Lhasa - City of adventures
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2007
1
25
58
Trip End
Oct 22, 2007
Lhasa,
China
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Our first adventure was breakfast and the Chinese buffet. We have been doing really well with eating local food but this was one too far. We started asking about Western breakfast as, not only are we staying in the "Best Hotel in Lhassa" but it is also a four star hotel. There was no-one who spoke English so the receptionist phoned someone and then handed the phone to Annie. The person at the other end could also not speak English. We found a guest who could help us translate but, now that they understood, there was much concern and panic as the head chef / manager was not in. we gave up on breakfast.
Then came the next adventure, handing in some laundry. First the lady went through it all in the passage. Then, as we got down to the reception to meet our guide, the laundry lady appeared. Again she went through our laundry on the reception counter and wanted to know what the note Annie had written was about
Jokhang Temple
. It was saying that the t-shirts should not be ironed as some had some motifs and patterns on that would have been ruined by ironing. Panic over as our guide explained all and we could get on our way.First stop, the Jokhang Temple. As we have previously visited a few Buddhist Temples on our trip we did have some preconceived ideas about what we would see. How wrong we were! We approached the temple via a pedestrian walkway (also used by a few cars and mopeds) where we passed and were passed by Pilgrims carrying and spinning prayer wheels (I think called "Lama Wheels"). Upon arrival at the temple we were greeted by the sight of many Pilgrims prostrating themselves in front of the temple. This was done by having a long thin mat in front of them; they would start by standing and making a prayer sign at three points, above the head, in front of the chest and below the chest; next they would go down onto the prayer mat and, using hand mats to slide alongside the prayer mat, go from their knees to flat out prostration and make another prayer sign above their heads. We watched in fascination for quite some time. We also saw some really cute children who were with their praying parents, one baby sometimes mimicked his mother.
From there we went into the temple only to be even more amazed. There was a line of Pilgrims entering the temple and stretching all the way around the inside including in every small chapel in the temple. Our guide led us around the pretty dark interior explaining what each chapel was, how the Pilgrims were praying and what the sacrifices were that were being offered to the Buddhas and Gods
Jokhang Temple
. These ranged from money to Yak milk and Yak butter which is used for keeping the candles burning. We also learned that in the past there were some 3,000 Monks living in and praying in this temple but today this has been reduced to a mere 90. This is because before a Tibetan can become a Monk or a Nun they must get permission from the Chinese Government, an arduous and often fruitless process.We headed out of the temple past two giant incense burners which were on either sideof a small building that housed thousands of burning candles lit in memory of family members who have died.
This was where we had our first really interesting lesson on Buddhism. The first important lesson being that there are four sects that make up the religion; the Red Hats who are the oldest sect and originated in India, the Yellow Hats which is the sect of the current Dali Lama and the Sagya and Godju sects which we know little about and I wander how wrong my spelling is?! We also learnt about the worldy Gods who are a second level to Buddha and are the Gods of Wisdom, Power and Compassion (who has 1,000 arms, 1,000 eyes and 11 heads!). The Buddhist religion appears to be a very gentle and kind religion but one that is physically demanding when you see and hear what the Pilgrims endure as part of their praying rituals.
After visiting the Jokhang Temple the tradition the Pilgrims follow is to walk clockwise around the temple along the stall-lined street called the Barkhor
Jokhang Temple Kids
. As our guide told us, the stalls were all pretty touristy but amazingly very few stall holders were shouting out to tout their wares.What an amazing experience the whole Jokhang Temple visit was!
We were taken to a restaurant just off the Barkhor that had English menus but not aimed only at Western tourists, tourists from China, Nepal, India and anywhere else were welcomed and were there but I doubt there were many locals :-) We shared a Biriyani and a Chop Suey, both were delicious. We discovered that after lunch it is customary, due to the altitude and having to take things slowly, to return to your hotel for a rest for an hour or so. Who are we to question custom and such a good one at that?!
Our next treat for today was the Potala Palace and what a treat it was. We have the privilege of a view of the Potala from our hotel room so had been admiring it from afar. Upon arrival we got to climb the many steps up to the entrance which, at an altitude of around 3,700 metres above sea level, is pretty tiring so we were a bit puffed by the time we got to the top.
It is a huge building made up of the red and white palaces, between 115 and 130 metres high over 13 floors and rumoured to have over 1,000 rooms but very few of these are open to the public. It was an equally fascinating albeit completely different visit from the mornings visit to the Jokhang Temple. Each room had a specific purpose or meaning and the walls adorned by either statues and figurines of Buddhas and Gods or decorated by exceptionally detailed wall paintings and murals
Jokhang Temple
. We were treated to visits to the roof for the views and the great hall where many thousand Monks would congregate with the Dali Lama in times past. We also got to see some of the tombstones of some of the past Dali Lamas which were huge, made of solid gold weighing many kilograms and adorned with precious stones. The largest of these was that of the 5th Dali Lama who is credited with uniting all of Tibet in peace and Buddhism. His tombstone is a 12 metre high solid block of gold and jewellery!Unfortunately the visiting times are strictly limited to an hour with penalties of denying the offending agencies future visitor tickets so our guide was continuously rushing us on to the next room with little time to admire after the end of his explanation of the room. It would be unfair for us or anyone else to cause others to be denied the privilege of a visit to the Potala Palace so we kept going. Afterwards, when we were out, we had time to talk to our guide and get to understand some of what we had seen in more detail. Quite an amazing place to visit and I am lucky enough to be looking at the view of the palace from our room as I write this!
Two of the major changes the Chinese have made that are visible from the palace are: the moving of an entire village from the front of the palace to smaller apartments at the back of the palace. The reason - to build a square along the lines of a smaller Tiananmen Square. And to tear down the University of Tibetan Medicine fom a nearby hilltop and incorporate it as just a department of a medical university
Jokhang Temple view of Potala Palace
. The reason - to build a TV tower. Other changes have been made such as the road and rail infrastructure and the introduction of mobile phone networks but equally there has been a major influx of Chinese into the country and, generally speaking, they fill most positions of management. When we did get our guide to open up to us a bit he is a bit angry and bitter about some of these things but is happy to have mobiles and plans to take his girlfriend on the train to visit China. He also told us that one of the early Dali Lamas predicted what is happening now and also said that, with the influx of people from India and Nepal, there will be happiness in Tibet again. There are many debates that can be held on the changes that have come about as a result of the Chinese takeover of Tibet. Is this progress, I leave it to you to decide. 
