Julianne's Diary Day Ten-Tibet, Lhasa

The Potala Palace and the city of Lhasa.[Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]

The 7th Dalai Lama built the Summer Palace in the 18th century. It covers 36 hectres and contains two main temples. The 7th Dalai Lama constructed the first temple and the second temple was made for the 14th Dalai Lama in 1954. As with the Potala Palace the 'Lo Bu Lin Ka' garden is world heritage listed.

The vegetation and foliage are worth a mention and it's a beautiful place to come and relax, however followers of Tibetan Buddhism mainly come here to pay their respects to Buddha.

After a day of sightseeing there was time to head out for a little shopping at the famous Barkhor street market in the East of Lhasa. It was all too easy to get caught up in the thrill of bargaining and purchasing and before l knew it I was carrying around more things than I needed.

Obviously I've still got some way to go before I can denounce my materialistic ways and become a true Buddhist.

Tomorrow we head back to Beijing with great memories of what I can safely call a 'trip of a lifetime'. Special thanks should go to our drivers who kept us safe on some treacherous roads, the leaders of our group who ensured we were housed and feed each night and my CRI colleagues who made travelling at such close quarters a pleasure.

If you have the opportunity to come to Tibet, don't think about it, just do it.