Lhasa

Given its present form in the seventeenth century under the Fifth Dalai Lama, its White and Red Palaces cover the hill. Tickets carry an entry time and your stay inside is capped. Long stairs at this height steal breath; climb slowly. No photos indoors.

The hill across from the Potala on its west side; the palace printed on the 50-yuan note is drawn from this spot. A few steps take you up to the roadside platform. People always line up to hold a note against the real palace for a photo.

Seventh-century and the holiest temple in Tibetan Buddhism, it keeps the Shakyamuni-at-twelve statue credited to Princess Wencheng. Pilgrims prostrate full length on the flagstones out front, worn glassy by it. The roof shows the Barkhor and Potala together.

The pilgrim circuit wrapped round the Jokhang; you follow the prayer-wheel turners and always go clockwise. Shops along it sell prayer flags, incense and butter lamps. The pilgrims are thickest in the morning and evening.

The Dalai Lamas' summer palace from the eighteenth century on, its halls scattered through a large garden. During the Shoton festival in August, Tibetan opera plays here for several days and families pitch tents to spend the day.

A great Gelug monastery founded in 1419, where in the afternoon monks debate doctrine in the courtyard, clapping each point home. It is loud and physical enough to look like a quarrel. Some days have no debate, so check with your guide beforehand.

Founded in 1416 and once home to thousands of monks, its white buildings cover a slope west of the city. At dawn as Shoton opens, a giant thangka is unrolled on the hillside rock behind it, and the path is packed before sunrise.

A salt lake above 4,700 metres, roughly four hours' drive north of Lhasa over the passes. Its water runs a darker blue than the sky, Nyenchen Tanglha's snow peaks lined up behind. Over 1,000 metres higher than Lhasa; go once your body has adjusted.

On the road from Lhasa to Gyantse, over the Kamba La pass, a winding turquoise lake opens below. At the lookout on the pass, people with Tibetan mastiffs and yaks charge for photos. Gusts on the saddle keep one hand clamped on your hat.

The first Gelug monastery, founded by Tsongkhapa in 1409, spread along a ridge east of Lhasa. The pilgrim loop round the ridge behind it looks down into the Kyichu valley. It is high enough to slow anyone's step.

A temple in the lanes north of the Barkhor, home to a statue of the Buddha at age eight believed to have been brought by a Nepali princess. Founded around the same time as the Jokhang, it is among Lhasa's oldest. Pilgrim queues are shorter than at the Jokhang.

A lake park right behind the Potala; the Lukhang shrine on its island honours the water spirits. Each morning pilgrims spinning prayer wheels pass along the path that circles the palace. The lake gives you the Potala's back, reflected.

A museum across from Norbulingka showing thangka paintings, palm-leaf sutras and household tools in date order. The halls are large, and at altitude seeing them all is more tiring than it sounds. Tickets are given on showing a passport.

A small nunnery tucked in a lane southeast of the Barkhor. The courtyard teahouse run by the nuns sells sweet tea and thenthuk cheaply, and pilgrims sit with neighbours. The lane mouth is narrow and easy to miss; follow a map.

A hermitage built atop a huge boulder on the slope behind Sera, said to date from Songtsen Gampo's reign. Prayer flags hang thick along the kora around the rock. It is a long climb from the road, so go once you have acclimatised.

A geothermal field northwest of Lhasa on the road to Namtso, steam rising from the ground beside a geothermal power plant. From the open-air pools you can see snow peaks. Long soaks at this altitude bring dizziness, so take it in short spells.

The seat of the Karma Kagyu school deep in a valley west of Lhasa, home of successive Karmapas. A kora climbs the mountain behind it and takes half a day. As across Tibet, foreigners must go with a guide.