miscellaneous rambling

The next day after arriving in Lhasa, some of us got up at 5am and we snuck out of the hotel to go to the Jokhang temple. It was a 15 minute walk through the dark, and we had to unbolt the main gates of the hotel ( and accidentally waking up the guard). There we found many pilgrims who had been praying all night. There were a few people circling the temple in the dark, praying. We did the same. After 3 rounds, most of us separated due to walking different speeds. The sun was coming up at about 7am, and slowly the city was beginning to come alive.

The feeling there at first light is of course, different from during the day, when it is full of tourists. It’s much more serene, and I could feel the energy from the temple itself.

After meeting the group back at the hotel for breakfast, we set out to see the Summer Palace, then the museum. After lunch, the one sight we all couldn’t wait to see was the Potala Palace.

They only allow 1000 people/day there, and you must buy tickets in advance. It costs 1 RMB for a local, and 100 RMB for tourists! The Potala was super huge, and impressive. It contained the remains of several of the past Dalai Lamas as well as of course, many artefacts, and personal items of the Dalai Lama before he left Tibet.

Like many palaces I”ve seen in Europe, it is ornate. Every piece of wood, brick, stone, is painted, carved, or decorated somehow. Sometimes very plainly, but done in tasteful Tibetan style. It was amazing.

In the afternoon, Ms. Zhu and I went of to the bank to exchange money for the group for our upcoming trips. It was going to be difficult to find banks where we were going. There were some problems with the tour guides, and out group had to, against their will, go to a herbal factory ( ie. Shopping point).

The bank, took us an hour to exchange various currencies. There was one impatient American in line, behind Ms. Zhu ( we split up into two lines). He kept asking her ( in English ) if she was finished, and got more upset. Of course, she didn’t speak English. People were starting to look, so I thought I’d give them something to look at.. I yelled out at the man “ LOOK BUDDY! IF SHE WAS FINISHED! SHE’D BE OUT OF THE LINE RIGHT?! SO JUST BE QUIET, AND WAIT FOR YOUR TURN!!”

Everyone at the bank was quiet, and I was a little worried the security guard was going to come by, but nothing happened. We got our money, and then then the next nervewracking part, was going out to the streets carrying about $10 000 USD CASH all in large Chinese RMB notes. It was the size of about 2.5 bricks!!!

The next day is part 2 of the Nam-Tso lake story. We didn’t make it the first time, so the group tried again. Mr. Ren and I did not want to go, so we spent the day hanging out and going shopping for tangka paintings.

We had a relaxing day, but the others worked hard for their photos that day.

They woke up at 4am, and set out right away for the lake. Drove 2 hours there, to get into the area before the construction would begin at 8am. Then they continued another hour up the mountain to the lake. The lake was beautiful or course! They stayed at the lake for maybe 2 hours, then they drove back. But of course, the road was then blocked, and the bus could not get through. So they waited on the bus, from 11am to 6pm!!! SEVEN hours until they could drive down. Then he got back to Lhasa around 9-10pm… To me, although I wanted to see the lake, it was not worth a 17 hour day to do it.

The second part of our journey continues to Shigatse, Sakya, and Gyantse. There we visited some important temples. The site of power of the Panchen Lama, the murals of pelkor Chode monastery an the grand assembly hall of the Sakya monastery. Sakya was memorable because our bus broke down twice, and it took us TWO days to get there. During those times though, I got some good photos. At this time, the group was getting to know each other better. We were used to the long rides now and everyone was acclimatized.