Tibet was a place I had always wanted to visit but didn't think I 'd ever get there. I finally got the opportunity in May 2014 and it was a fantastic experience. I travelled with a group of travel agents and we spent 6 days travelling to Lhasa, Gyangtse and Shigatse. Lhasa is one of the highest capitals in the world at 3650m, however, we eventually travelled even higher to 5000m for a quick photo shot at the top of the world! We all suffered altitude sickness at varying degrees however the experience of visiting this amazing country was worth it.

Most of us suffered bad headaches which came on the day after we arrived and lasted til the end of our trip. The air only contained about 68% oxygen so we carried oxygen bottles, but didn't find it necessary to use them.

My first impression of Tibet as we arrived and travelled from the airport to Lhasa (approx 50 minutes), was that it reminded me somewhat of the South Island of New Zealand. The scenery is spectacular, yet it had a sense of barreness about it. It's a country of beautiful majestic, snow-capped mountains, sandy dunes, crystal clear rivers and pristine landscapes. The countryside is dotted with villages and farms where it's not uncommon to see Yaks drawing the ploughs. These beasts of burden are primarily kept for their meat, milk and fibre.

The people of Tibet seemed to be deeply religious and it plays an important role in their day to day lives where meditation and prayer are commonplace. I've visited a lot of temples in Asia, however, have never come across so much devotion as I did in Tibet. The highlight of our visit was the Potala Palace - the official winter residence of the Dalai Lama. We were required to climb 365 steps - very slowly due to altitude sickness and the need to conserve our energy, but the whole experience was so worth it. Not only the history of the palace but also the views.

We also toured the Da Zhao Si Temple which is the site of the Barkhor Circuit and is the holiest of Lhasa's pilgrim circuits. Thousands of pilgrims from all over Tibet come to walk the Barkhor every day. It can sometimes take 6-7 months to get to the Barkhor from their village and the reason it takes so long is because they take 3 steps and then fully prostrate themselves on the ground, get up, take 3 steps, then fully prostrate again - all the way! I've never known such devotion.

On our journey from Lhasa to Gyangtse we came across groups of elderly people walking along the side of the road, around a mountain. Our guide, Tenzin (who was a former Himalayan tibetan guide  and loved his cigarettes and Red Bull!), told us that they walked around the mountain every day. The trek would take about 6 hours and it was usually only the retired and elderly who did this as the younger people had to work.

At one of our stops high up on a mountain road, Tenzin told us about Tibetan funerals. There were two kinds - a sky (mountain) funeral or a river funeral. Most people chose the sky funeral and I'm about to relay something which I found a bit gruesome as this was something I had never heard about before. A deceased person's back would be carved with a Yundo (which looks like a swastika and means Peace and Love), their body would then get chopped into pieces and left for the vultures. Once the vultures were finished, the priests would pound the bones to splinters, mix them with barley flour and feed them to the crows and hawks.

Regarding the river funeral, Tenzin said that although some restaurants serve fish (for the tourists), Tibetans won't eat fish because the fish eat the flesh off the dead bodies in the river and if they were to eat fish, there's the possibility that they might be eating someone.

For even more details go to : hiking in tibet

We had the opportunity to visit a farm, owned by Tenzin's friend. It was a real treat to get an insight into a Tibetan farmer's way of life. They made clay bricks which they would sell, farmed the land and kept yaks, sheep and chickens. We were taken on a tour of their farmhouse and invited to drink butter tea and homemade beer. Their sleeping quarters also substituted as a sewing room where they made all their own clothes and wove their own blankets. One room was set aside as their own private temple.