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Published: October 9th 2010
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The Potala Palace
In the center of Lhasa Breakfast in the hotel was totally and completely Western. I had granola and cornflakes with milk and bananas on top, asian pears and apples, fried eggs and potatoes. There was even coffee, which many people were happy about.
We went to the Potala Palace first. This is perched on top of a cliff. The city is built around it, I believe. I am probably wrong. We had to go through a series of security checks to get in, and couldn't bring water or chapstick. Many local people were also visiting the palace, spinning prayer wheels as they went.
We climbed stairs and stairs and stairs, but took a lot of photo breaks so had plenty of time to catch our breath. In the square below, the army and school children were putting on a demonstration for National Day. It is National Week, so all of the tourist-type sites are crowded with Tibetans, Han, Americans, and Europeans. The palace is beautiful. It is difficult to take a bad picture in Tibet.
We visited the Dalai Lama's quarters, in which you are not allowed to take photos, and I had to take my fedora off. The local people shoved past
with no apologies. They spooned yak butter into the butter lamps and moved on. The smell of Tibet is yak butter and incense.
We descended and, next, visited a traditional Tibetan medical clinic. A doctor gave us a brief explanation of Tibetan medicine, which has three humors: yellow, blue, and white. He felt my pulse and told me that I am 70 percent white and 30 percent blue, which means that I am a nervous person.
For lunch we had real, live Tibetan food, which is delicious. We ate at low tables and sat on couches, which is an awkward position for eating, by the way. I tried butter tea, which is yak butter, salt, and black tea. Very strong. I could only have one little cup, because it reminded me of the butter lamps in the palace and I imagined them recycling the butter lamps for our tea.
Our tour guide ordered for us and helped to serve us, which I found strange. In Beijing and Xian they merely left us at a table and disappeared into a back room. My favorite dishes were yak dumplings (momos), fried potatoes, veggies, and barley gnocci with butter and
The mountains
They surround Lhasa brown sugar. Tibetan food is comfort food.
We had a break after lunch and I didn't have a key to the room and I didn't know where Sara(h) was, so I went shopping. Only solution, right? I bought plain white prayer flags, which stand for clouds. I found Jeff somewhere around the temple. We walked back to the hotel together. Saw a sheep. Both of us were locked out of our rooms, so we had someone come and unlock our doors for us.
In the afternoon, we visited Jhokang temple. More butter lamps and incense. The monks had a debate while we were there. This involves one monk sitting on the ground, the other yelling and moving violently, snapping his prayer beads.
On the top floor of the temple we stopped to take pictures. The sky was the bluest I have ever seen it. We are on "the roof of the world." Tibet has the highest altitude of any place on earth. Some people have been feeling sick, but so far I have not experienced any altitude sickness.
We had more free time and then another tourist buffet for dinner. Then Robert, Scott, Clare, Audrey, Kristiana
and I went in search of the Tibetan night life. We could not find a single bar until Robert asked a pair of women. They led us to a street with only bars, down a dark alleyway. Sort of sketchy. But inside the bars people were reading and playing cards. Very relaxed.
I had an iced tea, but Kristiana had Tibetan brand Barley Beer. I tried a sip and it was actually pretty good. At least, I could swallow it without making a face. We just chatted, and then left pretty early.
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Heather Greenberg
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Did you see lots of Lhasa Apsos in Lhasa? ;) Love the blog and pictures. I hope returning to college in the US won't be too much of a letdown.