Trip to the Potala Palace by Mark Sukhija

By: Mark Sukhija

14th July 2009

View of the Potala Palace from the stairs leading upView of the Potala Palace from the stairs leading up
Carving detail at the entrance to the Potala PalaceCarving detail at the entrance to the Potala Palace
Panoramic view of the Potala Palace seen from the Square oppositePanoramic view of the Potala Palace seen from the Square opposite

While in Lhasa, we visited the Potala Palace - one time seat of the Tibetan Government. It's long been a goal of mine to visit such an iconic building which I had seen many, many times in photographs and on the television.

We arrived at 08:30 in the morning for our 09:00 am entry. Climbing the 500 stairs to the entrance, where we would collect our tickets, was noticably more of a struggle than the equivalent at 3,000 meters above my usual altitude in Zürich.

Our tour took us through the Red and White Palaces as well as the private quarters of the Dalai Lama.

Visitor numbers are limited to 2,300 per day and 1 hour per visit.

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About Mark Sukhija

Mark Sukhija is a travel and wine blogger, photographer, tourism researcher, hat-touting, white-shirt-wearing, New Zealand fantatic and eclipse chaser. Aside from at least annual visits to New Zealand, Mark has seen eclipses in South Australia (2002), Libya (2006), China (2009) and Queensland (2012). After twelve years in Switzerland, Mark moved back to London in 2012. You can follow Mark on Twitter or Facebook