China & Tibet (cont...)
April 13
The airport was interesting. A girl came up to me to take a survey about the services offered at the airport. With the survey done, she stayed to practice her English and I tried to learn some new Chinese words. It was a recurring theme in China, especially if I showed them the Lonely Planet's phrase book. They would go through each and every word! After a while, the girl's boss came along and told her to get back to work. I complimented her on her English telling her that she spoke English far better than I spoke Chinese.
I managed to get a window seat for the flight to Lhasa - an advantage of showing up early to the airport! It was a very bumpy flight, but that's to be expected when flying over
mountains. I found my first look at the Himalayas reminded me of the Rocky Mountains. When I de-boarded the plane, the altitude hit me hard. I felt dizzy, and was short of breath. On the bus from the airport to Lhasa, I met two Dutch brothers, Yuo and Yelle. We discussed teaming up to go to Everest Base Camp. We spotted our first Tibetan monks walking along the roadside. It turns out we were staying at the same hostel, so once unpacked, we decided to stretch our legs and check out the message boards at the other hostels to see about getting a trip organized to EBC. At the Yak Hotel, I met an Irishman, Killian, interested in getting a tour flanged up. He already had a Korean couple, and possibly an Australian girl as well, however she was feeling sick from the altitude. I signed on with the Koreans and Killian after the Dutch fellows figured they just didn't have the time to go on the tour...
I joined Killian for supper at the Tashi 2 restaurant and met his travel partner, Jon, and an Israeli couple, Vic and Emery, and a dutch girl named Pia. On my way back to the hostel, I saw a monk, and I smiled as I removed my toque and showed my shaved melon. He walked towards me smiling, and reached for my hand with both of his, and we continued to walk as he murmured his mantras. Absolutely amazing. I turned in early in hopes of a good night's sleep.
April 14
Slept alright - the bed was the softest all trip, so far! Woke up with a dirty headache from the altitude. I grabbed some breakfast with Yuo and Yelle, and went to the bank to get my money for the Everest excursion. I ran into Vic and Emery at the bank, and they told be about a herbal medicine the locals have here to deal with the headaches. I found some at the pharmacy next door, and then ran into Jeyho and Killian. Perfect timing! I passed along my money to them, and set out for the Norbulingka with Yelle and Yuo.
The Norbulingka is the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lama. Commissioned by the seventh Dalai Lama in 1755, the Norbulingka served as the base of operations for the Tibetan government in the summer months. It was here at Norbulingka that the 14th (current) Dalai Lama escaped the clutches of the Chinese invasion in 1959. He fled dressed as a Tibetan soldier. Tens of thousands of Tibetans gathered around the Summer Palace to protect their Dalai Lama. The Chinese bombarded the Norbulingka, and there were very few buildings that weren't dammaged. It was a surreal feeling to be in a room where the Dalai Lama would have received foreign dignitaries, and meditated. The grounds of the Summer Palace are not as beautifully manicured as I had expected, however, there is not enough money to keep things immaculate. The nature of the occupation of Tibet is a contributing factor to this fact as well.
From here, we set off to see the Sera Monestary, one of the largest monestaries in Tibet. This monestary was once home to around 5000 monks, and five colleges of instruction. Today, there are a few hundred monks residing here, and three colleges. It was built in 1419, and fortunately survived the invasion of 1959 relatively unscathed. Here is a picture of a chorten at the Sera Monestary. There are prayer wheels surrounding its base. Pilgrims walk clockwise around the chorten spinning the prayer wheels clockwise. The chorten is symbolically important to the Tibetans. Chortens were first created to hold the cremated relics of the first Bhudda, Sakyamuni. The square base represents the earth, the dome water, the spire fire, and the moon and sun represent air and space.
We entered the main temple, and there sat dozens and dozens of monks praying and chanting, unpreturbed by the visiting tourists. We circled the great hall clockwise as is custom. At the front of the hall are several statues of the different Bhuddas, with white silk scarves thrown on them as offereings from pilgrims. There were also large plates with candles burning yak butter and yak milk, more offerings from the pilgrims. The scent definitely added to the experience! We were not allowed to take pictures in the chapels, however, for a fee that worked out to about $4, we were allowed to take pictures of the monks inside the great hall as they prayed. There is a hierarchy to the rows of monks - the closer to the middle row, and the closer to the alters bearing the Bhudda statues, the higher the rank of the monk. Here's a great picture of the monks praying. Beautiful tapestries hung everywhere. We left the Sera Monestary and grabbed some "babi" at the Tashi 2 restaurant - good stuff! It was sort of like a tortilla wrap, and
of course there was some yak meat in there!
The three of us then went off to the Potala Palace. The palace was comissioned by the Fifth Dalai Lama. Known as the greatest of all Dalai Lamas, the Fifth wanted to move his government from the Drepong Monestary to a new location. Worked was started in 1645, and the Dalai Lama moved there upon the completion of the White Palace in 1649. The Red Palace's origins are clouded by different recollections. It is agreed that the Fifth Dalai Lama died in 1682, however, the public was not told of his death until after the completion of the Red Palace in 1694. The debate is whether the Dalai Lama had comissioned the Red Palace as a funeral chorten for himself prior to his death, or if it was the regent that comissioned the building after the death of the Dalai Lama. Either way, the body of the Fifth Dalai Lama was the first to be moved to the Red Palace and is housed in a magnificant chorten encrusted with jewels and gold. Every subsequent Dalai Lama is laid to rest in the Potala Palace, and pilgrims come to offer their respect.
We then proceeded to go grocery shopping for the upcoming treks of tomorrow. After ditching our stuff in the hostel room, we headed down to the Jokhang Temple. Surrounding the temple is a pilgrimage circuit, also called a kora, known as the Barkhor. Here, there are several vendors selling everything from t-shirts to yak cheese to prayer wheels. It was amazing to follow the flow of people walking around the temple, praying as they spun their prayer wheels. Children would come and beg, monks would be seated meditating, and at the front of the Jokhang Temple, the pilgrims would kneel, slide forward on their palms, slide back, and stand up repetitively.
We entered the temple with several devout Tibetans cramming into the chapels to offer their yak milk and butter, some throwing the white silk scarves on the statues of Bhudda. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the chapels here, but what an amazing experience. The people were so tolerant of foreigners being inside their holy places. It's tragic that the Chinese can't just leave these people to their way of life. The picture to the left shows a view of the Potala Palace from the roof of the Jokhang Temple with a prayer-flag pole in the foreground. Here below is a shot of the roof of the temple. The Wheel of Law is flanked by two deer, and the vases of immortality are made of copper. 
The Dutch boys and I walked through the narrow streets off of the Barkhor wandering around aimlessly. Yuo played a bit of footy with some local kids, much to their delight! We met up for supper with Cal, a Brit we met at the Snowlands. The restaurant, the Nam-tso, offered a wide variety of different foods, and I took advantage of it - chicken pizza! I headed back to the hostel for an early night's rest. The trek to Everest begins tomorrow!
April 13
The airport was interesting. A girl came up to me to take a survey about the services offered at the airport. With the survey done, she stayed to practice her English and I tried to learn some new Chinese words. It was a recurring theme in China, especially if I showed them the Lonely Planet's phrase book. They would go through each and every word! After a while, the girl's boss came along and told her to get back to work. I complimented her on her English telling her that she spoke English far better than I spoke Chinese.
I managed to get a window seat for the flight to Lhasa - an advantage of showing up early to the airport! It was a very bumpy flight, but that's to be expected when flying over
mountains. I found my first look at the Himalayas reminded me of the Rocky Mountains. When I de-boarded the plane, the altitude hit me hard. I felt dizzy, and was short of breath. On the bus from the airport to Lhasa, I met two Dutch brothers, Yuo and Yelle. We discussed teaming up to go to Everest Base Camp. We spotted our first Tibetan monks walking along the roadside. It turns out we were staying at the same hostel, so once unpacked, we decided to stretch our legs and check out the message boards at the other hostels to see about getting a trip organized to EBC. At the Yak Hotel, I met an Irishman, Killian, interested in getting a tour flanged up. He already had a Korean couple, and possibly an Australian girl as well, however she was feeling sick from the altitude. I signed on with the Koreans and Killian after the Dutch fellows figured they just didn't have the time to go on the tour...I joined Killian for supper at the Tashi 2 restaurant and met his travel partner, Jon, and an Israeli couple, Vic and Emery, and a dutch girl named Pia. On my way back to the hostel, I saw a monk, and I smiled as I removed my toque and showed my shaved melon. He walked towards me smiling, and reached for my hand with both of his, and we continued to walk as he murmured his mantras. Absolutely amazing. I turned in early in hopes of a good night's sleep.
April 14
Slept alright - the bed was the softest all trip, so far! Woke up with a dirty headache from the altitude. I grabbed some breakfast with Yuo and Yelle, and went to the bank to get my money for the Everest excursion. I ran into Vic and Emery at the bank, and they told be about a herbal medicine the locals have here to deal with the headaches. I found some at the pharmacy next door, and then ran into Jeyho and Killian. Perfect timing! I passed along my money to them, and set out for the Norbulingka with Yelle and Yuo.
The Norbulingka is the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lama. Commissioned by the seventh Dalai Lama in 1755, the Norbulingka served as the base of operations for the Tibetan government in the summer months. It was here at Norbulingka that the 14th (current) Dalai Lama escaped the clutches of the Chinese invasion in 1959. He fled dressed as a Tibetan soldier. Tens of thousands of Tibetans gathered around the Summer Palace to protect their Dalai Lama. The Chinese bombarded the Norbulingka, and there were very few buildings that weren't dammaged. It was a surreal feeling to be in a room where the Dalai Lama would have received foreign dignitaries, and meditated. The grounds of the Summer Palace are not as beautifully manicured as I had expected, however, there is not enough money to keep things immaculate. The nature of the occupation of Tibet is a contributing factor to this fact as well.From here, we set off to see the Sera Monestary, one of the largest monestaries in Tibet. This monestary was once home to around 5000 monks, and five colleges of instruction. Today, there are a few hundred monks residing here, and three colleges. It was built in 1419, and fortunately survived the invasion of 1959 relatively unscathed. Here is a picture of a chorten at the Sera Monestary. There are prayer wheels surrounding its base. Pilgrims walk clockwise around the chorten spinning the prayer wheels clockwise. The chorten is symbolically important to the Tibetans. Chortens were first created to hold the cremated relics of the first Bhudda, Sakyamuni. The square base represents the earth, the dome water, the spire fire, and the moon and sun represent air and space.
We entered the main temple, and there sat dozens and dozens of monks praying and chanting, unpreturbed by the visiting tourists. We circled the great hall clockwise as is custom. At the front of the hall are several statues of the different Bhuddas, with white silk scarves thrown on them as offereings from pilgrims. There were also large plates with candles burning yak butter and yak milk, more offerings from the pilgrims. The scent definitely added to the experience! We were not allowed to take pictures in the chapels, however, for a fee that worked out to about $4, we were allowed to take pictures of the monks inside the great hall as they prayed. There is a hierarchy to the rows of monks - the closer to the middle row, and the closer to the alters bearing the Bhudda statues, the higher the rank of the monk. Here's a great picture of the monks praying. Beautiful tapestries hung everywhere. We left the Sera Monestary and grabbed some "babi" at the Tashi 2 restaurant - good stuff! It was sort of like a tortilla wrap, and
of course there was some yak meat in there!The three of us then went off to the Potala Palace. The palace was comissioned by the Fifth Dalai Lama. Known as the greatest of all Dalai Lamas, the Fifth wanted to move his government from the Drepong Monestary to a new location. Worked was started in 1645, and the Dalai Lama moved there upon the completion of the White Palace in 1649. The Red Palace's origins are clouded by different recollections. It is agreed that the Fifth Dalai Lama died in 1682, however, the public was not told of his death until after the completion of the Red Palace in 1694. The debate is whether the Dalai Lama had comissioned the Red Palace as a funeral chorten for himself prior to his death, or if it was the regent that comissioned the building after the death of the Dalai Lama. Either way, the body of the Fifth Dalai Lama was the first to be moved to the Red Palace and is housed in a magnificant chorten encrusted with jewels and gold. Every subsequent Dalai Lama is laid to rest in the Potala Palace, and pilgrims come to offer their respect.
We then proceeded to go grocery shopping for the upcoming treks of tomorrow. After ditching our stuff in the hostel room, we headed down to the Jokhang Temple. Surrounding the temple is a pilgrimage circuit, also called a kora, known as the Barkhor. Here, there are several vendors selling everything from t-shirts to yak cheese to prayer wheels. It was amazing to follow the flow of people walking around the temple, praying as they spun their prayer wheels. Children would come and beg, monks would be seated meditating, and at the front of the Jokhang Temple, the pilgrims would kneel, slide forward on their palms, slide back, and stand up repetitively.
We entered the temple with several devout Tibetans cramming into the chapels to offer their yak milk and butter, some throwing the white silk scarves on the statues of Bhudda. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the chapels here, but what an amazing experience. The people were so tolerant of foreigners being inside their holy places. It's tragic that the Chinese can't just leave these people to their way of life. The picture to the left shows a view of the Potala Palace from the roof of the Jokhang Temple with a prayer-flag pole in the foreground. Here below is a shot of the roof of the temple. The Wheel of Law is flanked by two deer, and the vases of immortality are made of copper. 
The Dutch boys and I walked through the narrow streets off of the Barkhor wandering around aimlessly. Yuo played a bit of footy with some local kids, much to their delight! We met up for supper with Cal, a Brit we met at the Snowlands. The restaurant, the Nam-tso, offered a wide variety of different foods, and I took advantage of it - chicken pizza! I headed back to the hostel for an early night's rest. The trek to Everest begins tomorrow!
posted by Travel Monkey at 2:27 PM
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