DAY 157 - Lhasa, Tibet

For our last day in Chengdu we had a wander around some sights (including a very peaceful if slightly run down monastery) then finished off at a local restaurant with a Sichuan delicacy - the hot pot. This isn't like Betty's hot pot from Coronation Street, it's more like a meat and veg fondue in a very spicy oil. It was very nice but I'd soon had enough. Bit greasy.

We caught the train that evening to Lhasa. It took two days to get there following a horse shoe-shaped route around the mountains, and climbing 3.5km up onto the Tibetan plateau. There was even an oxygen supply in case we felt light-headed. The only symptoms i had though was having to take unusually deep breaths every few minutes or so and an exploding deodourant bottle.

It's only taken a few days here to realise what a complex place Lhasa is. By day the sky is clear, it's warm and the sun's light makes colours more vivid and contrasts more striking. By night it's dark, very cold and a bit oppressive. This is not China, and yet it is. There are troops stationed on every street corner; 16 year old conscripts, balancing a baton round launcher on one arm while attempting to fiddle with their mobile phones in the other. All the streets have been renamed with Chinese names, the writing is mainly Mandarin, and there are the obligatory monuments to The Workers' Struggle sat amidst horrible concrete plazas.

But there is also the real Tibet. The Patala Palace, the one recognisable Tibetan landmark, is set on top of a large rock and looks box-shaped from the outside. Inside however, it's a labyrinth of rooms and corridors with wonky floors, wooden connecting ladders and Buddhist chapels. The colours are magnificent and the smell of incense and burning yak's butter is just the right side of nauseating. Most of the previous Dali Lamas are buried on the top floor, which has to be a first.

We've visited a few monasteries with our guide, most of which have been packed with pilgrims. They take their religion very seriously here. No photos allowed, alas, but one enterprising chapel would allow you to film for 85 quid. I declined.

The timezones around here are all a bit stupid and caught up in politics. Lhasa is on Beijing time (the 'people's time' as the communist mantra goes) so it gets dark (and light) 3 hours later than it should. India is 2.5 hours behind (why the half?). Nepal is 2.25 hours behind, just to make sure you don't confuse it as being part of India (apparently).