Shangri-La (Zhongdian), China
What a day!!!! Today will go down as one of the best vacation days ever.
We visited the Songzanlin Monastary and Shangri-La old town. We were supposed to travel to the national park but the weather was so good that our guide, Pelchin, took us to the top of one of the snow mountains instead.
The Songzalin Monastary was built in 1679 by the fifth Dali Lama. The architecture is the same as the Potala Palace in Lhasa. The views were stunning and the prayer spaces were beautiful – every square inch was packed with Buddhist art.
The old town was picturesque and filled with all sorts of interesting shops to entice the tourists. We were taken to an antique store filled with old Tibetan Buddhist religious artifacts. I saw a 300 year old tiger bone carving that was fascinating but I think that Canada Customs may not have liked it as much as I….
We then headed up Shika Snow Mountain. The town is located at about 3,000 meters (10,000 ft) above sea level and the cable car to the top of the mountain adds another 1,500 meters. On a clear day, you can see the snow mountain in Lhasa. As you might imagine the views were breathtaking…..and I mean that quite literally. It was very difficult moving around at that level which, to add insult to injury, was full of stairs. Luckily, I had purchased some oxygen at the nearby equivalent of a 7-11. I really needed the oxygen as I was short of breath, my fingers turned blue and I developed a headache – guess climbing Everest is not in my future! Where’s a Sherpa when you need one?
2GuysTravel 