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Published: April 8th 2012
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Drive up to Drepung with yaks and prayer flagsToday sadly was our last full tour day in Lhasa, and our last day with our guide. Unfortunately he was not able to obtain yet another permit needed, this a military permit required for travelers outside of the city. We were introduced to our new guide who will drive us to the Nepalese border, and already has the necessary documentation. Even though our time here was short, Chuck has become a very dear friend to us. He brought us to his home today, where we had lunch and talked about music, iphones video games, and life in the US. He reminded us of how lucky were are to have the freedoms that we as Americans so oftentimes take for granted. Inside his home, like every Buddhist home, a room is dedicated as a holy room with an altar, large golden Buddhas, and dishes filled with water and lotus flowers as offers to the Buddha.
We visited another monastery called Drepung, which was once the world’s largest monastery housing 10,000 monks. It was built in 1416, and walking through it’s streets felt again like walking through a medieval city. We drove up the mountain through the low clouds dropping some snow, to
Squat toilet, or "how bad do you really have to pee?"reach this place. This site is considered a holy mountain, so there were thousands of prayer flags running up the mountainside. There was also a small herd of yaks, the first of many I’m sure we will see before we leave this country.
We then headed back to the Barkhor market area, which surrounds the Jokhang temple, the most revered religious structure in all of Tibet. Here thousands of pilgrims circumambulate the temple at all times of the day, spinning their prayer wheels, and chanting prayers.
Built in 639, it houses Buddhist sculptures of incredible beauty. I continued to be enthralled by these enigmatic images, and am now able to differentiate some of the Buddhas and their manifestations from others.
Before I left home, I planned to visit the Braille without Borders blind school in Lhasa. I had watched a documentary a few years ago about this school, called Blindsight, and its mission to help educate blind Tibetan children. In this culture, as in many others, it is believed that the blind are cursed, and that they must have committed evil deeds in their past life to be deserving of such a disability. This documentary moved me so much, that
I packed an entire bag of stuffed animals to give to these children.
The coordinator of the school was an incredibly eloquent and hospitable local Tibetan, who is completely blind. He gave us a tour of the school, and explained the mission to help educate these children in basic skills of self sufficiency, and help them build their self esteem, along with teaching them braille and computer skills, and the older students massage. It is said that the blind give the best massages, and I hope to have the time to indulge myself with one before my trip is done.
The children range in age 6 to 18, and are sent from all over the country to live here. I thought that I was only going to give the stuffed animals to the smaller children, but they all eagerly lined up with their hands out and their smiles wide. They immediately began rubbing their faces with the soft fur, and exchanged with each other sharing in the different tactile sensations each different toy had to offer. It reminded me of the countless times I distributed toys to Iraqi children, and their absolute joy and gratitude to have a toy, oftentimes
the first toy and only toy they will ever have.
Amazingly I had exactly the right amount, 35 toys, one for each child. It would have broken my heart had someone had gone without, but these children were so gracious, I knew that they would have happily shared with each other.
Before we left, they gathered together, and a young girl, about 7 years old, sung us a song in English that brought tears to our eyes, guide included. The song asked for people to not treat them differently, and that they are special in their own way. It was an experience we will never forget, and an inspiration and reminder of how fortunate we are.
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Mike Palestro
non-member comment
Lhasa day 3
What an amazing visit! You guys rock! 35 gifts and 35 children. How perfect is that?