Sonyaandtravis

LATEST ARTICLES ( 112 )

• Gyantse to Shigatse, Tibet – Tashilhunpo Monastery

  

  We drove about two hours from Gyantse to Shigatse, Shigatse is Tibet’s second largest city and the main attraction is Tashilhunpo Monastery. Read more

  Posted on 06 June 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Lhasa to Gyantse – Yamdrok-tso and Gyantse Monastery

  

  On the fourth day, now acclimatised to the high altitude, we left Lhasa and headed towards the Nepal border. The day’s sights would include Yamdrok-tso lake, tw... Read more

  Posted on 04 June 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Ganden Monastery Kora, Lhasa Tibet

  

  This monastery is located about an hour away from Lhasa. It was one of my favourite places, not so much because of the monastery itself, but its location. Read more

  Posted on 02 June 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• The Winter (Potala Palace) and Summer (Norbulinka) Palaces of the Dali Lama,...

  

  Norbulinka (Summer Palace)Norbulinka is known as the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lamas. We had previously watched the Tibet featured films Kundun and Seven... Read more

  Posted on 02 June 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Sera Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet – Debating Monks

  

  Sera monastery is a few kilometres from Lhasa. We headed there mid afternoon with the intention of watching the debating monks. Read more

  Posted on 25 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Lhasa, Tibet – Jokhang Temple and Drepung Monastery

  

  Jokhang Temple and Barkhor squareOur first day in Lhasa started with a visit to the Jokhang Temple, walking through the bustling Barkhor Bazaar to the Barkhor... Read more

  Posted on 23 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Xining, Qinghai to Lhasa, Tibet Railway, China

  

  From Xining we caught a train to Lhasa, Tibet province in China, we chose the hard-sleeper, and even though it was the most we had paid at 500 Yuan (plus 200... Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Qinghai Hu, Xining, China

  

  Xining is located in the Qinghai province, a region on the north-eastern border of Tibet. We decided to spend some of our time in Qinghai exploring the outer... Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Tian Chi (Heavenly Lake), Urumqi, China

  

  Tian Chi, also known as Heavenly Lake, is located about 150km away from Urumqi in the Tian Shan mountain range and is a popular a day trip from the city. Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Urumqi, China

  

  We caught a soft-sleeper train from Kashgar to Urumqi, a full day of travelling, as we had a room to ourselves the time went by fairly quickly. Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Kashgar, Livestock Market, China

  

  It was Travis who was very keen on visiting Kashgar. When faced with our dilemma leaving Kyrgyzstan, I suggested traveling straight to Urumqi and perhaps... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Kashgar Food and Uyghur Cuisine, China

  

  One of the nice changes was the change in cuisine, Kashgar has a large number of Uyghurn people which influences the cuisine. Uyghurs are an ethnic minority... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, FOOD & DRINK, TRAVEL

• Kashgar (Kashi), China

  

  Kashgar (or Kashi as we learnt when booking the airline tickets) is an important Silk Road city as it was the first major hub after travellers from China headin... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Karakol, Kyrgyzstan to Kashgar, China

  We left Karakol intending to spend the day traveling to Sary Tash, a border town roughly 100km from the Kyrgyzstan/China border, a 950km route that we thought... Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Altyn Arashan, Kyrgyzstan

  

  We awoke early the next morning and set off on our hike, taking a mashrutka (number 305) as far as we could, to a place called Ak-Suu Sanatorium, where the... Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

  

  After spending a few relaxing days wandering around Bishkek we traveled toward the Lake Issy Kol region, east of the capital. As we had arrived slightly early... Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Osh to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

  

  From Osh we headed to Bishkek, the road was described to be scenically spectacular so we hired a private driver for $100 which allowed us to stop along the way... Read more

  Posted on 10 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Osh, Kyrgyzstan and the Fergana Valley

  

  We arrived late afternoon in the town of Osh by mashrutka (minibus) from the border pass. We decided to stay at the Osh Guesthouse, a family run hostel located... Read more

  Posted on 10 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Uzbekistan Currency – The Strange Som

  

  The Uzbekistan currency, the Som, is quite interesting in a number of ways.Firstly, because of the instability in the Som and its high rate of inflation, the... Read more

  Posted on 09 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL

• Tashkent, Uzbekistan

  

  We arrived in Tashkent in the afternoon by a shared-taxi and went straight to the Kyrgyzstan embassy. We had made the mistake of not applying for enough time... Read more

  Posted on 09 May 2012 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL