Discovering Tibet: Challenges, Cultures, and Altitude Sickness

Traveling to Tibet, a restricted region, requires special permits, altitude medication, and a guide at all times due to its high elevation and unique cultural experiences.

### Discovering Tibet: A Journey to the Roof of the World
* 🏞 Traveling to Tibet, one of the most restricted regions for Western travelers, requires **special permits and a guide at all times** due to **political sensitivities**.
* 🏔 The high altitude of Tibet, averaging **4,380 meters (14,000 feet)**, poses a real risk of altitude sickness, with **medical evacuations not uncommon**.
* 🏯 Visiting Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and exploring its monasteries, including the Sera Monastery where monks engage in **debates**, provides a glimpse into Tibetan Buddhism and culture.
* 🤒 Altitude sickness affects one of the travelers, Michael, forcing him to **stay in the hotel** while the other, Josie, continues exploring with their guide, Bakor.
* 🕌 The Jokhang Temple, considered the **holiest in Tibetan Buddhism**, showcases **centuries-old traditions and rituals**, including circumambulation and offerings.
* 💼 The travelers express gratitude for their guide, Experience Tibet, who provides support, including **oxygen tanks**, and helps navigate the **cultural and logistical challenges** of traveling in Tibet.
* 👥 Despite the political controversies and restrictions, the travelers are struck by the beauty of Tibet, both in its **natural landscapes** and the **warmth of its people**.
* 🐂 In the next part of the journey, the travelers will venture into rural Tibet, meeting local families and experiencing the **unique culture and scenery** of the region.

today, I'm traveling to one of the most restricted regions for Western Travelers in the world, Tibet. As a unique part of the world where not only am I required by law to have a guide at all times, as a non-Chinese resident, I must also be granted special permits from the Chinese government to even visit the region and to move through frequent military checkpoints. Yes, this is a controversial region. You can do your own research to make your own conclusions on this, but me, I'm not a journalist. I'm not here to break a story. I'm here to discover cultures, especially those perceived as a threat, and share them with you. To add to all of these challenges, Tibet is the highest region on Earth. We're on the roof of the world with its average elevation of 4,380 M or 14,000 ft. Altitude sickness is a real concern. I'm out of breath, and medical evacuations are not an uncommon occurrence. So with this in mind, I travel to unan Province to acclimatize.

start anti-altitude medication and prepare for this epic two-part series discovering Tibet. So this is our altitude sickness prevention Chinese medication. We have to take two to three times a day, and I'm not going to lie, it's pretty rough. It doesn't taste the best. It's not good. They are our permits to get into Tibet. Nervous but also excited. Nervous about being sick. Okay, I am a little bit nervous. I don't think I've ever been anywhere with a high altitude or anything like that, and I don't know what to expect. But I know that this is probably going to be the trip of a lifetime, and I'm really excited to see something and some things that I've never seen before. So not only do we have to get a permit to come here, but we can't be alone by ourselves. We have to have a guard with us at all times, and I'm really excited for the adventure.

plane. I don't know how I'm going to feel when I get there sickness wise, um, but I guess we'll find out. Three-hour journey. I have never seen anything like this before outside of a plane. [Music] Wow. S here. S here. All right, we are here. So nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Sorry, I'm so excited. It's okay. Yeah. I'm a senior, senior high school student. Nice for an people know that all China is very good, but you want to go to LA? Yes, I want to go LA and Garden States. Wow. Yeah. Steph carry. Yes, sport. Yes. So can you play basketball? Yeah, I play basketball every day, almost every day. Really? Yeah, that right. Wow. Bye-bye. Just, oh, bye-bye. Have a good, have a good. You too. I will. We'll see you next time we're here and it's already. I can feel it super cold. I think we have someone waiting for us. I think we have to go. How are you feeling? I'm already sort of.

feeling shortness of breath hey really. I knew I'd be more of a risk than you would but let's see how we are in about 2 hours. Hello, how are you? Good, J, right me door yeah so okay this is the welcome ceremony in Tibet. Thank you for welcome, welcome to Tibet. Thank you so much. How's our journey? Yeah, good, very pretty mountains. It's not that yeah it's not that cold it's really nice weather and I see all of the mountains that we flew over on the way in just outside here. It's absolutely stunning to see in person. What did you say? Where are we roof of the world roof of the world. Yes, yes, yes. Wow, I've never seen anything like this. Have you have you been no close up upon arrival in Lassa? I was mostly nervous about starting to feel sick from the sudden rise in altitude. Gooda and B Josie and Michael we met our guide back door and we jumped

in the car to start the hour-long trip to the city, the landscape was large, overwhelming, and beautiful. Michael had already started to feel the effects of the altitude. There was no gradual acclimatizing. We flew straight into Lhasa, immediately increasing altitude to over 3,700 M, meaning we were smacked in the face with less than half of the amount of oxygen usually required, and the risk of sickness and hypoxia. Marry man, the problem I'm having right now is that I don't know if this is me having symptoms of altitude or if it's me having a wild panic attack over the thoughts of symptoms, 'cause if I do get bad symptoms, you essentially have to be medically evacuated out of here into a lower, you get on the next flight out, basically. So that's a lot of, that's a big thing to happen. It's not like if you get mild symptoms, you lay in bed and you overcome them, but if the symptoms

get bad it's it's an emergency you have to go. Mom, if you're watching this, I love you and I wasn't holding that for a friend, it was mine. What? But we were crash back to reality after going through our first military checkpoint while Michael's struggles with the altitude started to worsen. Okay, we checked into the hotel, usually having the first whole day to acclimatize. We chose instead to head to the monk we are in our hotel room here in Tibet. Got two twin beds, got a place to sit, got a coffee table, a desk, a bathroom, and a fridge. We have about an hour. We've been actually presented with the opportunity to go see the monk debates, which is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We have to leave in about an hour, so I'm hoping that we both don't feel or get even sicker. This is, I never thought I'd be here in my life. It's awesome. So, we're here at this monastery and we're here to watch the monks.

debate. Thank you. Oh, thank you. How are you going? I'll be able to do this, but I think I'll feel it tonight. Yeah, you are. Hi, hi, hi, hi. Hello. Thank you. You too. Hi. Nice to see you. Excuse me, can I take a photo with you? Yeah, yeah. [Music] Hi. We are seeing so many little kids, and they are so cute, and they're coming up and saying hello. They're not shy, honestly. They're really brave. Um, a few of them said something and then ran away. Oh, she. I just got a photo with this lovely, lovely girl here. She asked me for a photo. Insert picture here. So, this Monastery, okay. They have 5,500 monks, but sometimes used to be 10,000s. Oh, okay. So, lots of the monks, they come from different regions of Tibet, come here for studies after they graduate from this Monastery. Okay, then they go back to their local Monastery to teach what they learn in this Monastery. They learn here and they'll

teach it when they go back home, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and they stay here for 20 years, yeah, yeah, yeah, 15-20 years, yeah. Oh, wow, they're all just sitting around like that. Okay, that's not what I expected. CL head if is I finish my question, then you can give me the answer, yeah. It's like a question mark, right? So the one who is standing is asking the question, question, yeah, for the sitting one, yeah. Then sitting one, okay, they give the answers. The main aim is to say is to get Nana, which is en, yeah. This is the highest point, you know, which we hope to get the new the Nana or Enlightenment, okay. So if these men are monks but you're not a monk, do you choose to be a monk or not, yeah? Of course, yeah, the monk population is fixed right now. They have 300 monks, maybe one monk pass away, you have. That's interesting, I didn't know that, know so.

very special to be here as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can't come here unless you have a guide and you're with someone. So, um, I had this gifted by experience tobet, and I couldn't have done it without them because obviously like they organized our permits to even be here. Um, they've gotten us into all of these things, and we have a really cool like six days ahead of us. And you can do it too, I believe. So, and I'll put all that info in the description bar as well. So, if you're planning to come to Tibet, I definitely highly recommend them. I've already had a really good, really, really good time with them and a really funny guy too. Hello, how are [Laughter] you? Oh, okay. What's your name? [Laughter] I want FaceTime with someone. [Music] Hi, Michael's feeling very sick. He was up all night, um, throwing up and not feeling that great. So, he's going to skip this morning. I think the altitude

sickness kind of got to him a bit, but I think most of it happens in The First 48 hours. Is that right? That's right, so he should should be kind of okay. I'm hoping tonight and tomorrow. Did you know that in my country, this is where the driver sits, as India? This is freaking me out. I feel like I have to [Laughter] drive the shakim Buddha, the Buddha Buddha, yeah. Buddha. He was gr and he was in Laden. He was pass away in this. Oh, that's for us. Okay, this this month is a special month. Is this how high we are? Yeah. So 3,000, uh, 600, yeah, 654 m w. Monastery is the home of the 7,700 monks, 7,000, 700 months once. Okay, means wait once or now once. Yeah, once. I think he has to check my my permit and everything with them while he gets the tickets. I'm pretty sure, but I'm going to wait for him on the other side after I go through.

security. Wow, it kind of feels like yesterday. This um, same decoration up on the roofs and stuff on the ceiling feels like the one we saw uh with the debating monks. Some gu sometimes they bring the incense at their homes. Some um, they buy from at here. Oh, incense, yeah, that is the incense, okay met by the Juniper Jers. Yeah, so they put the incense burner, you know, they put the incense in incense burner. So before they put the incense in incense burner, okay, they make wish, the smokes go to the heaven, the smoke go to the Nana. Okay, we believe the smoke, the smoke bring your wish to the Buddha side. Bakor started to explain to me in detail a lot about Buddhism. He explained the six Realms of Tibetan Buddhism with each simple painted different colors to represent the god, the human, the demigod, the animal, the Hungry Ghost, and Hell. Prayer wheel, pray whe, so you make, you make a you.

pray and then you and then you they turn clocks, always clocks. Okay, clocks, yeah, clocks, clock, yeah, so that's this way, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so in every Monastery you can see the PR whe and some also the local people. Okay, they, uh, they take the small one in their hands. It's turn in clockway. We got hand PR well. Okay, yeah, okay, the pray well is for the elite reg people. Oh, really, people, they cannot read and right, you know, because someone, okay, they want to recite it, you know, there someone, they want to write some Mantra but they cannot read. So that's way, okay, they put the lots of the skit inside the whe and they turn in clockway. It's similar, it means, okay, you recited the Mantra. All right, we're walking by. I just wanted to show you this view from the monastery. It's stunning. I asked him in the car if he's gotten used to seeing all these mountains now and he has because he's obviously

from here, but are you used to seeing the mountains? Now, yeah, yeah, yeah, I am not and looking out and seeing beautiful mountains like this, like every literally everywhere you look, is not something that I see every day, and certainly is for me what feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience because never seen anything like this. I'm a bit short of breath. I think it's more so that I'm unfit rather than the altitude, to be honest with you. Um, if you don't know, I broke my back a few years ago, so um, recovering from that, it makes climbing or stepping upstairs quite difficult. There we've got a little bit more up here. I'm sure I'll make it. As you know, like coming to this region, the thing that you do is the monasteries and some of the climbing and things, and while that's challenging for me, I'm still going to try. Strong smell from butter, butter, butter, yeah, because they

do I see butter offering see that but larm here okay so the local they bring the liquid butter in the Tas okay then they do the offerings you know yeah they put the butter in the butter why why why butter the butter yeah it's one offering yeah it's one kind of the offerings so that's where in Bud country okay we do different offering you know we do the offerings some you can see that some they offer the food over there some they leave some the cake so they sometimes okay they change the small monies you know the small monies okay they do and they put the small monies in this box you know for donation or for offerings so the people sometimes they do the water offering see that oh yeah water the water offerings they come to here this was the um only Chapel I can film in so I thought I'd show you a little bit more of it because I

can't show you the ones I think that we're going into after this as we left the chapel back though started to discuss death in Tibet and the unique way the locals traditionally deal with this wait hold on you Cho the body up yeah yeah what yeah yeah really yeah yeah chop the bir and give the W you know the like big birds right and they eat it yeah yeah they eat it yeah why do you because because know how to say why okay we do that because know interet okay lots of vultures because of the mountain you know they have lots of V living in in Tibet but uh because of attitude we don't have that much white life they have much wild that's why will not use our bu to feed them maybe they will die hungry and you're okay with with feeding them with your body yeah yeah yeah yeah wow that's where you know in Tibet but Tibetan people they think this is the

most you know how to say the most Holly thing. The people they do though after we died, yeah, yeah, the most important thing. That's why I told you 80% of people we do though, you know, that's not um, it's very different to our culture, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right, yeah. So he just told me with the sky burial option of when you pass in Tibet, it doesn't matter how much money you have, if you're rich or you're poor, it's, it's free to do that. It's, it's free, um, for you, you don't have to pay for like a cremation, you don't have to pay for a grave, it's free for you to give your body for the animals, uh, to eat. Oh, this way, okay, it's the hard stairs, okay, thanks for that, the yak hair, yeah, the yak hair, yeah. Oh, it is so, it's the sun, know you can see the small hole. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so

if it's ruin, okay, they closed the hole. And okay, it's also the waterproof, really. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the N. Oh, it's like Co, yeah, yeah, yeah, so the N. Ttin, okay, they use the same materials. So when it's sunny, you know, you can see through. Wow, Yaks are awesome, yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, do they die? Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, they, every year, they cut the hairs. Oh, okay, good, yeah, all right. I felt bad, right? So we're just about to head into this uh Chapel or um part here, but I can't film, so I'm going to walk through um and describe it after for as best I can, but obviously I'm just going to respect uh the local rules and culture, so I'm not going to show you inside um, but it's quite a large building from the outside, so it was pretty much like the first Chapel but really, really, really, really big. There's all different colors like you see on the outside over there and lots of different

kinds of um beings and entities and protectors, and colors, and offerings, and things, but also you know you can see the most, most of the monastery, the walls, okay they pained the white, yeah it means, okay, the white represents the compassion, that's way, you know that the compassion is the basic needs for the humans, you know, yes, uh, well I myself I'm not Buddhist, I feel like there's a lot of things that we can take away from Buddhism, like compassion for other people that often isn't kind of done by lots of people, and the second we needs the wisdom, that's okay, use right in the roof, you know, that's way it means to get enlightenment, okay, The Compassion is the basic key, the most important things are literally vertical, like I don't know how to show you, they're literally vertical stairs, I understand I'm not at my healthiest that I've ever been in my life, but having a broken back in the past, it's a little bit tough.

all right, so we are just heading out of another um place where I can't film. There was a monk in there, and I find it very interesting looking at the offerings. There's currency from all around the world. Honestly, I understand that I can't take photos, but I wish I could show you. Saw some things that I probably wouldn't have expected to see, which would be like Starbucks little Frappuccino cups for offering, which probably definitely did not happen back in the day. And then a little WeChat payment as well, so if you don't have cash, you can do WeChat, but it's just funny seeing how the world evolves over time because now those things are available, but you know back when this uh religion and belief started, there wouldn't have been Starbucks or WeChat. So it's interesting to see the evolution. So we've just come out of this um hallway in there, which is where they make the food. The monks are in there making tea and like little cakes. I tried one. It was

actually really good. It was um very very sweet. They put like sugar um and barley and what was the other thing in that cake to T to is like a holy cake, holy cake yeah, and it was actually really good. I liked it a lot, very sweet. Um and then they come into the Assembly Hall where they feed the 400 monks that are that are here. I'm not sure I can film in here either. Hold on, it's very hard to show you but I'm trying my best. Can I film in here? Oh, okay, no no no, okay hold on, be right back. All right, we've just come out of all of the Chapels, all of the places that they pray and um give offerings and money. And I saw lots of like gold, lots of copper. He was saying that um you can find Copper quite um readily in in Tibet um in the region. So a lot of the um things that they use to drink tea, tea or make the

tea or keep the tea or anything like 
that is made of copper but wow this is crazy. I love peaches. It's telling me that interet 
only grows basically peaches and apples, which are two of almost my favorite fruits. Sir, also you 
can see the beautiful leg, yam leg. Yeah, also you can see the mountains, snow mountains, uh, and very 
beautiful glasure in the next one. So subscribe cuz that's going to be a crazy journey. We're going 
to go up into the mountains. Would you call it rural mountains of Tibet? Yeah, yeah, yeah, rural 
mountains of Tibet. So we're going to get out 
of Lassa City, and we're going to head into rural 
parts, which will be absolutely crazy. Um, and this is Experience Tibet. So they're obviously you can't 
come here without a guide. So they're taking us 
all around to these really cool places. We wanted 
something super local, and oh, I went to get in this.

side because that's where I the passenger side. The car's backwards for me, so now I'm going in this side, but yeah, thank you, thank you to experien to bet because I I think that's going to be such a good and really cool experience um, so subscribe it'll be the I think in the next video. All right, done for the day, yeah, so that's it. I have to kind of go home now and check on Michael. He's been very sick um from the altitude, so I'm going to go see how he's going. Yes, thank you, welcome. It's a big point to keep hydrated, right? Yeah, yeah. What tips would you give to someone coming to Lassa or toet um, especially with the altitude? What would you tell them to do the first things don't take shower, which I told youest take showers, drink more Waters, lots of water, yeah, keep warm, yeah, keep warm, special evening at the morning because the L the temperatur balance. I wasn't allowed to film in

the Chapels up there but all of the little kids were like hello hi goodbye and they were so friendly and like outgoing. Um, I don't I I for some reason expected um a lot of people to be shy um and they are but a lot of the kids if they know like two three words of English will like yell out to me on the street or say hello when they're in the in the monasteries or anything like that. And it's really really cute. They're like kind of outgoing um and yeah just say hello and then goodbye. It's very very cute, very friendly, very friendly people. All right so I've just gotten back from the monastery and I'm just going to check on Michael before we do anything else. Um, he's been here resting. Um, our guide luckily gave us um some oxygen tanks. Feels like I've had a really hectic hangover like a really heavy headache and then I feel like nauseous and sick and then as some of

you all know when you hung over like in a bad way, if you like roll or you think of the wrong food or you like eat the wrong thing or everything feels like you're going to throw up all the time but you threw up last night a lot, didn't you? Yeah, up and down throwing up. We're seeing a couple of. I have to check what we're doing but we're seeing um the biggest Palace bigger than the monastery we saw today. I hope I'm good enough. I want to. I missed out on so much. Yeah, like I want to do this so bad. I think the worst parts are in the first 48 hours, right? We'll see. We'll see. Okay, don't mind the room. We are trying to sort out our stuff but we've just got this delivered by our beautiful guide, um, very very friendly. Very friendly trying to help Michael feel um a bit better by getting some oxygen. I don't know if it's like an Aussie thing but my natural reaction is just to be like no I need

any help, don't make a fuss, all that sort of stuff. But um, like, this sucks. I hate this. I really wanted to be here and experiencing all of this. And like, I can't get across. I was saying to Josie earlier, if I had like a headache or cold, I don't have that sort of stuff when we travel. And I just power through and do things anyway. But like, my body can't do anything. It sucks. I'm going to be stuck in here, stuck on oxygen, while you're out seeing all these beautiful things. Give you to talk, yeah, don't talk, don't talk. But I will say also that seeing that he's brought in an entire oxygen tank for me to help me out tells me that they're going to look after us. Like, you gave me these as well, like the mouth oxygen, the easy ones, which gives me a lot of faith. I may not be able to do tomorrow's stuff, but as we move further up into the mountains, I'm going to have all this stuff at

my disposal because they're super prepared to look after you so I'm not going to miss out on the things that I really want to do which is go and see the villagers in the mountain one more. Pro tip for you, we had the air conditioner on last night in this hotel and it was actually the heater. They don't have aircon um so that's why we have a fan. Look honestly oh that was very that was very zoomed in my face. I'm really sorry about that um yeah we don't we don't do well without aircon so keep that in mind if you are coming it doesn't feel like it's doing anything it's just oxygen it's just easier to breathe that's the point it is you're right yeah I know I'm right see how this goes oh I just hit my toe on the bed ow we're starting this morning off walking through some of the local back streets the but from the Ys

no, yeah, which is what they gave in the palace yesterday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, what's this stuff, cheese, cheese, oh, cheese, cheese. Yeah, so this one we call the Rock cheese. Yeah, it's very hot. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's but it's very good for when you walking in the field, when you in the farm. Yeah, yeah, yeah, as a like a snack or yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you can sh in and you get more, you know, Waters, oh, more water. Yeah, yeah, because it's very hot, you know, it's like a rock, right. So this one is we called soft cheese, but this one's very good for okay when you mix, uh, to the Zamba, Zamba. Yeah, yeah, this is the yeah, wheat, the Bali, yeah, this one is the wheat. So this is our third of six days here in Tibet and um, now we're walking through these markets and subscribe cuz I've got another 3 days from the second half of this trip coming up, but we're in the oh, but is from the car because the

color is totally lighter. The other one was really 
dark. The last day of our time in Lhasa before we   moved into the Tibetan mountains allowed for a 
chance to stroll the streets of this beautiful   and busy town. A mix of Chinese tourists and local 
Tibetans, as well as a very, very heavy update. You   guys, if you've been watching Michael's kind of 
missed out on everything we've done so far 'cause   he's been a little bit, I think, altitude sick, but 
he's trying his best to be out here this morning.   Here he is. How do you feel today? I was really good 
until I come out. Yeah, I'm feeling a bit under the   weather again. That's okay. I can get through this 
morning portion and see some things at least. Does   this happen often for tourists? Yeah, yeah, yeah, very 
often, yeah. But I'm okay, I don't know. So now we're   going to the holiest Buddhism temple in the world. 
Oh, really? Hest Buddhism temple in the world, Jokhang.

okay J thank you nice to meet you oldest building 
in Tibet. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah from 7th Century. Yeah all   too bed from 7th Century. Also, of course, we have 
some chapel and uh some uh Palace but most are   they destroyed but this Temple is not destroyed 
that that's why this Temple is original from 7th   Century. W yeah that's way at least they have 
1,300 years history. Do I can I film in there? No, okay uh but outside it's no problem like 
yesterday. Yeah, wait what did you just say. I   think you're the weird one for having no reaction 
to this. We saw someone over there having oxygen   as well, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah hi this is the one 
of the most important. Let me tell him about the   Kora Old Town. I told you one St the people they 
walk around of the old town and after them they   come back to here okay then people they do the K 
in ch to purify your negative actions. Yeah, why why.

are they are laying on the floor. They have the 
more people. They do the pations, so it's depend   okay, some okay here okay you can see lots of 
local. I told some the of Thea, there coming   from outside of the lassas, yeah, they are coming 
from the country side, wow, so they are coming from   different ways. Some they walk from the home to the 
Lassa. Okay, there some there do the pations, pration   yeah, they pation from their home to the lasas. W 
yeah, way yeah all the ways sometimes said that   takes like a year, years, yeah, because the way, yeah, 
yeah, this all the ways to come wow hands okay, they   put in the pre gasture, yeah, yeah, okay, two Tums to 
the inside, it means no, I no me, yeah, so after then   okay, T your forehead and milk and chest, it means 
I respect Buddha from my body, from my speed, and   from my mind, then whole bir, they go down to the 
ground, it's very interesting to see this region.

of the world in the flesh to see the traditions of the people here still being carried out. Although seeing them honestly somewhat drowned amongst a different culture that is here now and coming to live and visit in droves. Jo means the statue of the Buddha. K means house. That's we call the house of the Joo. It means the house of the Buddha. That's what we call the Jan. So this Temple get built in 7th Century, yeah, 7th Century by 32nd king of Tibet. Actually, in Tibet, been 42 Kings. I'm being very honest, that was not an enjoyable experience, uh, on the inside. It was so packed full of people and just people like barraging their way through, like just pushing you out of the way. And I just, I hate that. It's like one of my biggest pet peeves is people pushing, just wait your turn. Honestly, after the temple, I was ready for some local culture and back door took us to

the best place possible for me, a local tea house. This is This Is My Jam, this is probably going to be one of my favorite things. You it here, yeah. Okay, this is really cool. Everyone is talking hi and such friendly people here. Honestly, except this guy. I think I scared him away. He moved, he's gone. Don't you think, um, the locals here have being really like fascinated and nice, been really, really Pleasant. Similar feeling to Brunei when people say hello to you 'cause they want to say hello to you, not 'cause they want something. It's really good. Like this lady, thank you, thank you, thank you. Just a threw a lot of money at you. There we leave the man in the table sweet tea. So this is the best tea house in laza. We got gju, yeah, the best. That's why so busy, yeah, yeah, yeah. So this tea house is open almost 40 years ago, waa, yeah, you love this tea, yeah, I really love it. This is going to be. Oh, you know what.

I could go even sweeter than that. Yeah, yeah. I think, um, I, no sugar in coffee for me, but sugar in tea. And, and uh, I can, if he's talking to me and he say hello, he's on the phone. Um, but this is, is nice tea. I think I like it even sweet. If you want to know any news, okay, you don't need to go look the newspaper or you don't need to look the TVs. You come here, he everything, you know everything. Yeah, I feel like this region just loves a good cup of tea, and they always kind of look like this in like the we're really able to get to know back door and see his culture fir hand. The tea house was a reprive from the rest of Lassa, which at times can be touristy, but there were no tourists from the mainland in here, just locals welcoming and friendly locals. I just want to point out that everyone has like a pile of their notes just sitting

on the table for me. I wouldn't leave my money 
just out on the table. Um, and everyone's doing   it, and it's easy for them to just give more money 
whenever she comes around to refill the tee. Hi, hi,   why she turn me on the back, it was so sweet. 
This is certainly one of the coolest things I've done. Hello. Oh, hello. Hi. This is the part where 
we say goodbye to Michael 'cause we're about to   climb up a palace. Hi, hi. Oh, what's this? That's 
nice, nice, nice. Good, good, good, good. I'm lost. Oh,   there you are. Hey, where we are heading to? Uh, 
Palace. It's our third and final day for this   video. We've said goodbye to Michael because 
um, he's still struggling with his uh altitude   sickness, um, and he's not feeling that great. 
Yeah, yeah, okay. You and me, yeah. Miss you, sure, okay, yeah. Can you Fe kind of how are you, how are 
you? Yeah, yeah, good, good. [Music] It's also nice.

exp it is so this is like the Tibetan ricka yeah, yeah. Okay, I guess we're taking a rickshaw, Tibetan style Rickshaw to the Palace. Thought we'll take a car, so this is a nice surprise. I'm good, how are you? How are you? Good, how are you? Thank you, thank you. Bye. The last stop of Lassa, something I have been dreading and heard so much about climbing while at almost 4,000 m above sea level. We went through a security check, something we had to do at every single site in Tibet so far. You know that permit I had to get, we were checked at every turn during our trip here in toet uh. Looks very, very big, um, bigger than you kind of think, like the whole thing, the whole building to me looks big, but I kind of like, oh, is it really that big? And then I have a look at these people climbing up the stairs that we're about to climb, and they look like ants, um, so that tells me that it's actually really, really, really, really.

big all this bit there this was built by the 15th 
fth Lama. yeah yeah in s 17th century. 17th centur   so original ones bu in the 7th Century. yeah but 
the after 1,000 years. okay then he rebuilt Palace.   Palace. yeah one of the his chief advis called 
okay for the Tomb of the dalama. oh that's his   tomb. yeah yeah the Tomb of the dalama. okay then 
so the letter dalama. okay build their own Tom and   they they build their own residence in the White 
Palace become this present site. okay I'm tired now. okay he's told me to start walk slowly. he's 
going to buy my tickets for me. that is another   really really really really really good thing 
about having a guide. um which you have to have   anyway to come to Tibet. but like I said earlier 
um this was gifted to me. I don't know if I made   that very clear. but this tour was gifted to me. um 
in return for making this video. so they didn't pay

me but um I highly recommend them. They've been 
oh God I'm tired already. I haven't gone very   far. Um but they've been super helpful for they 
provided us with the oxygen masks and oxygen   tanks when Michael's been sick with the altitude. 
Um so all that information is in the description   bar like I said earlier. Honestly I have to 
stop talking cuz this is already really really hard. So over there you can see 
one big b. So because it's too   white because it's not only the natural 
soil because we mix lots of the milk. Oh   really yeah that's why it's quite you 
know milk with paint. Yeah yeah yeah   yeah. Wow. Yak milk. Yak milk. Yeah say watch 
the next video subscribe. Oh no you tell them subscribe. You say to the people watching 
to subscribe and watch the next video. Oh   what do you miss the people who are watching 
this video. Yeah yeah yeah say you tell them.   Now watch the next video cuz I'll meet a yak 
you mean uh what we will see the yak right.

when we we see the app, will we? yeah, yeah, yeah 
yeah, of course, okay, of course, tomorrow, tomorrow in the way tomorrow, yeah, tomorrow, the way 
you can see the yak, wow, so luckily, sorry, I'm out of breath. Lu, there seats, kind of on 
the way up. Um, I'm getting quite, uh, short of breath. I'm just kind of doing a little bit, then 
sitting, doing a little bit, then sitting. It's not easy, but I reckon I'll be able to make 
it, unless it gets worse. Does it get worse, the half we do? yeah, yeah, we, the half, then 
I, I'll make it, I'll make it, let's go then, every Monastery, okay, the roof, okay, we use this 
kind of sticks, because it's very light. They can reduce, uh, the balance of the wall, you know, they 
reduce, yeah, and one that on it can protect the [Music] earthquake. Best to show you, he's going to buy another ticket, which 
I don't know why you have to buy two kinds.

of tickets like twice. I don't get it. Why is no one else purchasing tickets? I'm a bit confused. The hell are you talking about some traveling? Yes, yeah. I went to Shanghai, Beijing. Yes, yeah, yeah. Where are you from? Australia, yeah. What about you? Beijing. We live here. We live here, but we come from Beijing. Live here for three years. Oh, wow. It's very pretty. I like it here a lot. Yeah. How are you going with the climb? It's quite hard. Yeah. He's my brother. Your brother. Nice to meet you. What's your name? Kaka Joie. Nice to meet you. Wow, you're very inspirational. That's awesome. I can't believe. Yeah, yeah. [Music] [Laughter] Well, oxygen. Yeah, yeah. Get attitude problem or not. Oh, me. I'm good. Yeah, may, may. I'm with my boyfriend, my partner. He's sick in the hotel 'cause he's been altitude sickness for 3 days. Yeah, he can't come. We took that root.

as well from the uh Chinese medicine. I think the altitude drink. Oh yeah. Oh sweet delicious out should we keep going. Okay. Oh okay. Oh no. Nice to meet you and have a good day. Thank you. You too lovely to see you by okay. Oh this all right. I'm just hearing everyone like on the oxygen masks over here over there too much people in so far. I've done it without oxygen. I'm doing all right. I'm doing good excellent. Oh my goodness. The line to get into this joint is crazy. It's all the way down the stairs all the way around the perimeter back to where we just came in. I am smelly. I'm sweaty. This is this is actually you know what if there's no more stairs. I think I actually made it okay. I thought it would be a lot worse. Uh there you go maybe I don't need to go back to the gym that was half a joke's telling me after I got these stairs um from.

this platform can't take any photos or videos up there either so I guess I'll see you on the other [Music] side. We've just come out from exploring all the uh chapels upstairs. Couldn't fil Mone for you but there was so many sters and sters were just made of almost solid gold pretty much. Very beautiful in there lots of beings uh lots of things related to the Del Lama llamas I should say and uh yeah hard to it's so hard to describe to you um it's really something that I feel like you have to see um in person. I'm very surprised that I made it. I didn't need any Oxygen nothing so I'm I'm I'm surprised Without You Yeah from the top of the palace. I reflected on my first few days in Tibet. This part of the world is so notorious in international media and while I try to travel without the bias that the media might have shown me in the past. It was hard to ignore.

some of the obvious signs of confirmation that 
were before me, but what overshadowed all of this was the pure beauty of the place. Not just natural 
of which there was so much to take in, but in the people. I always say the best things to discover 
are not always the sights and sounds, but the new friends traveling somewhere new can bring to us. 
The people of Tibet were no exception, and despite the uncertainty that may surround them currently, 
curious children, happy locals, helped by learning a little bit of Tibetan sh made, treated to what 
was sincerely one of the most interesting places I have ever been. If you enjoyed this video, make 
sure you subscribe for part two, 'cause in the next video we'll climb high into the mountains of Tibet, 
exceeding 5,500 m in elevation, seeing Yaks for the first time. Yak hi cuties, meeting truly local 
Tibetan families living amongst the clouds, and taking in some of the most beautiful scenery that 
rivals anything else you have ever seen on Earth.

I Visited The Most Restricted Zone In China (Tibet)

josie lifts things

Exploring Tibet: A Challenging and Unique Adventure

Traveling to Tibet as a non-Chinese resident requires special permits and a guide at all times due to frequent military checkpoints.

The region's high altitude poses a risk of altitude sickness, making acclimatization and medical preparation crucial for visitors.

Despite the challenges, the experience offers stunning landscapes and unique cultural opportunities, such as witnessing the monk debates, making it a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

A Tibetan Monastery is a center for Buddhist learning with thousands of monks studying and teaching for 15-20 years before returning to their local monasteries.

The monastery is a place for spiritual growth, aiming to achieve enlightenment, with a fixed population of 300 monks.

Visitors to the monastery require a guide and permits to explore the stunning views and learn about Tibetan Buddhism, including the significance of prayer wheels in the practice.

A visitor is amazed by the breathtaking mountains in Tibet and struggles with the altitude due to being unfit from a previous back injury.

The local guide explains the traditional Tibetan sky burial practice, where the body is offered to vultures as a sacred ritual.

In Tibet, sky burial is a free option for everyone, regardless of their wealth or status, in contrast to the visitor's culture.

Tibetan monasteries use white paint to symbolize compassion and wisdom.

The offerings in the monasteries have evolved to include modern items like Starbucks cups and WeChat payments.

The use of copper in the monasteries is significant, as it is readily available in the region and used for making tea.

Experiencing Tibetan Hospitality and Health Challenges

Visitors to Tibet are struck by the friendly and outgoing nature of the local people, especially the children.

The effects of high altitude and potential health issues, such as altitude sickness, can significantly impact travelers, requiring oxygen and rest.

Despite health challenges, the hospitality and preparedness of the guides provide reassurance for visitors to continue experiencing the beauty of the region.

Exploring Lhasa: A Day in the Tibetan Capital

The day in Lhasa included a visit to the Jokhang, the holiest Buddhist temple in the world, dating back to the 7th century.

The experience of the crowded temple was not enjoyable, but it was followed by a visit to a local tea house, which was a favorite for the visitor due to the friendly and fascinating locals.

The tea house, in operation for almost 40 years, offered a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere, making it a memorable part of the Lhasa experience.

The region is known for its love of sweet tea, offering a cultural experience for visitors.

The local tea house provides a welcoming and tourist-free environment, allowing for an authentic glimpse into Lhasa's culture.

The video creator explores the Potala Palace, sharing the challenges of the altitude and the helpfulness of their guide.

Experiencing Tibet: A Journey of Beauty and Inspiration

Visiting Tibet's stunning natural beauty and meeting the friendly locals was a surprising and inspiring experience.

Despite the media's portrayal, the beauty of the place and its people overshadowed any preconceived notions.

The upcoming video will feature a high-altitude climb, yak sightings, and interactions with local Tibetan families, showcasing the breathtaking scenery of Tibet.