasa, it is called Stout Lodge...cheers! K says: it is really a black lager and not a real stout - it's a German recipe, as described on the label. This is a "premium" beer and it costs 18 Yuan at our favorite bar (the Danbala :) - that is just over 1GBP or just over US$2. We found a place that has Duvel!!! I know, AMAZING :) and they also have Boddingtons (and we did have one can each :) at the exhorbitant price of 38 Yuan a can (that is about 2.5GBPs or US$5). For comparison...Lhasa beer (the local brew) is 10-12 Yuan (under a Pound) in a bar/restaurant, or 4-5 Yuan if you buy it in the shop (about 35p or 75 cents :). Lhasa beer is a decent lager...it's drinkable :)