September 9, 2009 – Day 258 – Lhasa, Tibet

Being in Lhasa is literally being in a whole different world. It is absolutely nothing like China and it is difficult to see just why China insists on maintaining ownership over this small, poor region. The people are so wonderful and even though they do stare, they are honestly curious instead of nosy and will return your glance with a big smile.

In the streets of Lhasa

They tend to get a kick out of us trying out our few Tibetan words with them and seem to appreciate even this small attempt to better understand their culture. There are some beggars here but so far it seems like fewer than any place we went in China. The school kids (actually the girls are more outgoing that the boys) really love to shout “Hello!” to us and flash a big grin when we say hello back. Lhasa is a really nice city and feels very comfortable and seems relatively safe. (Note that this is only our own perspective and we do not know any real rates of criminal activity here. Travel with the same precautions as you would anywhere). It is a small city of only about 1 million but it feels and looks much smaller. The buildings are not very tall and the city rolls flatly across instead of up. The usual trash is here as well but really, the city is not all that dirty. We would love to spend more time here but with the prices of tours and the government restrictions, we are forced to make do with 2 short days.

The view across the valley

We spent the morning visiting the lovely Summer Palace. We grabbed a local bus which turned out pretty funny when a monk started rubbing Saben’s big red beard and laughing big belly laughs on the full bus. Everywhere we go (even back home) the monks are always up for a laugh and are a pretty good time. It didn’t take long to get to the Summer Palace and we coughed up the steep entrance fee, RMB 150. As usual there were no photos allowed inside the actual Palace residence but we were at least able to take some of the grounds.

Inside the Summer Palace

The grounds were very quiet in the morning and very few people were out and about. It is a nice restful place with plenty of trees and some poorly maintained lawns and even a decent amount of trash but there is a wealth of bright flowers and beautiful, colorful Tibetan architecture.

Paintings in the courtyard

Inside the Palace we encountered the same security cameras that are sadly a fact within every major Buddhist site in Tibet. With this in mind we would like to make a point to say that all images of the Dalai Lama are banned in Tibet (at the writing of this post this ban, in effect since 1987, has been somewhat “officially” removed but could be reinstated at any time). There have been tourists who think they are doing the monks a nice favor and bringing them pictures of His Holiness but in reality the monks can get into serious trouble with the government and are punished severely for having these. Please, please respect the delicate position of the monks and do not bring anything to them that could potentially cause trouble for them with the Chinese government.

Ribbons on the door

As we were led up through the Palace, we noted the brightly colored walls and fabrics decorating the ceiling, the window coverings, and of course the usual shrines with statues of Buddha. There are many rooms that were used for different purposes: the personal living quarters of the Dalai Lama, rooms for receiving important guests, a special room for His Holiness to receive pilgrims and other followers from a very grand, gold plated throne heavily decorated with turquoise and other gems as well as money left by the followers and plenty of white scarves that are presented to the Dalai Lama to bless. There are beautiful painted wood carvings affixed to the walls, around the doorways and plenty of large scale colorful wall murals with Buddhist symbols, other Tibetan monasteries and holy places, and scared animals.

The strangest thing we saw was the small outdoor stage that was used for performances for the Dalai Lama’s entertainment. The grounds immediately around the stage area are littered with broken beer bottles, beer caps, and other garbage. Wonder how His Holiness would feel about this…

Potala Palace

Soon enough it was time to see the most grand and unarguably most important place in Tibet: Potala Palace. It takes a while to climb up the wide, switchbacking ramps and stairs because of the altitude snatching away your breath. The views along the way are a good place to overlook the large, barren concrete “park” that sits directly opposite the Palace that was installed by the Chinese government and is heavily monitored and guarded.

The...... park?

Along the way we had to battle hoards of Chinese tourists, many of whom were intent of flashing the four of us gringos papparazzi style. What can they possibly do with all those photos they take of us?! They see westerners all the time in movies, ads, even on their own products! They do tons of business with foreigners and see loads of tourists each year. Why do they want to many photos of us??

Inside the Palace walls

Potala Palace is stunningly white perched against a vibrant blue sky. The inside resmebles the Summer Palace in decoration and typical elements as living quarters, gust receiving rooms, and altars to Buddha. The tombs of 5th through the 9th Dalai Lamas lie inside the Palace each one inside a massive gold plated, jewel encrusted stupa. The usual short doorways and narrow steep stairs are apparent here, as well as the usual wall paintings as described in the Jokhang Temple and the Summer Palace. It was a beautiful place to visit and the unbelievable sky made everything so picturesque.

Stolen shot from inside the Palace

From the palace we headed down a small path through the torn up back streets of Lhasa to a massive Buddhist shrine on a rock wall. Our guide told us that this was a strictly local place and that no tourists ever came here. This was proven a bit more than untrue when a ticket seller came over and handed us our very moderately priced tickets (3D and printed in English).

Rock wall

It is said that every figure on that wall came there naturally and that the monks from the temple simply painted them to make them more prominent. To be honest you can really see the distinct outlines of figures where the deities are painted.

Close up

We stayed here quite a while enjoying the burning incense, listening to the prayer wheels spin, and listening to the rhythmic Buddhist chat, “Om mani padme hum” which can be heard all over Tibet and is an extremely calming to listen to.

Since it is our last day in Lhasa, we spent the afternoon trolling the market for a little trinket and some postcards since China seems to be so deficient in this area. After dark we strolled down to Potala Palace once more to see it lit up in the night.

The Palace at night

The barren concrete square/park opposite the Palace has a fountain that shoots streams of water in various shapes and directions according to some very loud Chinese music. It is a fun sight to see and the square is always filled with people daring the fountain and trying to run away without getting wet.

The Fountain

Definitely a great way to end our time here in Lhasa!