Lhasa, Tibet

Souvenir stores abound along the Barkhor circumambulation route that surrounds Jokhang Temple.  (Susan Spano / LAT)

Three nuns relax on the steps of the temple at Tsamkhung Convent near the Barkhor. The convent, with approximately 120 nuns in residence, has a teahouse and gift shop.  (Susan Spano / LAT)

A giant Buddha statue inhabits the Palchoi Temple in Gyantse.  (Susan Spano / LAT)

Two young street musicians entertain at Norbulinka, a public park that was once the summer palace of the Dalai Lamas.  (Susan Spano / LAT)

Among the attractions of the tent encampment at the 15,728-elevation Gampala Pass is an open-air pool parlor.  (Susan Spano / LAT)

A farmer and his yak team plow a field in the fertile Nyangchu River valley between Gyantse and Shigatse.  (Susan Spano / LAT)

The air’s not too thin at 15,728 feet in Gampala Pass for a souvenir stand, one that overlooks the sacred lake Yamdrok Tso in central Tibet.  (Susan Spano / LAT)

The Yamdrok Tso lies in the long shadow of Nojin Gangsang, one of the many peaks that rise more than 20,000 feet in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.  (Susan Spano / LAT)

A yak-borne tourist proves she’s been there, done that at Gampala Pass.  (Susan Spano / LAT)