Sightseeing

1. པོ་ཏ་ལ་གཞལ་མེད་ཁང་ག་པར་ཡོད་དམ།

   Po-ta-la zhal-me-khang ga-par yö-dam?

   Where is the Potala Palace?

   Usage

   Asking for directions to the Potala Palace, the iconic symbol of Lhasa.

   Grammar Note

   The Potala Palace is the Dalai Lama's winter palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site at 3,700m in Lhasa. "Zhal-me-khang" means "immeasurably large mansion."

2. གཙུག་ལག་ཁང་ནང་འཛུལ་ཆོག་གམ།

   Tsuk-lak-khang nang dzul chok-gam?

   May I enter the Jokhang Temple?

   Usage

   Asking permission to enter the Jokhang, the most sacred temple in Tibetan Buddhism.

   Grammar Note

   "Chok-gam?" asks for permission. Jokhang Temple faces Barkhor Square and attracts pilgrims worldwide. Entry may require special permits for foreign visitors.

3. མཆོད་རྟེན་འདིར་ཕྱག་འཚལ་བ་ཆོག་གམ།

   Cho-ten dir chak-tsel-wa chok-gam?

   May I make prostrations at this stupa?

   Usage

   Asking permission to make prostrations at a stupa.

   Grammar Note

   "Chak-tsel" (prostration) is the highest form of reverence in Tibetan Buddhism. "Chak" is the honorific for "hand." Learning proper etiquette before attempting is recommended.

4. སྐོར་ར་རྒྱུག་ཤོག

   Kor-ra gyuk-shok

   Let's do the kora (circumambulation)

   Usage

   Inviting someone to do kora, the clockwise circumambulation of a sacred site.

   Grammar Note

   "Shok" is the hortative particle ("let's"). Kora is a key Tibetan Buddhist practice performed at sites including the Potala, Jokhang, and Mt. Kailash.

5. འདིར་དཔར་ལེན་ཆོག་གམ།

   Dir par-len chok-gam?

   May I take photos here?

   Usage

   Asking permission to take photos at a tourist site or inside a temple.

   Grammar Note

   Photography inside temples is often restricted or requires a fee. "Chok-gam?" is essential at sacred sites. Always check with guides or monks first.

6. གངས་ཏི་སེའི་ལམ་ཡག་པོ་ཡོད་དམ།

   Gang-ti-se-i lam yak-po yö-dam?

   Is the road to Mt. Kailash in good condition?

   Usage

   Checking road conditions before the journey to Mt. Kailash, sacred to Hindus, Buddhists, and Bon followers.

   Grammar Note

   Mt. Kailash (Gang Tise, 6,638m) is sacred to Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, Jainism, and Bon. Thousands of pilgrims annually complete the kora circumambulation.

7. སེ་ར་དགོན་པར་ཕྱིན་ཆོག་གམ།

   Se-ra gon-par chin chok-gam?

   Can we go to Sera Monastery?

   Usage

   Asking about visiting Sera Monastery near Lhasa, famous for its monk debates.

   Grammar Note

   "Gon-pa" (gompa) refers to a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, the center of Tibetan culture and religion. "Ra" is a directional case particle. Sera was founded in the 15th century.

8. མཛེས་པ་ཆེ།

   Dze-pa che

   It is very beautiful (scenery)

   Usage

   Praising the beauty of scenery or architecture. Locals appreciate this kind of admiration.

   Grammar Note

   "Dze-pa" is used for the beauty of landscapes, architecture, or art. "Che" (big) functions as an intensifier. Tibet's scenery is considered among the world's most majestic.

9. ཡར་འབྲོག་མཚོར་ཉིན་གཅིག་གི་འགྲིམ་འགྲུལ་ཡོད་དམ།

   Yar-drok-tso-r nyin-chik-gi drim-drul yö-dam?

   Are there day trips to Yamdrok Lake?

   Usage

   Asking about tours to Yamdrok Lake, one of Tibet's three holy lakes.

   Grammar Note

   Yamdrok Lake (Yar-drok-tso) is a sacred turquoise lake 90km south of Lhasa at 4,441m elevation. One of Tibet's three holy lakes, visited by many pilgrims.

10. ང་འགྲིམ་འགྲུལ་བ་ཡིན།

    Nga drim-drul-wa yin

    I am a tourist

    Usage

    Identifying yourself as a tourist, useful when asked about permits.

    Grammar Note

    Foreign tourists in Tibet require a Tibet Travel Permit (TTB); additional permits are needed for areas like Kailash and Shigatse. Arrangements through licensed agencies are standard.

11. ཇོ་ཁང་གཙུག་ལག་ཁང་གང་དུ་ཡོད།

    Jokhang tsuglagkhang gang du yod?

    Where is the Jokhang Temple?

    Usage

    Asking for directions to Jokhang Temple, the holiest site in Tibetan Buddhism

    Grammar Note

    Built in the 7th century, Jokhang is the holiest temple in Tibetan Buddhism with constant pilgrims prostrating.

12. བར་སྐོར་ལམ་ཀ་གང་ནས་འགྲོ།

    Barkhor lamka gang nas dro?

    Which way do I go to reach Barkhor Street?

    Usage

    Asking for Barkhor Street — the traditional circular pilgrimage route around Jokhang

    Grammar Note

    Barkhor is a circular kora (pilgrimage route) around Jokhang Temple lined with markets.

13. གནམ་མཚོ་གང་དུ་ཡོད།

    Namtso gang du yod?

    Where is Namtso Lake?

    Usage

    Asking for directions to Namtso Lake — a sacred lake at 4718m elevation

    Grammar Note

    Namtso means "Heavenly Lake" in Tibetan and sits at 4718m — one of the world's highest lakes.

14. ལྷ་སར་ནས་ག་ཚོད་ཐག་རིང་ཡོད།

    Lhasa ne ga tsod thag ring yod?

    How far is it from Lhasa?

    Usage

    Asking about the distance from Lhasa to any destination

15. ཞུགས་ཀྲིམས་དངུལ་ག་ཚོད་རེད།

    Zhug trim ngul ga tsod red?

    How much is the entrance fee?

    Usage

    Asking about entrance fees at temples, palaces and monasteries in Tibet

16. མཐོ་ས་ན་ནད་པ་ཡིན། གནམ་གཤིས་འཕྲད་བདེ་ཡོད་དམ།

    Tosar na nad pa yin. Nam shis trad de yod dam?

    I have altitude sickness. Is acclimatization okay here?

    Usage

    Reporting altitude sickness upon arrival in Lhasa at 3650m elevation

    Grammar Note

    Lhasa sits at 3650m. Rest for 2-3 days upon arrival, stay hydrated and avoid strenuous activity.

17. པོ་ཏ་ལ་གྲོང་ཁྱེར་གྱི་ཆེས་གལ་ཆེའི་གནས་ཡིན།

    Potala khyonkyer gyi ches gal che'i nas yin

    The Potala Palace is the most important site in Lhasa

    Usage

    Introducing the Potala Palace, the iconic symbol of Lhasa and Tibetan Buddhism

    Grammar Note

    The Potala Palace is the 17th-century former residence of the Dalai Lama, a UNESCO World Heritage site at 3700m.

18. ཡར་འབྲོག་མཚོ་ཤིན་ཏུ་མཛེས་པ་ཡིན།

    Yamdrok tso shim tu dze pa yin

    Yamdrok Lake is very beautiful

    Usage

    Expressing admiration for Yamdrok Lake — one of Tibet's sacred lakes near Lhasa

    Grammar Note

    Yamdrok is one of Tibet's three sacred lakes at 4441m elevation with striking turquoise water.

19. སེ་ར་དགོན་པར་ཕྱིན་འདོད་ཡོད།

    Se-ra gon-par chin dö yö

    I would like to visit Sera Monastery

    Usage

    Expressing intent to visit Sera Monastery, famous for its lively monk debates

    Grammar Note

    Founded in the 15th century, Sera is famous for its daily monk debate sessions — a unique spectacle.

20. བཀྲ་ཤིས་ལྷུན་པོ་དགོན་པ་ནི་དགོན་པ་ཆེན་པོ་ཞིག་ཡིན།

    Tashilhunpo gonpa ni gonpa chenpo shik yin

    Tashilhunpo Monastery is a great monastery

    Usage

    Referring to Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse — the seat of the Panchen Lama

    Grammar Note

    Founded in 1447, Tashilhunpo is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama in Shigatse.

21. བོད་ཡུལ་ལ་འགྲོ་བར་དབང་ལག་ཁྱེར་དགོས།

    Poyul la drowa wang lag kyer gos

    A permit is required to enter Tibet

    Usage

    Informing travelers that a Tibet Travel Permit is required for entry to the TAR

    Grammar Note

    Entry to Tibet requires a Chinese visa plus Tibet Travel Permit (TTB) — independent travel is not allowed.

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