Shangri-La

After sleeping in (and showering) for the first time in days, David and I go out into Shangri-La and make it as far as Sean’s Cafe No 2. Daisy, who runs the place is an amazing character and cooks a great Shaksuka (Israeli dish).

After pancakes and coffee, we learn of Daisy’s (and her daughter’s) fondness for marijuana seeds. In Shangri-La it is illegal to grow marijuana, it is illegal to sell marijuana leaves, but it’s fine to sell the seeds, which are often added to yak butter tea.

We eventually make our way out to the monastery, a mini Potala Palace (Tibet’s huge monastery), using a route explained to us by Jules and her husband (who I met the night before starting the Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek). We take a wrong turn and arrive at the ticket counter, decide not to pay the exorbitant prices (even with a student discount), double back and find a track through the mountains and a Tibetan village.

After herding livestock for some distance, we come across a local artist.

Eventually, we find the side door to the monastery by following a monk on a motorcycle.

From here we see the monastery itself.

The view from the monastery isn’t too shabby either.

In the evening, we once again bump into Jules and her husband while they’re talking to Shaun and Vicky (from the group I’d met on the train between Kunming and Dali). Shaun and Vicky are on their way home from their holiday, while Jules’ husband rewards me with a new snow jacket as he just replaced his.