My first ever photo from an aeroplane.  I practically had to sit in the lap of the elderly Tibetan man in the window seat to take it

My only excuse is that I hadn't seen the sun since we left home 

Note to self, book a window seat on next Himalayan flight

Nyetang Drolma Ladhuang shrine festooned with white prayer scarves at a stop your guide will make on the way from the airport into Lhasa

When flying into Lhasa the "Land of the Gods" on the "Roof of the World", you will be advised to take things very easy for a day or two.  Even to the extent of not using up precious energy talking.  Well...with the Potala Palace just a short walk away who could resist taking a stroll?  Not me.                        

                                                      The Potala Palace and Square

Construction  began in 1645 in the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama 

8500 workers, craftsmen and artists laboured to build the white palace followed three years later by the red palace 

It escaped major damage during the Tibetan uprising and again in the 1960's and 70's when Chou En Lai is though to have intervened to prevent it's destruction by Red Guards

 An area of narrow streets and a huge modern square in the center of the old heart of the city where spiritual and commercial go hand in hand.  It surrounds the Jokhang, Tibet's oldest and holiest Buddhist temple

Pilgrims come from all over Tibet to perform Kora by making a walking circumambulation of the temple

Winter was coming and there were plenty of skins to line the distinctive long sleeved Tibetan chuba overcoats.  At the request of their Dalai Lama they are avoiding the use of fur, particularly from endangered species