Today we had a positive start to breakfast. Our tour guide had explained what was required after our experience of yesterday. So, what did we have? With great flair and procession we were presented with cold fried eggs, cold French toast, jam and 3 plates of cakes - sponge, a kind of chocolate streaked bun and one we could not decide what was in it so we avoided it. To drink we had coffee which already had milk and sugar added, Chinese tea with all sorts of herbs floating in it and warm long-life milk. We definitely gave them 10 out of 10 for effort and, after we had eaten our fill, thanked them profusely. The restaurant manager and our guide were equally concerned that our stay was as good as possible and that we did not have any complaints about accommodation, food, service or anything else. The Tibetans really are very sweet people who try their best.
Our first visit for the day was the Summer Palace. These are huge grounds with trees, bamboo, flowers, lakes and ponds, a viewing room for the current Dali Lama to watch the Summer festival held in these grounds when they were opened up to the common folk and a palace built by each Dali Lama.
We visited the palaces of the 7th, 8th and 14th (current but exiled) Dali Lamas. Each one was different and, as with the Potala Palace, each had many rooms with statues and wall paintings with specific meanings or stories.
The palace of the current Dali Lama was the one where we could visit the most rooms and was also, for me, the most impressive. On an amusing note, we were proudly shown some of the gifts that were presented pre 1959 and exile which included a giant radio from Russia, a piano, a few paintings and a room full of armchairs from India for receiving foreign dignitaries.
Something else in this palace which cannot legally be shown anywhere else in Tibet or China is, as part of the one wall painting, a picture of the current Dali Lama. It was in a railed off area which was quite hard for me to see and make out so our guide spoke to the Monk who was looking after the room. Even though there were huge CCTV cameras in the room, once the group in the room had moved on, the Monk took me on a private tour of the railed off area so I could see all of the wall painting. He had a smattering of English and along with some international sign language we had a great conversation. It really made the visit for us.
We left our guide for a while so that we could wander around and admire a bit more of the grounds.
Today we decided to forego lunch for a cup of decent coffee as it had been a few days since I had had one. We were taken to Lhasa's "Best Coffee Club" complete with comfy couches, pink curtains and dangling plastic beads, this was an experience of note. Understanding and being understood even with an English menu and our guide was a challenge in itself. Once we had got the black coffee with no milk or sugar sorted out I went to look at the cups and pots to be able to see which I should order. We successfully ordered and got a cappuccino for Annie and a pot of black coffee for me which was just what we wanted. It is amazing how expensive coffee is in relation to food or tea. This is obviously because it is neither popular nor grown locally. To put it in perspective; lunch of Biriyani and Chop Suey with a pot of tea cost RMB 46, our coffee cost RMB120!
Our afternoon excursion was another amazing experience visiting the Sera Monastery and Sera Je College. Here we saw the only Sand Mandala in existence in Tibet. This is an ancient pictorial representational art form of Buddhist spiritual symbols created by and then blessed by Tibetan Monks.
We also saw a printing room where artisans are brought in to print masses of books and fabric mantras for showing the path to enlightenment. One of these mantras showed a man and an elephant in black at the beginning of their path and, as they made their way up the path, they became more and more white until, upon enlightenment, they were both completely white. All of this printing was carried out using just hand rollers and ink brushes. This room is much like a bookshop, the Monks wander around browsing through books and then, should they wish, they can buy them. There were also piles of books packaged up and ready for transportation as donations to other Monasteries that are too small to be able to afford to print or purchase the books. It is nice to see that commercialism has not been imposed to that level.
Touring the monastery was another interesting experience as there was a healthy mix of tourists and Pilgrims. As this monastery was such an important book one there were many cupboards filled with books which the Pilgrims climbed under to pray!
Then it was on to something that I don't believe we will ever have a chance to experience again, debating Monks! What a sight, a big walled area filled with small groups of Monks, mostly between 3 and 5, some more, some just 2. In most groups, one Monk would be standing and leading the debate on one of five major topics: technology, medicine, logic, grammar and philosophy. For the Monks who are still learning and practising there are five minor topics: syntax, work, astrology, physics and dharma (the order of nature and life). There is a lot of clapping and foot stamping, mostly by the standing Monk which we learnt had to do with clapping and stamping out ignorance. There is a large crowd of tourists, locals, Pilgrims and photographers so a great deal of showmanship goes on with many of the debaters. It does however take approximately four years of studying as a Monk to be entitled to join in the debate and the elders, who are not so old, have the better and quieter spots to sit and debate. The sad part of this is that there were once 5,500 Monks at this monastery, there are now just around 500!
On our way from the college back to the car we walked through a local market and bus station. A number of the Pilgrims, especially elderly ladies, came to pull at the hairs on my arm to see if they came off. Then they saw Annie's hairs on her arms so tried the same. I showed the one lady the hairs on my chest which sent her running off in shock :-)
Our final experience was supper. We walked down a side street nearby our hotel giving the restaurants with rabbits in cages or strange things hanging in the windows a VERY wide berth and found one that turned out to be a fish restaurant. The manageress was concerned and wanted to make sure we understood it was fish or fish and they were fresh out of the fishtank. Having looked at what and how the other diners were eating we accepted this and sat down to face our fate of a fish hotpot. A giant metal bowl filled with a very spicy mixture and four small whole fish arrived. This later had a mixture of beansprouts, potato slices and tofu pieces added to it and we were given a bowl of rice each. Annie expertly got the fish sorted for us to eat which involved chopping off the head and tail, removing the skin and getting rid of the bones, all this with just a set of chopsticks! I sampled a Lhasa beer and Annie had a can of sweet iced tea. The meal was delicious and we apparently provided the restaurant staff, who all came to check up on us, and the rest of the diners with a great deal of amusement. What a great way to end the day.
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