The first morning I walked the Barkhor in Lhasa, I did it wrong. I went counterclockwise for about fifty meters before an elderly pilgrim gently took my sleeve and turned me around. The circuit around the Jokhang Temple moves clockwise, has for centuries, and joining it correctly is the whole point. Once I was going the right way, the Barkhor became the single best thing I did in Tibet, and I say that as someone who saw Everest from base camp on the same trip.

What the Barkhor is

The Barkhor is the street that circles the Jokhang Temple, Tibet's most sacred building, at the heart of Lhasa's old city. The circuit is about a kilometer around, lined by whitewashed stone houses with black-framed windows, prayer flag stalls, incense sellers and tea houses. From first light until late evening it carries a river of pilgrims: Tibetans from across the plateau, some of whom traveled for days or weeks, spinning handheld prayer wheels, murmur-praying, and prostrating full-length on the stones along the outer lane.

Walking one lap is called a kora. Pilgrims do 108 laps, or hundreds, over lifetimes. You will do one or two, and that is fine. The point is not to complete something but to join something already in motion, which is why the direction matters and why the pace is unhurried.

The Jokhang itself

The temple at the center dates to the 7th century and holds the Jowo, a statue of the Buddha as a young man, said to have been blessed by the Buddha himself. Entry for foreign visitors has run around 85 yuan, tickets are bought at the gate, and visits move briskly through rooftop courtyards and incense-dark chapels. Guides, official or freelance, add a lot here, because almost nothing is labeled in English and the stories are the substance. Photography inside is restricted; respect it without being asked twice.

How to walk it properly

• Keep clockwise, always, even when the crowd is dense and it seems faster to cut the other way.
• Keep the flow. Stop at the sides when you want to look at something, never in the current.
• Never step on or over prostrating pilgrims, and give the outer lane, where they lie down and rise, a wide berth.
• Ask before photographing people. Most pilgrims will say no, some will say yes, and both answers are easier to get with a smile and a raised camera first.
• Spin prayer wheels clockwise if you touch them at all, and leave the butter-lamp halls to worshippers.

Altitude, honestly

Lhasa sits at 3,650 meters. On my first Barkhor lap I was aware of every step, and my watch told me my resting heart rate was fifteen beats above normal. Walk slowly, drink more water than feels reasonable, and do not schedule the kora for your first morning. By the second or third day in Lhasa the circuit turns from a workout into a pleasure, and you will want the energy to linger in the tea houses that overlook the route, where sweet milk tea costs a few yuan a glass and thermoses arrive unasked.

When to go

Early morning, before 9am, is when the circuit is most itself: the smell of juniper smoke from rooftop burners, long shadows, pilgrims in the best light for the few photographs people will permit. Late afternoon is second best, with the sun on the western walls. Midday brings tour groups and harsh light.

The rest of the day

The Barkhor pairs naturally with a visit to the Jokhang, followed by late-morning tea, and on a longer stay by the pilgrim road to Sera Monastery in the north, where monks debate in a courtyard in the afternoon. Give the old city at least two full days. You will spend more time than you planned watching the circuit go around, and that watching, in my experience, is the reason people leave Lhasa already talking about coming back.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.