When violence broke out in Tibet's capital last week, Saskatchewan tourist Judith Silverthorne found herself uncomfortably close to the chaos.

Silverthorne, a Regina-based writer who's been travelling in the region for about a month, was in Lhasa when rioting erupted Friday following several days of pro-independence protests.

From inside a Lhasa restaurant on Friday, Judith Silverthorne saw military vehicles rumbling through the streets.
(Courtesy Judith Silverthorne)

According to some reports, 80 people were killed in the rioting and subsequent government crackdown, although estimates of the casualties vary.

"I was, like, a block away. I was sitting in a second-floor restaurant and then all of a sudden, all these army trucks started rolling down the street," Silverthorne told CBC News on Monday.

"I was far enough away in a sense, but you could still hear the gunfire. You could see the army trucks going by and the tanks."

Silverthorne said she soon realized she'd have to leave Tibet.

'I was far enough away in a sense, but you could still hear the gunfire. You could see the army trucks going by and the tanks.'—Judith Silverthorne

"Everybody was fighting back and forth," she said. "Sticks, bricks, stones — everything was flying."

Other tourists were running for cover and metal shutters came down on the shop windows. The government began evacuating hotels and hostels, she said.

"Later, it escalated," she said. "It got totally out of control. We had to get out."

With the road to the airport blocked, Silverthorne left Tibet as part of a convoy of taxis in the middle of the night.

Now in Beijing, she said she's having trouble getting internet and phone service and hasn't been able to update her blog.

She plans to leave soon.

"I think I will," she said. "I've had enough."

Meanwhile, Ottawa is warning Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to Tibet. Foreign Affairs officials say travellers who are there already should stay indoors until the situation is under control.