We only had to arrive in Tibet to full head over heels-in-love with the place. I was struck immediately by how wide & blue the sky was. It reminded me of how much I miss blue sky & how long it has been since I have seen it. We were met at the airport by our guide, Mr T - it is a condition of our stay that we are accompanied by a guide at all times in Tibet. We were lucky enough to be assigned a Tibetan guide however he was constantly shadowed by a Chinese driver who's other job was to spy on Mr T & report back to the Government if he said anything "inappropriate". Before we were allowed into the van, Mr T presented us each a white Tibetan prayer scarf to welcome us to his country. (I will refer to Tibet as a country cos as far as I'm concerned it is one!). On the way into town we stopped off on the side of the road to see a large buddha carved into the side of a hill. It was beautifully painted with bright colours & decorated with rows & rows of prayer flags. Looking back over my photos from our first few hours in Tibet I am struck by how strongly the colours jump off the screen, a far cry from the haze of smog that can be seen in all our photos from China.
Lhasa is the capital of Tibet & is located at just over 3,000m altitude so we took the rest of the afternoon easy....a gentle walk around town & a small dinner. The next morning we ventured to the magnificent Potala Palace - home of all the past Dalai Lama's...all except the current one who is exiled in India. The Potala Palace is breathtaking. The peace you feel as you enter the grounds is overwhelming. Many buddhists make the pilgrimage to the Palace to make offerings to the various gods & pray at the tombs of the many Dalai Lama's buried there. We are lucky that the Chinese driver is not with us today but it sad to see Mr T look around nervously before answering many of our questions. It is forbidden to talk about the current Dalai Lama & there are no images or references to him at all in the Palace. The views from the top of the Palace take in the whole of Lhasa & what a breathtaking sight. A low rise city in the shadow of a sprawling mountain range.....did I mention the wide expanse of blue sky??
Photo: The magnificent Potala Palace
Photo: A monk carrying his rosary beads
Photo: Looking out over Lhasa
One of the lovely things about travelling around in Lhasa is that the public buses are cheap, easy to use & best of all safe. The locals on the bus would smile at us, laugh with us (& at us) & try & give up their seats for us. On one trip there was a little old lady with a tiny puppy on her lap. When she noticed us making goo goo eyes at it she handed it over without hesitation for a cuddle. Just the sweetest people!
The afternoon was spent shopping in the streets around the other main temple in the middle of town - Jokhang Temple. All Tibetan buddhists are expected to make a pilgrimage to the Temple at least one in their lifetime. The pilgrimage must be made on foot, from their home.....which could be 1,000kms away. Once at the Temple, the pilgrims are required to walk around & around the outside of the Temple & then prostrate themselves on the ground repeatedly infront of the entrance. All while chanting a prayer over & over again. It doesn't end there though. If you are a super devout Buddhist who wants to prove his or her committment you would make the pilgrimage by talking one step sideways, prostrating yourself, standing back up & repeating...all the way from home!! Serious stuff! Did I mention that all while each pilgrim carries a prayer wheel which they must keep spinning in a clockwise direction in rhythym with their chant. Inside each wheel is a long, ribbon of paper which contains their prayer.
Unfortunately it was while strolling around the town that we notice anothor disturbing legacy of the "cultural revolution" - on every street corner & every roof top were armed guards. Now, I'm not just talking one local copper, no I'm talking groups of 4 - 8, fully armed, dressed in riot gear, Chinese, military police. Your full on commando style soldier. They are there to react should they see any sign of uprising & to handle any "innappropriate" behavior. Amidst all this, the Tibetans just go about there business & live their lives as normally & peacefully as they can.
All around the Jokhang Temple are little market stalls selling the most amazing silver jewellery, rosary beads, teapots & old (& not so old) Tibetan artifacts. It was so much fun haggling with the stall holders & even more interesting when a little old Tibetan lady came over & grabbed Andrew by the elbow & dragged him away. I thought here we go - but all she did was whisper in his ear "Don't buy from that lady, she is Chinese!!"....from that moment on, we made sure we bought from the Tibetans only.
Don't get me wrong, I loved China & had an amazing time travelling around there & learning about their culture....I just take issue with them coming into Tibet & not only distroying so much of their heritage but for altering their way of life & changing their culture for future generations.
The next morning we visited the Sera Monastry. It is a working monastry which in the past housed thousands of monks.....it now houses less than 300. Inside the monastry there was evidence of some of the Chinese propaganda from the "cultural revolution" painted on the wall.....although, somehow, it had been whitewashed over & could only just be seen under the paint. Also of interest was a portrait of Chairman Mao - or should I say the outline on the wall where the portrait used to be. Somone had carefully chipped his face off the wall leaving only the outline of his head. This part of the monastry is currently being restored so when I return to Lhasa (hopefully soon!!), these features will no longer be visable!!
Photo: The lovely Sera Monastry
Photo: Where's Mr Mao gone???
The afternoon saw us at another monastry - Drepung Monastry. It is here that we were privilaged enough to witness the great monk debates. It is a tradtional, old practice where the young monks gather in the courtyard every afternoon to "debate" or question the theories they are studying or the issues of the day. What makes this so interesting & entertaining is that the listener sits, crossed legged on the ground while the questioner stands above him & claps his hands while firing off questions. It makes for a very noisy & animated debate. All the while, gathered around the outer edges of the courtyard are the older monks - on hand should any of the debaters get a little over enthusiastic! Quite a magnificant sight.
Photo: Nothing wrong with a bit of Monk love!!
Later that evening we made our way back to the Potala Palace to witness it at night. It is subtly lit from underneath & makes for an imposing sight set high up on the hill. As a strange contrast to the Palace, the Chinese have installed a water & light show (much like the one in front of The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas!!) in the square under the Palace. So you turn one way & you have a centuries old monastry & you turn 180 degrees & you have a 21st century water installation. Tibet is definitley a country of contrast.
Photo: All lit up at night
The following day we got to visit the Jokhang Temple - or the temple in the middle of town with all the prostrating pilgrims. It was another lovely, peaceful place & it was nice to see what the pilgrims do once they are inside their "holy grail". The temple was beautiful but the trip there was one of things that sums up our experience on Tibet. We were catching the bus into town & we realised that the driver & conductor were the same ones from the day before. We knew this because as we approached the bus they were both hanging out the windows, waving, smiling & laughing....very excited that we would choose to catch their bus again. Seriously, the bus rides were a real highlight!!
We were also lucky enough to be able to visit a small nunnery not far from the Jokhang Temple. These ladies were amazing. Bigger smiles I don't think I've ever seen. They were making the prayer papers to go inside the hand held prayer wheel as carried by each pilgrim. They sang & swayed while they worked & were very happy to talk to us & answer questions. Inside the nunnery thay have a small temple, a tea house & a shop & the whole place is kept imacculately clean. I was taking photos of some flowers when one of the nuns snuck over & started posing in front of them like a supermodel - very funny!! Of course I laughed, then she laughed then grabbed me in a big, bear hug, slapped me on the back & went back to her day!!
Photo: One of the beautiful nuns!
At dinner on our last evening I got to talking to one of the young waiters. He had noticed me standing on my own, looking out over the roofs adjacent to our top floor restaurant. (I was actually taking photos of the cats sleeping on the roof!!). He went away & came back with some off-cuts of meat which he threw for them so that they would come closer & he laughed at me ooh-ing & aah-ing over a couple of stray moggies. As we stood there, he asked me in a low, hushed whisper if I knew of the current Dalai Lama? I said that I knew about him & his eyes lit up. He then asked me if I had met him. Of course, I said no but I conveyed my dismay at the current situation. Now this young man didn't speak much English but he said something that will stay with me forever. He looked straight into my eyes & said "I have sadness in my heart". I just wanted to cry. He is 17 & he said he will have to leave if things don't change. What a sad situation for a country of warm, welcoming, peaceful people.
Photo: Afore mentioned stray cats!
So I hope I have done Tibet justice. It is with sadness that I boarded the plane to leave - it was a place that really got under my skin. If it was any consolation, as we were flying to Kathmandu in Nepal we did get to fly over the magnificent Himilayan Mountains & we did get a jaw-dropping, birds eye view of Everest. What a sight!!
Photo: Oh yes, that is Mount Everest!!
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