Street in Lhasa during Palden Lhamo ceremony Sue Johnson

Street in Lhasa during Palden Lhamo ceremony Sue JohnsonSide street in Lhasa taken from Surkhang Se's house on the occasion of the Palden Lhamo procession. In the foreground a pile of mustard straw surrounding a torma offering of butter and barley flour can be seen in the middle of the street, ready to be burnt. Due to the nature of these images, prints will reproduce any signs of age, wear or damage that occurred before they were archived by the Pitt Rivers Museum.

A dhow (sailboat) is visible just behind the near boat

In the background large multi-story buildings

Single storey buildings line both sides of the street

In the distance the Potala

Behind the boy is a cluster of typical adobe and raqf (slate) tile buildings

from where Wilfred Thesiger sailed after his Awash expedition

ready to be burnt

and in the background wood is stacked up against the wall of a building

In background small shrubs and bushes grow on a flat expanse of sand sitting below a sky dotted with a few fluffy clouds

Many men haul water from a rock-lined well using ropes and pulleys

Possibly on the east side of the Barkhor in central Lhasa

and later accompanied Wilfred Thesiger on all his journeys in the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter)