Yak butter tea is everywhere in Tibet. It's just as it sounds - a rich and thick tea made from butter made from the milk of yaks, so it's salty and warming and full of energy to power you on cold dizzying hikes. It's often offered warmly to guests, especially Buddhist temples. A group of monks in this small temple near the Jokhang spoke halting English and wanted to chat me up about world affairs over the course of an hour. Everytime I sipped one inch of yak butter tea from the cup they offered me, they would top it off with a bit more. I believe in total I drank 7 glasses of yak butter tea that hour. I gained 24 pounds that week.
a temple in the Jokhang, Lhasa
TIBET
