Tibet Kailash Hotel Lhasa

... in offering to Buddha and so the square was a mass of smoke and amongst it all thousands of devotees were walking clockwise around the temple area and many were prostrating themselves in front of the temple and also prostrating clockwise after a step or two repeatedly around it as well. An awesome sight. The Tibetan people were dressed in their thick dress like covers and the women exotically ornamented with jewellery, earrings, ornately braided hair and their dresses thick and ...

... Later we all wandered through ancient medieval streets heading away from the square until we reached the Muslim quarter. It was quite a surprise to see a Mosque in the middle of a Buddhist Town, but then again Buddhism respects other religions, in fact Buddhism simply lives alongside whatever religion you might be currently practicing. Worth a bit more research. <br><br>We took a left to find Dropenling Centre somewhere in the depths of the old town. The Chinese tourists had ...

Tibet - independent country or province of China?<br><br>As I crossed the border, I was acutely aware that my western views on this delicate subject were likely to be directly opposed to those of the Chinese. I had discussed the situation with a bright, educated Chinese boy, whilst trekking in Nepal, half-expecting to hear him agree with the concerns of the world at large and acknowledge that his government had no rightful claims on the area. How wrong I was. His quiet and humble ...

... to cross the street. I look at them, they smile and a flash of gentleness. Where else can I walk with gentle praying people alongside? This is so cool. <br><br>The women are dressed so elegantly. Women are covered and the dresses are beautifully tailored. Lhasa is cold in the mornings and women have to be covered from the harsh elements. My SPF 70 do not work here, the sun is more penetrating. I get panda eyes from my sunglasses even after ...

... a circle with circles inside and divided by squares (I know, not a good explanation). It is the symbol of the Tibetan King. <br><br>As we left and waiting for Pasang to chat with his buddy I was thinking that it is kinda sad that we can be here and the Dalai Lama can not...<br><br>We saw a gray parakeet fly by and a few other birds while we were at the park. Bill was goofing around and jumping on a hose that was watering the grounds. Around the tenth time he made the hose ...

... Met with a few different Foreign Independent Travel (FIT) agencies yesterday and today as they are the only ones who can organise it. Our current permit was booked by Mr Chen through a Chinesse agency and they are refusing to arrange for us to go overland to Nepal so we have been having all these 'meetings' with the FIT agencies. It's a bit sensitive as the agenicies are responsible for you if they arranged your permit and if you go ...

... and built like a fortress. Here the monks held an all day service to commemorate above event and here we could witness the auditory onslaught of tantric buddhistic ritual instruments. There were horns (some of them like long straight Alphorns), cymbals and drums, beat to the rhythm of recitation from the old sanskrit texts (the music comes out when Sanskrit is read, whereas most lithurgy comprises Tibetan translations of the old texts with Sanskrit only being used ...

... year. One of the most intriguing things to see is the 'debates' at the monastery. The older monks/teachers grill a small group of students in the courtyard. There is a lot of clapping, shouting, and spirited dialog that goes on. Something I was not prepared for was how dry and barren everything was. It looked like Palm Springs - barren fields and mountains; everything was dry. I assumed that the Himalyas would be lush and grren.

... shared taxi with three drunk Uighurs. In a town that shall remain nameless, we switched transport, heading either south-west, or north-east, or some other direction, depending. Find your own way. The kingdom provided a number of shocks when we finally reached it. It was the size of it that stunned us first. The city had been the richest city in Asia in its heyday, and looked it: the enormous curtain walls of the outer fortress ran out through the haze for miles in a giant circle. Hundreds ...