Tashee Dilec from Tibet

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"Go to Tibet and see many places, as much as you can; then tell the world" His holiness the Dala Lama

Tibet is currently under Chinese rule and there is no escaping this fact as you wander around the old Tibetan quarter. There are soldiers on every street corner in groups of 5 dressed in riot gear and holding rifles, tear gas, batons and shields and some are even stationed on the roof tops looking down upon the crowds. Plain clothed officers also patrol the temples and monastries. There are plently of Chinese in Lhasa both those working and living there and the middle class Chinese tourists. When in Bejing we fell in love with the Chinese people but in Tibet the Chinese appear arrogant, rude and superior. Despite this the Tibetans carry on as usual practicing their religion with a dedication worthy of high admiration.

The old quarter of Lhasa is the most interesting and famous pilgrimage circuits in Tibet. In the centre of a quadrangle of streets lays the Jokang temple and the streets surrounding it are known as the Barkhor area. It is here that we witnessed the most incredible sites, sounds and smells we have ever seen. People travel for days and months from all four corners of Tibet to circumnavigate clockwise around the Barkhor carrying with them small prayer wheels which they spin in their right hand whilst chanting a Buddhist mantra and counting their rosary beads each time. We began the walk clockwise with our newly bought rosary beads fascintated by the many different faces of Tibet. The weathered and etched faces of each pilgrim showed a life time of hard work and harsh living environments. Some men wore hair in plats with a red cotton plate across the top of their heads whilst the women wore layers of black clothes and stripey aprons, some had long plated hair whilst othors had a short cropped style.

We had recently learnt the words to greet Tibetans with respect " Tashee Dilec" and so were using them as if they may go out of fashion. As we were alreay causing a lot of attention due to being big and white, speaking Tibetan only added to their fascination with us. We soon cottoned on to the idea that if we said hello and then tried to chant with our beads they would talk to us. It worked and an old lady soon adopted us for the whole circuit and patiently tried to teach us the chant. She made sure our beads were in our left hand and that we knew how to count with them. She guided us in the right direction making us stop with her and at each set of prayer flags to pay respects. Other Tibetans were fascinated with this strange relationship and she spoke to them as if she were boasting about us. She watched out for us and took us by the arm and guided us around. It was the most humbling experience and one we will remember, without the use of a camera, forever. We said our goodbyes after one circuit and left her to continue for how long we did not know.

Prostrating is somethiing we have never seen before but once seen it is hard to forget. The photos will not do this justice and neither will my words. As a sign of dedication and strong faith Tibetan's prostrate around or even to pilgrimage sites. To do this they stand and put their hands together in 3 different places; above the head the face and heart and then they stetch their hands outright and throw themselves forwards onto the floor until fully extended. They then bring their hands back to their waist stand up and repeat. (Worth a look on you tube or google images) At the temple all the pilgrims do this to pay respects and show their dedication. Young and old partake in this and some days their are hundreds doing this in front of the temple. The rock floor is shiney due to all of the sliding back and forth. Some people do this 100 times or more each day. It was hard to pull ourselves away from watching these genuine and honest people dedicating themselves to their believes.

Luckily we had the forethought to book ourselves an extra day at the beginning and end of the tour and this has allowed us to just to people watch and enjoy interacting with the Tibetan people. They have a good sense of humour and alot can be communicated through miming. They do like to touch our skin and in shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet, they were obsessed with our thighs. Now I agree that I do have large thighs but I've never been to worried about this but having them touch and laughed at by Tibetan women is quite demoralising. They even laughed at my bum which I'm sure is not too big??

There are lots of things tourists can't do here in Tibet without a permit and or a guide and so it wasn't until our official tour started that we could actually visit the monastries and temples. We visited the Jokhang temple with our guide and watched the hundreds of devout Buddhists file in and leave various types of Yak produce in each room. They melt Yak butter as an offering and smear Yak butter into the walls and even leave dried Yak curds around the temples. The pugent smell wafts around the temples and the sour smell is an acquired taste. Yak tea is very milky and tastes equally as disgusting as it smells. Buddhism is a complicated religion and no matter how many times each different aspect is explained we still struggle to understand it. The fourteenth Dala Lama( the present one) is in exile and people are not allowed to talk about him or even have pistures of him. It is illegal. We also visited the Potala palace the Dala Lama's winter palace and as ever we had a strick time slot and only 1 hour to view the insides of the palace. The Chinese control absolutely everything here. The tour of the palace was a whistle stop tour and we had a huge Chinese tour group either side of us with microphones to project their voices not that they are needed mind. Our small group of 5 could not hear our own guide. The Chinese also push through any space or not and do not understand the concept of waiting a minute until their is a gap. They push and shove you and see nothing wrong with this at all. Anyway the Potala palace consists of 2 palaces; the red and white and it is 113.7 metres high with thirteen stories. There are lots of rooms in lots of temples and monastries which are closed off to the public and what the Chinese use them for nobody knows. When the Chinese first invaded in 1949 they destroyed 95% of all the monastries and temples in Tibet. It is only recently that they have realised the power of these places to pull in the tourist both Chinese and those further afield and so it is quite ironic how they encourage restricted tourism in a culture they have almost destroyed. Many Tibetan relics and antiques have been taken to China for safe keeping. The Dala Lama is in exile in India and it is against the law to talk about him or to even have a picture of him here in Tibet. All the previous other Dala Lamas can be spoken about and pictures are allowed of them,. This again is ironic as they are a reincarnation of the same person.

On day 2 we visited the Drak Yerpa which are amazing meditation caves built into the mountain side. There are ruins all around of the destroyed monastry which obviously the Chinese did many years ago. These caves are situated just outside of Lhasa in beautiful mountain countryside. Whilst we were there we saw a a namadic man who had taken a pilgrimage to these caves to get prayers and advice from the monks for himself and his village. His life was written all over his face. He wore a nanimal fur coat and animal skin bag which he wore on his back. Impossibly high above the caves at the top of the mountains were millions and millions of prayer flags. They believe that the wind will release the prayer into the sky. In the afternoon we were due to visit the Sera Monastry to watch the Monks debate but the monks had decided that today was as godd a day as any to lock up and go for a picnic. To our shock we were allowede to visit the summer residence of the Dala Lama on our own instead. There were only 3 of us in our group, us two and a french girl called Emilie so we paired up with an American and Canadian couple and visited Norbulingka the summer palace.

Stupa's are found dotted around Tibet and are used to burn scented leaves however a stupa Thom has either the body or the ashes of a previous Dala Lama or Panchant/Banchant Lama. The Panchant Lama is currently missing having spent 10 years in a Beijing prison. He is also a reincarnation but funnily enough there are now 2 one appointed by the Chinese government and the other chosen according to reincarnation and Buddhist beliefs. The Chinese appointed Panchant Lama now resides full time in Beijing and the other has reportedly been kidnapped and across nepal and India there are posters requesting hhis whereabouts.

We have loved the Tibetans and enjoyed communicating, laughing and miming with them. There are happy and dedicated people and the children are shy but will practice the occasional bit of English on us. The modern Lhasa is souless, characterless and Chinese minus all of the good bits whilst the old quater is alive with a spiritual and religious devotion and despite everything going on around this area it thrives on its strong Tibetan culture.

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Comments

[M & D]

Wow!
Amazing photos, no wonder they think you're big. Even I must be taller than the traditional pilgrim! xx