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| Flavor of Tibetan Night Life |
Lhasa with its
3000 hours of unadulterated, unpolluted sunshine has just as beautiful a
nightlife!
Meaning the
"Place of the Gods", it is the capital of TAR, an acronym for Tibet Autonomous Region, which is the
southern-most part of the People's Republic of
China,. It is in the same region as the revered Mt. Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. When you intend to go for mount kailash yatra from Nepal, most seasoned tour operators, would
take you to Lhasa as a part of the circuit. Well, that is like hitting two
birds with one stone!
Situated at a
height of 3490 meters between the co-ordinates 29°39′N 91°07′E, it is one
of the highest cities in the world. Winter
climates dip to a low of −1.6 °C
(29.1 °F) in January and are in addition, dry. Summers are mild in
comparison to most of India at 16.0 °C (60.8 °F). Nights are a
cool 4.0 °C. It rains mainly from July to September with
most of the rains coming at night leaving Lhasa beautiful, clean and sunny
during the daytime. Lhasa is thus best visited between March to October.Day or night,
Lhasa is thus the perfect place to do the one thing most folks enjoy. Sight
seeing!
Spirituality is
what Lhasa is all about. Day time sees one being spiritual visiting the Potala
Palace, Jokang Temple, Barkhor Street and the monasteries. Night time ring in
the the spirits from the bottle! Also called tipple.
It is better to
err on the side of caution and go through seasoned tour operators when you
intend to visit Lhasa and time soon. Raghukul Holidays of Pune mention that it
is not cakewalk to visit Lhasa given the Chinese penchant for secrecy and it
should be left to their likes to arrange for your visit, stay and local
transport.
Its spiritual
side not-withstanding, the ruling government of today has to an extent opened
up the isolationist mind-set with a good mix of theaters, performers, bars and
restaurants. Despite these, it is still low-key when compared to established world cities with
things like live performances, sitting around a table with friends or strolls
through night markets making the trip memorable.
Tianhai Night Market with its Restaurants and street vendors is a place where
one goes to for food post sundown. Varied cuisines from all parts of China be
it Sinkiang Noodle with Sauce, Lanzhou Ramen, Sichuan Hotpot, Mutton Da Pai
Dang to name a few, line the street.
If you are game for some local cultural performances there are some like “The
Crazy Yak Troupe” which introduce you to Tibetan singing and dancing. They
entertain at a couple of venue in Lhasa, including the Crazy Yak Restaurant and
the Shangri La Restaurant. The show starts with a short performance on the
various aspects of the Tibetan Opera, carrying on with a drinking song where
everyone is encouraged to take part and culminates in a sketch symbolizing
nomads subduing and domestication wild yaks. A pantomime yak comes on stage and
appears to be wild before being restrained and he then walks round kissing
members of the audience. The show finishes with the nomad riding the yak.
Bars in Lhasa are attractive for their unique exotic flavors be it western, oriental, local or an exotic crazy mix.
Some of the place
worth a visit are:
Bars &
Tea Houses
5238
48 North Duosenge
Road, Chengguan District
Tel: 0891-6815222
Jianghu Bar
Facing Ya Hotel
(100 East Beijing Road)
Tel: 0891-6348158
Yangjinma Bar
In Danjielin
Bar-street, Danjielin Road, Chengguan District (near Jokhang Temple)
U.N.D.C Coffee
The east side of
the Potala Palace in East Kang'ang Road
Tel: 0891-6360971
Lhasa Spinn Café
The east of the
crossing for East Beijng Road and North Qingnian Road
Tel: 0891-6361163
U.B.C Coffee
Middle Beijng
Road, Chengguan District
Try the Tibetian
Butter Tea here!
Tibetan Family
Feast
Try the Tibetian
Butter Tea and Steamed stuffed buns made of potatoes and barley wine.
75 East Area,
Tuanjie Xin Village, Chengguan District
Tel: 0891-6332886
Take some time out of your busy schedule and give this beautiful city a visit that it deserves. So, Safe Journey & Happy Holidaying !!!
SOURCES :-
1) Wikipedia
2) TripAdvisor
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Please feel free to leave your comments below.
About Author : Amit Kulkarni is the founder of Raghukul Holidays
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