Lhasa, Last day

Our last day we went up to the Drepung Monastery. It dates back to the early 15th century (1416) and was at one time the largest Tibetan community. Drepung means rice heap. Up until the Cultural Revolution they estimate 7000 monks lived in residence. There are a lot less now. We took the public bus through some very poor neighborhoods. Down some dirt roads and area that reminded me very much of the barrios in Mexico. At the bottom of the hill, the boys said they need to relieve themselves. I thought the bathroom at the Potala Palace was primitive...this one was basically 1/2 of a wall just tall enough to give some cover. No privacy whatsoever. I admire their ability to overcome all social taboos that we have in the US. I guess, when in Tibet....

The climb up the mountain was bit more than we wanted to endure, so we took the "truck." It was basically a pickup with a cover over the back. A bumpy ride up narrow roads. Rides like this are always fun. It gives the locals something to talk about.

Once at the top, we found a very simple but complex layout of buildings. We walked through the gauntlet of hawkers selling their wares. We walked up stairs surrounded by centuries old buildings. While I was obsessed with taking multiple pictures of one thing, a few monks passed us. They stopped to talk to Joe for a few minutes.
While this monastery looked pretty much like the others, it was still very impressive. I am not sure if the housing is all original, but some do date back to the 1500’s. There is a stillness here that is a nice change of pace from the hectic life of the Chinese cities in the east.

There is the Ganden Palace built in 1530 for the 2nd Dalai Lama. There is also a beautiful meeting area. Because of the Buddhist belief of all life that is sacred, many people release farm animals around the monastery. There were sheep everywhere. One even made friends with Mario. He followed Mario all over. I think he was hoping Mario would take him home as a pet. This monastery was also a maze of little walkways and alleys. It took us a good 15 minutes to find our way out and back down the mountain. This time we were able to get on a real bus to go down.

We had time to do a bit more shopping and to eat a real Tibetan style meal. We went back to the Bakhor circuit to pick up a few extra items. In an effort to help boost the Tibetan economy, I bought these really cool yak wool sling shots for my nieces and nephews. They are a long cord with a pocket on the end for the rock. You swing it over your head and let go of one end. It does take some practice to get it right. Chris bought a backpack made of a Nepalese fabric and I bought a shoulder bag made of the same material (unfortunately, I recently lost it and I am not happy about it). As we were walking around looking for a specific restaurant, a man walked up to Joe and I and shook our hands. We are not sure what that meant. Joe and I talked about it, and hoped that he was giving us a blessing.

The restaurant was called Makye Ame. It has a history. Supposedly, the 6th Dalai Lama was a bit of a ladies man. This a place were he used to meet a friend. It also is a great location for watching people. It had a big menu. We actually decided to try some Tibetan dishes and some western dishes made with yak meat. Isaac tried the yak burger. I had orange dish with yak meat, Vicky opted for noodles, and I think Mario had a fried yak meat. I also ordered a barley dumpling in yak milk yogurt called Tsampa. Different. A few us ordered chocolate yak milkshakes. Don’t recommend it unless you are a goat cheese fan. I shudder as I think of the flavor. I am not a big fan.

We went back to the hostel to pack and try to get some sleep. The neighbors finally put their dogs inside at night to keep them quiet. We were up before the sun to catch the train to Xi’an. We did not think the trains would have similar restrictions to the airlines. We did not think about that fact that Joe had bought a couple of knives as souvenirs. His bag did not make it through security. Fortunately, he was able through someone to get the knives to the owner of the hostel where we stayed. They mailed them to Mario in Tianjin. After that excitement we had 30 hour ride on a train to look forward to. Uno anyone?!?

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