Endless Flight of Stairs at the Songzanlin Temple 松赞林寺
Maybe I was just trying to comfort myself when I can’t go to the Potala Palace, but it seems that the Songzanlin Temple was a good substitute to the original one which was too troublesome for me to visit. Considering that the temple is one of the most important and well known among the temples in Yunnan province, I was surprised there weren’t a lot more people here. Sure there were some tour groups here but they weren’t the type to annoy you yet. I guess other sites in Yunna such as Lijiang and Dali have more tourist appeal. It was just as well as I can enjoy the place more. The temple was built on the foot of some mountain so it slowly climbs up the mountain. This means I would need to do a little climbing.
Doorway on the Way Up the Songzanlin Temple 松赞林寺
Ever since I got here, I have been reminding myself to take it easy here. At an altitude of 3200 meters, the risk of altitude sickness is very real. It would be best to try to take it easy for the first few days before moving any higher. With this in mind, I was present the sight of a long flight of stairs going up to the main platform of the monastery. It took me a while to climb up the stairs making sure I don’t “overexert” myself. I hate climbing stairs and more so when I was not supposed to. It took me much longer to climb the stairs but it was okay since I was taking photos all the way. Sometimes you just need to enjoy the journey before you get to your destination.
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