I'm always interested in religious images like this one. To me, it looks so similar to paintings you would see in a European church built in the middle ages. This photo was taken at the Pelkor Chode, the buddhist monastery in Gyantse.

I really needed a shower when we left Everest Base camp, and couldn't wait to get to our next destination, Gyantse, a nine-hour drive away.

Little did I know that almost the entire town of Gyantse had been torn up. We had heard a few comments from travelers that Gyantse was a "mess," but we didn't realize that meant that all roads had been dug up, and that recent rains had turned the town into a mud pit.

We got over it, though, when we realized our hotel had piping-hot showers. It was the best shower of my life.

The next morning (day 6 of our adventure) we decided to go to the monastery in town, the Pelkor Chode Monastery, a quick walk by open sewer pits and slippery walkways through the mud.

At that point, I know I was feeling a bit of monastery fatigue -- we had seen quite a few at that point. But I have found that despite their similarities, all monasteries and temples had something unique to offer. The view from the top of the Pelkor Chode was one of the best I had seen. In the distance were green and yellow fields framed by the mountains. The old town is nestled directly below the monastery. And from the roof, we could see the dramatic view of the Gyantse dzong, or the former seat of the Gyantse government.

The Gyantse Kumbum is one of Tibet's most famous structures. It's a huge stupa that winds upward, with small shrines located on each of the Kumbum's four sides. We were very tired when we climbed the Kumbum, and I have to admit we lost interest in the shrines after circling the Kumbum twice. After that we just climbed to the top to get a look at the view.

That night we decided to head back to Shigatse so we could skip the mud pit in downtown Gyantse. Our 22-year-old driver, Noregay, invited us to go to the "disco" with him (and his two girlfriends). We couldn't pass up the opportunity to see our driver in action, so we went.

Not surprisingly, the disco was not a disco at all -- it was more like a dance extravaganza where visitors don't dance, they watch dancing. There were the four girls in long skirts and shirts with extra-long sleeves (for that flowing effect) shaking their booties on stage, along with two men, who sang Chinese songs with fervor.

But the highlight of the night was the dancing yak. Yes, the dancing yak. The yak was actually two men in a yak costume that hopped around stage. Often times the back end of the yak didn't know what the front end was doing. Halfway through the yak's performance, it wiggled itself through the audience, and when it saw us, the man inside yelled out, "Hello! How are you?!"

To Judy and I, who have been in China for two years and one year, respectively, the whole spectacle was so Chinese. The singing and dancing "minorities." The costumes. The bad singing. It was so bad it was funny. But the audience was entirely Tibetan, and they were totally into it.

So we sat in our seats and watched, and at about midnight, I started to get sleepy. When we got back to our hotel, the gate was locked, and we had to bang on it until someone opened the door. At the same time, our cab driver was trying to get us to pay 50 yuan for the ride, about five times more than I would pay in Hangzhou. We gave him 5 yuan, and after much protesting, he left very pissed off at us. (HE was the one trying to rip us off, so I don't know why he was so pissed).

From Shigatse we started our 8-hour trip back to Lhasa at 8:30 am. We only had a few problems with the car on the way back -- no brake fluid and a rattling tire -- which didn't take as long to fix as it sounds like it would. The roads were much worse on the way back because of a rain storm that started the night before and was still going when we were on the road.

When we arrived at Lhasa, we four girls were very sad to say good bye to Noregay. He had become part of our trip. But he seemed anxious to go home.

The population of Lhasa seemed like it had tripled since we had been there a week before. The Barkor, the circuit around the Jokhang Temple, was packed with pilgrims. We were also surprised (and saddened) to see that a Dicos (a Chinese fast food chain) had begun construction of a new franchise right in front of the Jokhang temple while we had been gone. The huge orange sign is such a shock in front of such an ancient structure.

Judy, Jacqueline, Valeria and I met up for one last meal before we went our separate ways.

Although I was sad to leave such an interesting place, I was also tired, and ready to go back to Hangzhou.