to the road, so we stopped to take some pictures, and were accosted by loads of Tibetan youngsters with baby goats in their arms demanding money for photos!!! We concentrated on the mountain and made a hasty getaway, and stopped for lunch at a Chinese buffet, which was a tasty little snack!

After lunch we drove on through some great scenery - it was becoming clear that Tibet was not just about super high snow peaked mountains, but the lowland was really stunning as well. We drove down into a valley, where there was a huge reservoir, it was just like being in a rally - our driver was definitely no slouch!! As we were driving up the other side of this valley, on a road with a big drop down to the reservoir on the left hand side, we heard a loud rhythmic hissing noise and thought “uh-oh!” The driver never even flinched, and stopped the land cruiser to change our punctured tyre, 20 minutes

later and we were good to go. At this point, rather puzzlingly, the guide announced that we had made really good time, and would be carrying on to Shigatse, rather than stopping in Gyangse as planned. We stopped in Gyangse though, and had a look at the fort and monastery from the outside, as the entrance fees to the monasteries were not cheap, and to be honest we’d seen a few of them and with all due respect, they do all look the same on the inside, even Eric had said so!! Thankfully the road to Shigatse was tarmac, and before long we had checked into a very nice, if a little pricey room!!

After a bit of a walk round town, we had some dinner in, wait for it…….Greasy Joes Café!!!! In fact it was more of a Chinese café that did really cheap breakfasts as well! The Chinese food in these little cafes is in fact some of the best Chinese food we’d had. Trouble is, it’s all based on Yunnan