Our last full day in Lhasa (and Tibet). We took full advantage of the included breakfast at the hotel and spent the rest of the morning relaxing and strolling around the old part of town glancing periodically at the tourist trinkets and such on sale. At lunch time we said goodbye to Egle – great to meet and travel with you Egle ! We popped out to that wifi enabled coffee shop for another excellent milkshake and to upload all the Tibet posts (you may have noticed). We stopped at a clinic on the main road (Beijing Road) for a consult on my rash that has spread enthusiastically. The Doctor (we assume since he was wearing a white coat but could not speak English) inspected me and provided some cream. We got Dr. Manouk later to confirm it is just another cortisone cream so will give it a try and hope for the best. Our last errand was to upload photos at that Internet cafe full of gamers (you may have noticed that too) before heading back to the hotel and a bit of a shock.

Our room key was not working so I visited reception. They informed me that I needed to pay for the second night. Confusion reigned. Eventually we discovered that we had been billed £30 for the first night and needed to pay another £30 ! That’s double our most expensive accommodation anywhere else in China and about 10 nights for both of us in a dorm ! I was fuming. We had been told £20 by the hotel and our guide but the receipt I had had been urged to sign (while exhausted) the previous evening stated had £30 per night. My fault, I didn’t read it, but we are really annoyed with the hotel and guide – they pulled a fast one ! For that amount we would never have agreed to stay there. Live and learn. Tomorrow morning I’m going to empty the bacon tray at the buffet into a stuff sack for later ! Google searches on: The Yak Hotel, Lhasa, Tibet – Beware… The rooms are severely overpriced. We’ll be very happy to be moving on in the morning.

[Pictures: None from the phone]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi