Llasa - Day 1 | Travel Blog

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May 30th 2007

Published: February 24th 2008

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Diane and Dave Z

Train station

We spent 3 days in Lhasa. Thank God for dating digital pictures. It is helping me keep track of what we did when. One thing to let you know about the next few blogs. I did take pictures of monks praying but tried to be very respectful. I will be very selective about the pictures that I am putting on the internet out of respect for their privacy.

We stayed at home that was set up as a hostel. The couple were really nice. We got settled in pretty quickly. This time, I chose the bottom bunk. It was truly a "lonely planet" kind of travel. All six of us were in one room with one bathroom to share. We were fortunate. Another group had just left to go hiking for a few days, so we did not have to share the bathroom with more people.

Everyone was feeling a little out of it due to the altitude. Joe, Chris and I ventured out to scope out the neighborhood. It was a quiet out of the way place. Or so we thought. The neighbors had 3 Tibetan Mastiffs that were housed on the roof of a small building. They

The river behind us

There was a river or tributary behind the neighborhood. This is Chris and his dad, Joe.

barked all night long. It was difficult to sleep because we had to the windows open to get a decent breeze. Otherwise the room got really stuffy. We went to dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant and went back to rest so we could be ready to explore the next day.

First thing after breakfast, Vicky and I went to the Potala Palace to get the tickets. It was one of the problems we had in Beijing with the travel agent. It was not too bad. We stood in line for about 30 minutes. Now that we had those tickets (for the next day) we could set about exploring a bit. It was a laid back day.

We went back got the guys, and found the bus to go to Sera Monastery. Every afternoon, the monks get together and debate. It is a beautiful place. It was founded in 1419. One of the interesting things to see while we were wandering around was how they cook and heat water. They use a solar powered something. It had to be one of the coolest contraptions I have ever seen. There was such a sense of peace. Since the monks

School show

The kids at the nearby school were having a show. They were so cute.

were off debating, we went into their worship area to wander around. It was so easy to sense the history of the place. Along with the peace and serenity, you could feel the years of prayer and meditation that had taken place there.

Then we walked up to the garden where the monks debate. It we very interesting. I wish I understood the language to understand what they were debating. One monk would sit on the ground while another stood up and made strange gestures while they talked. I will do my best to describe it but there is no way to do it justice. The monk standing would lift one leg and raise both arms. Then he would bring the leg down, slap his hands together, and push one hand towards the face of the sitting monk. Now, imagine several hundred monks doing this all at the same time. Very impressive.

Some of our group were starting to feel a bit tired again, so we headed for the hostel. We were at about 3200m in altitude. I had read it was good to take it easy the first day and let your body get used to it.