This was a quick shot of the Little Potala Palace in Shangri-La taken through the glass window of the provided bus transport, which tourists must take from the Visitors Centre to reach the monastery.

Shangri-La is a county-level city in Yunnan Province of China. Its original name was Zhongdian, but on 17 Dec 2001, its name was changed to “Shangri-La”, after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the 1933 James Hilton novel Lost Horizon.

Modeled after the Potala Palace in Lhasa (Tibet), this monastery is called the Gedan SongZanLing Lamasery. Built in 1679, it is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan and is sometimes referred to as the Little Potala Palace.

We were in very high country here. The elevation of Shangri-La city is between 3200m-3600m, and the air is thin. Most of us were carrying one or two oxygen bottles with us, as advised by the local tour guide. But to reach the monastery, everyone must climb up a series of long and steep flights of stone stairs as there were no lifts, which proved difficult for some senior visitors. Everybody was advised to walk slowly, breathe deeply, and stop frequently along the way to rest …