walking in Lhasa

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05:30 Lhasa ~ i wake up and m is still asleep. so i put on my gear and head for the door. m wakes momentarily to ask where i’m off. i kiss her goodbye and head out. first encounter on the main street is a middle aged man dressed in burgundy with a suggestion of yellow or gold underneath. he places both his hands together at his heart and tells me good day ~ i respond with a similar gesture of good will as we pass and walk to the end of the street.

the sky is pitch black and all the stars are up there. the street is similarly dark with little street lighting. on the corner there is an old man and his two sons vending sun dried cured meat. the smell is vivid and primal in its simplicity. a few stray cars pass slowly on the road. i turn the corner and enter into a stream of people, they are a myriad of chants and bell sounds, and all are twirling hand-held prayer wheels. they all seem to have one destination as i drift along with them. the growing mass of tibetan buddhists slip down darkening alleys as the sun rises and i’m right along with them, all the time losing my way. it’s my first morning in this new and most high city.

there are muslim families setting up shop left and right. the smell of homemade pastries and fried goods now fills the air. more and more people are filtering into the mass from doorsteps and adjoining alleyways, all heading to some unknown (to me) destination and the atmosphere is becoming intense, with the density of people, the noise and lack of visibility.

now the sun is creeping into these dark alleyways, and the shadows are contrasting the bright new sunshine. they extend and contract according to the sun’s progression like doors opening and closing, and my attention is drawn intermittently to the rooftop skyline with its flat roofs, prayer flags, and crisp blue morning sky.

the people one by one disappear inside a dark and heavy doorway. incense is being burned inside and the sound of people’s prayers throbs through the thick walls. larger fixed prayer wheels in gold line the outside of the building and tibetan letters in beautiful colours accompany representations of buddhist deities. the sun is up in the main street as i find my way out of the maze of side streets. it is mine and m’s anniversary today and as i make my way back along the road i find a beautiful mountain pine growing on a street corner. i pick a cone from one of the lower branches. a gift from a most magical morning walk for a most magical m.


-rdt

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