Tibet Shengya Hotel Lhasa

... we went to the Drepung Temple, another HUGE temple built in the 14th centary, the largest in Tibet, built before the Potala Palace was built. There used to be 10,000 monks living there, now only 500. It is positioned in the side of a hill and is difficult to explain the size.... Just HUUGGEE!!!

Then off to a local home to see how the Tibetan people live. The family fed us boiled potato ...

... Dalai Lamas, as well as many Buddha statues. It is opulance on a grand scale, yet shrouded in a dust and darkness - literally and figuratively. We also followed the Kora into the Jokhang Temple and made our way out to Sera Monastery, 5km from the city centre, to see the current scripture 'hand-printing press' and the monks debating. The monastery previously held some 5000 monks, but today there are just 600 there.



We drove out ...

... on brocade (tapestries)

At the rear of the Chanting Hall there is the Chapel of the Three Ages. There is a stupa of a Yellow Hat Lama from 1998 for Lhamnm Rinoch. There is a large Hayagriva at the right of the door with a red face and a large Vajrapani on the left with a blue face. There are statues of the 8 spiritual sons of Buddha standing along the walls. There are lots of stupas along the back with the past, present and future Buddhas.

Back in the ...

... on Monday. We were going to use the internet, but it was 38 yuan, so we passed. We boarded on time and were in the air before 8:00 am on the Air Bus 330. I dozed off for 10 or 15 minutes and then they started the service. We were served breakfast - a bun, gruel (rice porridge) with pickled radish, cold cucumber and beef salad and melon. I had some water and tea, Bill had water. They handed out headphones, but we did not use them. I am sure that there was no ...

... and life improvement, not going back to the darkness of caesaropapism and feudal serfdom system. As a matter of fact, to better protect Tibetan culture, Chinese central government has put significant fund on the maintenance of the Potala Palace, Norbu Lingka and Sagya Monastery. A more than ever maintenance project for 22 monasteries and ancient culture constructions will be implemented from this year. China also sets up ...

... day. However, I was glad I made all the stairs as they were fascinating places to visit. The Potala Palace was built in 2 stages: the red part in the 7th Century by the King (who had a Nepalese and a Chinese wife) and the white part in the 17th Century by the 5th Dalai Lama. It was the Winter Palace of the current Dalai Lama before he fled to India in the 1950's as a result of the Chinese takeover. It is strictly forbidden to have any images of the current ...

... We hate it,' the other admitted. It is always disappointing to arrive. To the extent that we idealise a place, we impoverish it, reducing reality to a list of shortcomings. Every visitor to Lhasa unpacks what the British diplomat Hugh Morris called 'the mind's Tibet' - and must substitute, painfully, a Tibet-as-is. Tibet as an incorporated province of China, a colony, an already deeply Sinicised culture, drunk on first money, a land of dirty-robed knife fighters and vexed young people ...

... who should travel to Tibet under the arrangement by the Foreign Affairs Office of Tibet Government. Generally it takes three days to get the Tibet permit if you could supply the full necessary documents. After having a permit, tibettravel.org could buy you the air tickets, and you can pass the check-in at the airport. Because we have LOCAL office in Lhasa, it's quite easy for you to get a travel permit with ...

... it. as part of the permit 'deal' we have a tibetan guide for the next few days, so he is going to take us out to sera monastry tomorrow. other than that, we are just canvassing the other hostels around to find other people who want to go to everest base camp and the villages surround lhasa. it is cheaper to travel in a group, and there are quite a few backpackers around the city. so hopefully we will have that sorted soon and will go travelling around.

Six months on the road...can you BELIEVE it? On the one hand it seems like I left only yesterday. However, as I look back at some of my journal entries and pictures they seem to have happened ages ago.

Thank you in advance for putting up with this very jumpy entry:

Since arriving in China I have perfected a few skills that previously were only rarely used. The first is the art of the squat toilet. Although I have seen and used them in many parts of the world, China ...