Airlines CAAC, Nyangrain Lu

Daily 9am-8pm; tel 6833446 for information.

Banks and exchange

There are several branches of the Bank of China around town, but the main one on Lingkor Bei Lu, north of the Golden Yaks Statue (Mon-Fri 9am-1pm & 3.30-6pm) is the only place in Tibet for cash advances on credit cards ( Amex, Visa, Mastercard and Diners Club are accepted). The branch on Beijing Dong Lu is conveniently located close to the Banak Shol (Mon-Fri 9.30am-6pm, Sat & Sun 11am-3pm). The Lhasa Hotel changes money for guests only and charges commission.

Bike rental

The Snowlands Hotel has the usual clunky black bikes for Y2 per hour plus deposit, while the Pentoc Hotel has mountain bikes for Y6 per hour and Y15 per hour, plus deposit.

Cinemas Yuthok Lu at the junction with Dosengge Lu and Beijing Dong Lu between the Banak Shol and Kirey hotels.

Consulates Nepalese Consulate, 13 Norbulingka Lu (Mon-Fri 10am-12.30pm; tel 6836890). Next-day visa service and you'll need one passport photograph. Single-entry fifteen days Y135, thirty days Y225; multiple-entry thirty days Y360, sixty days Y540, payment can be made in yuan. You can get single- entry visas at Kodari, but payment there has to be in US dollars.

Hospital

First People's Hospital, Lingkor Bei Lu (Mon-Fri 10am-12.30pm & 4-6pm; emergencies only at weekends). It's better to go in the morning when more staff are available and you'll need to take a Chinese translator. There is no dental treatment available in Lhasa, only extraction. Rabies serum is not available (see "Health"). You could also try the traditional Tibetan Medicine Hospital ( Mentsikhang), Yuthok Lu (hours as above). Go upstairs and look for the only sign in English, which says "Outpatients' Office" - this is where the doctor who deals with foreigners works. Otherwise, as some staff are Tibetan and some Chinese, a translator who speaks both is ideal.

Internet

The Barkhor Cafe has four computers, available from 10am-10pm for Y40 per hour. The Banak Shol Hotel also has an email service; technically it's open from 9am-10.30pm, but it depends if you can track down the woman who runs it. Be aware that electronic mail from Tibet is monitored through the server, so don't mention any Tibetan names.

Pharmacies

Most of the Pharmacies are along Yuthok Lu around the junction with Dosengge Lu. There is a pharmacy specializing in Tibetan medicine on the north side of Barkhor Square. Again, you'll need a translator.

Post office

On Beijing Dong Lu, just east of the Potala (daily 9am-8pm). Poste restante and international customs (Mon-Fri 9.30am-1pm & 3.30-6pm) is the counter facing you on the far left as you enter. Mail should be addressed to Poste Restante, Main Post Office, Lhasa, Tibet, China. Check both the book that lists mail received at the office and ask to see new mail. There's a charge of Y1.50 per item received. EMS is next door to the post office.

PSB

Lingkor Bei Lu and Beijing Dong Lu (Mon-Fri 9.30am-1pm & 3.30-7pm). Whilst PSB offices should be the place to go for factual information about closed and open areas and permits, the information is rarely reliable and frequently inconsistent from one office to the next.

Telecommunications

There's a 24-hour office located next to the post office with direct dialling facilities and fax service. Alternatively, the business centre in the Lhasa Hotel (8am-8pm in the tourist season) sends faxes for Y45-50 per minute and you can have faxes sent there for you, but you'll pay Y20 per sheet when you collect them. The telephone code for Lhasa is 0891.

The central areas of Lhasa are along and between three main roads that run east-west, parallel to and north of the Kyichu River. The most southerly is Chingdol Lu which changes its name from Chingdol Xi Lu in the west through Chingdol Zhong Lu in the centre to Chingdol Dong Lu in the east. Slightly farther north, Beijing Lu has similar name changes, while Lingkor Bei Lu is the most northerly of the three. Lhasa is at its most sprawling to the west, where there is very little countryside between the outskirts of the city and the monastery of Drepung, 8km away from the centre of town, and north where the city virtually merges into the Sera monastery complex, 4km distant. So far the river has prevented a spread south, while to the east the city peters out within a couple of kilometres as the road towards Ganden deteriorates quickly. The Potala Palace, on Beijing Zhong Lu, is the major landmark visible throughout the city and, together with the Tibetan enclave around the Jokhang temple, known as the Barkhor, forms the centre of interest for most visitors. The Golden Yaks Statue, at the junction of Beijing Zhong Lu and Yuan Lin Lu in the west of the city, erected in 1991 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the "liberation" of Tibet, is another useful landmark.

Arriving by air, you'll land at Lhasa airport at Gongkhar, a hefty 93km to the southeast of the city. CAAC buses (Y30) bring you to the CAAC office on Nyangrain Lu in around two hours, though foreigners coming on tours will be met by guides with jeeps.

Although a few minibuses and pilgrim buses (notably from Shigatse, Ganden and Tsurphu) ply into the middle of town, usually Barkhor Square, if you come by bus, you'll probably be dropped at the main bus station about 3km from town at the junction of Chingdol Zhong Lu and Minzu Lu. From here either take a tractor into town (Y5) or the #2 minibus (Y2) will take you part of the way (see "City transport").