Blogs from Lhasa, Tibet, China, Asia - page 27

Saturday, September 10, 2005 Weather: Clear and sunny. Temperature: Mid 80's. The temperature reported above may be misleading. At 12,000' on a sunny day temperatures in the mid 80's can feel really hot. We brought along sun screen with SPF of 44 but mostly forgot to use it. In any event, we were usually in the bus or touring indoors so no serious sunburn occurred. Today was the visit to the Jokhang Temple. The Potala Palace may be the seat of government for the Buddhist faith but the Jokhang Temple is where the faithful go to worship. The Temple is located at the far end of the Bazaar in a pedestrian only area. Outside are two huge incense urns and in the immediate area can be seen the faithful prostrating themselves in front of the Temple ... read more

The great Shoton, yogurt festival, continues in Lhasa though, from what i saw, it has become highly Chnsified, with C musicians and dances, beer banners, and only small areas of T singing and dancing, a disappointment, the traffic of bicycles, rickshaws, minibuses, cars, tourists, and pilgrims continue, life in the ever-growing city continues...and I will take leave. Lhasa has been interesting. At first, it blew my mind with how developed it is, is becoming, and how many C there really are here. And how many tourists, as well. In fact, after a previous month of relatively few tourists, Lhasa overwhelmed me. Teaching here for a bit helped to ease me into Lhasa life and give me a different angle. Escaping Lhasa to see surrounding countryside also helped considerably. Lhasa mornings are interesting: early, before the tourists ... read more

Our last day in Lhasa. We planned to take a jeep and go to Namtso Lake (5 hour journey one way) and come back during the day (10 hour journey total). Namtso lake is the second largest salt water lake in Tibet and is the only one to be sacred (I forget why). Every pilgrim is supposed to walk all the way around it (about 200kms); foreigners are excused of this duty and only have to walk around 2 large stones (about 20 meters). After seeing the jeep and the driver, we decided to cancel the tour as they both looked exceedingly unreliable and prone to cause problems. Instead, we went in the morning to the Museum of Tibetan History. It would be a farce if it were not in the context it is. The museum ... read more

Another day, another temple. Yesterday the most sacred one, this time the biggest one in the country (well, the Autonomous Region of Tibet). We head off early to Drepung Monastery, a very large complex about 10kms out of the city. It is an impressive sight: it looks like a very large village, all built in the same style and clearly designed to impress. The inside is impressive but slightly repetitive; we counted 17 chapels and prayer rooms, all looking terribly alike. It used to be the seat of the Dalai-Lama, before he had it moved to the Potala Palace in 1655. It also used to host the largest university in the country: there were up to 10,000 monks and disciples within its walls at its hight. The monastery has suffered surprisingly little from the Cultural Revolution: ... read more

I am starting to suffer from all of those early wake ups. Bene is consoling me by telling me that I can have a lie-in the next day. So, yet again, up at 04:00 in the morning to catch our bus to go and see the great Tangka unveiling at Ganden Monastery. The minibus is packed full and we are ready to go. A group of happy Japanese, complete with white gloves, high tech walking sticks, silly hats and face masks join us in the minibus and break the monotony of the journey by their Oooohs and Aaaaahs, which happen every time we cross another car (on small mountain roads, crossing another car is often a scary experience). Two hours of very uncomfortable riding later, we approach the peak of this gigantic mountain. The peak is, ... read more