Himalayas & China 2005: 12 - Lhasa, Tibet

Monday, October 10, 2005

We checked emails and I got another episode off before the guide and driver came for us. We drove to Norbulingkha, the summer palace of Dalai Lamas since the 7th century. It is open to the public as a park. The palace of the 7th Dalai Lama, and the current or 14th Dalai Lama are in good condition with original furnishings. In the current Dalai Lama's palace are gifts from various nations given to him before he was forced to flee Tibet.

We came back to the hotel after 1 ½ hours to have lunch and rest for a while, then the guide took us on a walking tour. The Dhood Gu Hotel is in the old section of Lhasa, where there is a maze of alleys and narrow streets closed to traffic covering about 10 city blocks. We stopped to see the Jokhang Temple, which with some others miraculously escaped the mass destruction of monasteries and historical places during the Cultural Revolution.

It is a large temple, with many cells containing statues of all phases of Buddhism. It is the time of pilgrimages now, and pilgrims from all over the country were sitting quietly in groups waiting to come in to pray to the various statues. Many people still dress in traditional garb, and many chant and twirl prayer wheels as they walk down the street. Going through the temple was a truly moving experience. It was the first temple in Tibet, built to house a statue of Buddha brought from India by the wife of a Tibetan king in the 7th century. In the temples and shrines are many of the scarves that we received on arrival - they are given as offerings. We were surprised at the number of young people who are devoted to Buddhism.

Forty years of Chinese occupation has not lessened the deep beliefs, superstitions and religion of the people. They may have taken the country, but they have not taken the minds or souls of the people. Some pilgrims we saw travelled for months to get here on foot, horseback or by whatever means was available. The poverty level in Tibet is very high. Many small shops or stalls cannot change a 50-Yuan note, worth $6.25. Beggars are common, and there were some cases of self-mutilation.

In the temples and market area the old Tibet that I have long wanted to see is alive and well. In spite of the poverty the people are friendly and quick to smile. As I'm writing this three maids are doing the hotel laundry below our window, singing and laughing as they work. It is a good example of the outlook of Tibetans.

This afternoon a beautiful gift arrived from the travel agency Xi'an as an apology for our problems there. While very nice, I hope my comments are taken as constructive criticism to make visits more pleasant for independent travellers, and also assist with the reputation of the travel agency.

Youdon took us to a traditional restaurant for dinner. We both had yak, but prepared in different ways. We chose to walk home on our own, stopping in a bakery for cookies and fresh very thin, delicious sesame seed wafers. We missed the alley to our hotel, as the familiar chain across wasn't there, and walked several blocks past it. When we realized our mistake we took a pedal rickshaw back to the hotel.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Breakfast at the hotel was great. Guests are from all over the world, some just to look around, others to trek, others to climb mountains. People are from China, Nepal, Britain, Japan, US and all over Europe. The waiters are students from Nepal who likely work here because they speak English. Our waiter knew of Costa Rica - he'd heard of the football team!

Youdon was very wise in having us at the gates of the Potala Palace when they opened at 9 AM, as when we left people were streaming up hill by the hundreds. I was worried about Marilynn, who is feeling horrible, but she pressed on, managing to scale the long, steep driveway leading to flights of stairs into the palace. Many pilgrims were there, with money clutched in one hand and animal fat for the candles in the other. Some had pitchers of liquid fat to pour in the large containers where candles burned. The cost to these poor people must be substantial, as each of the dozens of shrines requires a prayer and a contribution. Money is stuck in cracks, rolled into chicken wire screening, on the floor or wherever they can put it. There are dozens of these individual shrines in each temple.

The Potala Palace was the seat of government and religion for Tibet until the Chinese took control in 1965 and the Dalai Lama fled. It was originally built as a fort in the 7th century, and then renovated to its current state by the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century. Attendants were skating around the floor with dust mops on their feet keeping the polish up in several rooms.

Walking through corridors filled with candle smoke as we moved from one treasure room to the next made Marilynn comment that it was like Raiders of the Lost Ark. The value of gold and gems is beyond imagination. The Bodhi Stupa contains 3,574 oz of gold, and the tomb of the 5th Dalai Lama contains 3,721 kg (8,186 pounds) of gold plus 10,000 precious gems. Many, many statues, stupas and tombs contained between 1,000 and 2,000 oz of gold. The rooms where these items are displayed for the worshipers are absolutely mind-boggling, as they are always accompanied by numerous of statues.

Our next stop was Drepung Monastery, about 1,500 ft. above Lhasa. This is the largest Gelugpa Monastery in the world. At one time 10,000 monks and nuns lived here, but now there are around 600 monks. It was built in 1419, and is the resting place of the second to fourth Dalai Lamas.

We were really worried about Marilynn, as there are stairs upon stairs here, but she refused to stay in the car so we took it easy on the upward climb. As always, it was necessary to run the gauntlet of beggars of all ages, who know two words in English - Hello! Money!

This is a sprawling complex with many courtyards, and dozens of rooms containing masses of statues and stupas dating from 600 years old to the present. There are also rooms full of ancient manuscripts, some written in gold, in the very distinctive Tibetan script.

Monks were in the prayer room when we arrived. To give an idea of the size of the room, the columns supporting the high ceiling are well spaced, with 9 columns deep and 18 wide. We walked around the room, clockwise of course, as the prayers were going on. The chanting was beautiful.

Everything is done clockwise. The prayer wheels, both the dozens of large ones outside temples and the small personal ones whirled by people on the street, rotate clockwise. People walk around temples and rooms within temples clockwise. Even the foot traffic in the narrow streets near our hotel rotates clockwise.

The first king of Tibet started his rule around 400 BC. Kings ruled the country until the 42nd king in the 9th century, followed by about 400 years when the country was broken up into various small kingdoms. It came back together under the first Dalai Lama in the 14th century.

We returned to the hotel hungry and tired at about 1:45, so had lunch and headed for the room to rest. We have a large screen TV in the room, but only Chinese channels. BBC was available in China, but here no uncensored outside news is allowed - people have not even heard about the earthquake in Kashmir. When I asked Youdon about the structure of government she said people here don't know and don't care - they have no representation, all decisions come from Beijing, so they have no interest.

At 6:30 PM Youdon picked us up to head for dinner. It was a good buffet meal, followed by a fun program of singing and dancing. We chatted with a couple from Colorado at the next table that are going to Everest to climb to camp 3, weather permitting.

While we were there another guide came in with our passports, permit to travel to Nepal and two canisters of oxygen should it be needed for the high country. We head off at 9 AM.