On the Rooftop of the World

  Lhatse, Tibet, China
Wednesday, September 20, 2006

We weren't really sure what to expect of Tibet. From descriptions of Shangri-La to accounts of Chinese oppression and persecution, we were eager to see what this remote land tucked into the Himalayas would have in store for us.

Flying into Lhasa, we were to get a taste of the natural beauty of Tibet. From the plane's window we could see the mountains, including Mount Everest, above the cloudline. It was amazing to think that the peak of Everest was almost the same height as the plane we were flying in!

Lhasa is located on the Tibetan plateau at an altitude of 3700 metres. We spent 5 days there to acclimatize to the altitude and, at the same time, explore the sights of the former Tibetan capital. Lhasa was nothing like what we expected. Our image of an ancient Buddhist kingdom untouched by the outside world were quickly dispelled when we saw the influence that Chinese occupation has brought. Today, Lhasa is a modern Chinese city with wide, fully paved avenues, a large square surrounded by lavish gardens, many shops and restaurants all neatly lined up along the road, signs in Chinese, and lots of mainland Chinese tourists. It seems the Chinese government has been hard at work improving the infrastructure, with the latest project being the railway linking Beijing to Lhasa. Unfortunately, much of the character of Tibet seems to be diminishing as more and more screams of 'made in China'.

The most famous attraction in Lhasa and probably all of Tibet is the amazing Potala Palace, built in 7th century AD. It used to serve as the seat of the Tibetan government and was the winter residence of the Dalai Lama. The palace also contains the spectacular gold and jeweled tombs of the previous Dalai Lamas. We also went to see the Dalai Lama's former summer palace, the Norbulingka, which had beautiful gardens with fish ponds and colourful flowers.


Areas where we found Tibetan culture most visible were the Temples, and there were plenty of them around! We saw Buddhist temples at almost every town that we went to, and saw how devoted Tibetans are to their religion - they can be seen making their way clockwise around the temple, turning prayer wheels while reciting the mantra 'Om Mane Padme Hum', and prostrating (standing, kneeling, then laying on the ground face down, before getting up and repeating). In the chapels, they also offer money and yak butter to all the different idols, and touch their forehead to the shelf/cabinet that contains the idol. The moment that I really noticed the extent of their devotion was at a temple that had huge glass display cabinets filled with tiny idols. Under the cabinets were empty space, and we saw elderly Tibetans get on their hands and knees to crawl under all of them. It really was a moving sight.


Some of the more memorable monasteries/temples we visited:

Sera Monastery - where we saw monks debating in a really strange way. Monks pair off to discuss topics and quiz each other. Everytime a monk provided a satisfactory answer, the other monk would slap his hands as a sign of approval (it looks like he's just about to slap the guy, except he just slaps his other hand). As you can imagine, the courtyard was filled with the sound of shouting and slapping, and the whole thing looked a bit hostile. It was quite the experience.

Ganden Monastery - this one was our favourite because it was in a very scenic location at 4500-metres, high above the valley and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Ed, always up for a challenge, decided to walk further up above the monastery and reached 5000 metres where it was just him and a few yaks.

Tashilhunpo Monastery - in Tibet's second largest town, it's the traditional home of the Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in the Tibetan religion. We had a cool experience here because we actually met the Panchen Lama. We bowed our head and he touched the top of our head. While we weren't allowed to take photos, his escorts handed out laminated photos as souvenirs for us to keep.

The tourism industry is booming as foreigners want to visit while the Tibetan culture still exists and as mainland Chinese are now able to take the new railway. I experienced the downfall of tourism, which I really did not expect in Tibet. The view of tourists as walking ATMs leads some people to push their children into begging for money, or in my case, chasing for money! We were leaving a monastery in a small town and a little boy about 4 years old came up to me and wanted my huge bottle of green tea (why couldn't I just have had water!). I backed away and was really nice about it, but somehow it escalated into him pulling on my purse and saying "gimme" over and over again. I'll never forget the look of desperation and determination on his face. He wouldn't let go and was hanging off my purse, so Ed actually lifted this boy off the ground by his arms and he was dangling in the air, kicking (but still hanging onto my purse)! Ed had to pry his fingers off the strap of my purse, which wasn't an easy task, but finally the boy was off my purse. Ed said to me "run" so I did, but as soon as Ed put this boy on the ground, he came running after me, and I started screaming "help me"!!! Thankfully, a local guy stopped the boy. This will definitely be the weirdest and funniest experience of the entire trip. Imagine a 30-year old running away from a 4-year old...I laugh about it now, but at the moment, it was scary!

The highlight of Tibet for us is coming up next...Everest Base Camp!