Go Tell It On the Mountain 4

April 12 - 13, 2017

Now our group was complete - Maria from Russia, Blanca from Czech Republic, two guys from Malaysia, and three Thais, Neung, Waan and Bob, finally made their way to Lhasa. We were feeling a bit stronger in the high altitude now, and wondered how the new arrivals were dealing.  This morning we were all heading to the Potala Palace.

The Impressive Potala Palace

The Potala Palace was the winter palace of the Dalai Lama, until the 14th Dalai Lama's escape from Tibet in 1959 during the Cultural Revolution.  It is high on Marpori Hill overlooking Lhasa, visible from many parts of the city, and is the most recognized landmark of the city and symbol of Tibetan Buddhism.  It is also the most crowded landmark in the city.  A long line of people snaked through stanchions outside the main gate, but it seemed to move fairly quickly.  It was a great people-watching opportunity, with so many different nationalities represented.

The air was cool here - we saw snowflakes in the air as we arrived.  Like all our other stops, we had to pass our bags through the security check.  We were not allowed to bring water in with us, but could purchase drinks once inside.  Unfortunately, what looked like water turned out to be an artificially sweetened orange drink of some kind.  It didn't taste good, but it still helped stave off thirst.  Note: read the labels, even when you can't read the labels!

Choedon warned us of the 295 steps we would need to climb to get up to the palace entrance, asking us if we thought we could make it.  I said I would try, and she checked with me again on the way up.  We reached a point on the climb where visitors could no longer turn around, but would have to continue on no matter what.  I knew I could make it, having just climbed the 300 steps from the grotto in the Perfume Pagoda of Vietnam a few weeks back.  Of course, I wasn't working with 68% oxygen then...  The cooler air in Tibet definitely helped, though.

"I think I can, I think I can..."

The Potala Palace is the highest palace in the world at 12,360 feet above sea level.  Legend says that an original palace was built here in the 7th century by the 33rd Tibetan king, Songtsen Gampo, who is widely credited with bringing Buddhism to Tibet.  The original palace was mostly destroyed by wars.  In 1645, the 5th Dalai Lama ordered the construction of the current palace, situated between Drepung and Sera monasteries.  His political control of Tibet was recognized in his friendship with the Qing Dynasty of China, and he moved the capital from Shigatse to Lhasa, eventually assuming complete power over a unified Tibet.

The fortress-like, thirteen-story structure of Potala Palace has walls three meters to five meters thick, and is divided into two sections: the White Palace housed the living quarters of the Dalai Lama and government offices, and the religious Red Palace houses halls, chapels, libraries and shrines, as well as the tombs of eight Dalai Lamas - the sacred gold stupas.

Visitors were told they were allowed only one hour inside, and guards kept the crowds moving at a comfortable pace.  Tourists shared space with many devotees walking with prayer beads, prayer wheels and thermoses of liquid butter.  A string of Buddhist prayer beads is usually 108 beads long, and is used to count chants, mantras or even prostrations.  A prayer wheel is a small cylinder mounted on a handle or spindle, and holds small written texts or mantras.  The clockwise spinning of the wheel is considered the same as if the prayer inside is being recited orally.  The are believed to help accumulate merit and wisdom, and purify bad karma.  The liquid butter is added to large butter lamps, vats with several burning candles fueled by the oil, as a way to make merit.  We asked if the Tibetans didn't resent the presence of all the tourists in this sacred place, but our guide said they saw it as beneficial.  I hope that is the case.

Like a white garment trimmed with ribbon - fabric everywhere

No more pictures allowed past this point

Many small, dark rooms held shrines to various Dalai Lamas, Panchen Lamas and Buddha Shakyamuni.  Sacred gold stupas of previous Dalai Lamas were ornately decorated with gold and gems.  The nearly fifty-foot high gold stupa in the center holds the mummified remains of the 5th Dalai Lama.  We also saw the tiny Meditation Cave of the 33rd Great King of Tibet from the original 7th-century palace.  (This video illustrates the density of icons in every corner of every temple, and has a good example of a butter lamp as well.)

We visited the living quarters of the Dalai Lama - very modest, somewhat oppressive rooms with little natural light.  Several platforms where the Dalai Lama sat now hold his actual garments arranged to give the vague impression of a human figure.  Absolutely no acknowledgement of the current Dalai Lama, however; even mentioning him is strictly forbidden by the Chinese government.

Exiting the Potala Palace at the back, we were afforded a different view below - Norbulingka, or People's Park, with a big pond in the middle.  Needless to say, descending the stairs was a good deal easier.  We stopped for a group picture at the bottom, before heading to lunch at another upstairs restaurant in Barkhor Square.

Our multinational group

Entrance to the park

The restaurant had lots of long tables, obviously accustomed to serving large tour groups.  However, the staff was not as accustomed, and several of our group had long waits for their dishes to arrive.  Three in particular had ordered the "Special," and apparently what was special about it was the long wait!  One of the Thais had ordered it, and I asked him the Thai word for "special," which is PEE-sed.  We joked we would give him the nickname Koon PEE-sed.  I just ordered some buttered naan and a Masala tea.  Those of us who got our meals first shared with the "specials."  Not a great lunch here, but the restroom had a real toilet, so points for that!

I was enchanted by this small painting on the wall of the restaurant -
looks like our old neighborhood in east Detroit. 
 It seemed so out of place here, but felt like home.

Many ornately decorated yak skulls

From lunch, we walked past more shops (above) and across Barkhor Square to Jokhang Temple.  Two large stone incense burners sat on either side of the temple, billowing black smoke, and creating a rather ethereal aura around the temple.  People were burning incense and branches of some sort, and the smoke was ceaseless.  A steady stream of pilgrims were taking part in a kora, a religious circle of a building or mountain, many with prayer beads or prayer wheels, some even prostrating themselves the entire circumference of the temple.

Some of the pilgrims participating in the kora

The oldest part of Jokhang Temple was built in 652, and was enlarged several times until the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama in 1610.  It was attacked during the Cultural Revolution in 1966, and worship was halted here for ten years, finally being renovated in 1980.  It is considered the spiritual heart of the city, and the most sacred temple to Tibetans.  A gilded bronze statue of Buddha at the moment of enlightenment, called Jowo Rinpoche, stands in a special temple, and is the most sacred statue in Tibet.  It is believed to have been personally blessed by the Buddha.  As we'd seen in other sacred places, images of the Buddha of the past and the Buddha of the future were worshiped here as well.  The Buddha of the future is easy to recognize because he has his feet on the ground rather than sitting in the lotus position.  The main courtyard has an old mural that was brought by the 33rd king's Nepalese wife.   He took a Nepalese and a Chinese wife, in an effort to form alliances in the region, and melded Chinese and Nepalese architecture into many of the significant buildings.

a butter lamp

The 7th century mural.  The gold symbols in front are seen everywhere in Tibet.  It is the Buddhist symbol of the Endless Knot, and has been described as "an ancient symbol representing the interweaving of the Spiritual path, the flowing of Time and Movement within That Which is Eternal. All existence, it says, is bound by time and change, yet ultimately rests serenely within the Divine and the Eternal."  -  Anna, Christina (2012). "Ancient Symbols"

 

The stairs to the roof were narrow wooden steps, and had to be climbed using hands and feet, like a ladder.  Golden figures and adornments graced the roof, which offered an excellent view of Barkhor square below.

Potala Palace in the background

Notice the people prostrating themselves just to the right of the tree in this video

Jokhang kitties

Back down the stairs, I stopped to look at the beads for sale.  I realized I would not get a good price when the vendor wouldn't even give the monk ahead of me a good deal.  When I turned around, I didn't see anyone from the group.  I assumed they were ahead of me, so made my way down to the exit.  I didn't see anyone outside, and waited for them to appear.  After several minutes, I wondered if there might be a second exit.  I asked an Engish-speaking guide, who assured me this was the only exit.  Several minutes later, members of the group, including Tim, finally wandered out from the temple.

We joined the kora circling the temple for a bit, stopping into shops along the way.  Some people were prostrating themselves the entire way.  Another person walked along side them, using a stick to mark the place where their hands reached, and holding it there as the spot to place their feet for the next prostration, kind of like the first-down markers in American football.  It takes about twenty minutes to walk the circuit - I wonder how long it takes to prostrate oneself the entire way?  

I picked up some inexpensive wooden prayer beads, and Tim found the hat he really wanted.  He tried to communicate to the seller that he wanted a particular hat with a different band and feather.  Google Translate to the rescue.  While they prepared his hat, a Tibetan man came in to try on some hats.  His hair was wound around his head in an interesting style, and when he let it down, his hair went all the way to the floor.  Not sure if it was real or not, but it still looked cool.

Some sights from the kora...

We saw many women with two braids joined at the bottom

The man with the hair

Our guide pointed us all in the direction of our hotels, and we walked the rest of the way on our own.  We were to take a taxi that evening to meet the group for our Welcome/Farewell dinner, since the tour bus was being serviced for the long drive to the EBC.  "Welcome" to everyone else, "Farewell" to Tim and I.  The rest of the group would be heading by bus to Everest Base Camp on the Tibetan side.  We chose to forego the two-day drive, and would instead be flying to Nepal to see Everest from the other side.

Had some nice downtime back a the hotel, then asked the hotel to help us get a taxi over to the others' hotel.  We waited ten minutes or so, and started to worry about being late.  The concierge said he had called for a taxi, but it was hard to get one to stop here.  They decided to run us down to the street in their little golf cart, then we waited several more minutes while two staff members tried to flag down a taxi.  We finally had a driver willing to take us to the Gengian Hotel, and hoped that he was going in the right direction.  We sat in some pretty heavy traffic.  At one point a guy waved our taxi down, and the driver picked up another fare while we were still in the car!  We called Choedon, our guide, to let her know we were on the way, and she met us out front.

We walked out the back door of their hotel, and down some little alleys to a little restaurant that must have a contract with Tibet Vista tour company.  The interior was very colorful, and a large banner welcomed us.  We were emphatically informed that one and only one drink was included with the dinner.  I opted for water, but some tried the Lhasa beer.  I had a taste, and was very happy I'd ordered the water.  It was probably the worst beer I'd ever tasted.  The dinner was buffet style, and all the food was really tasty, including the ever-present momos.  Great food and great conversation - we all exchanged emails so we could share pictures.

Lousy beer, but pretty glasses

Some of the group told us about a nice postcard/book store near their hotel, and I had been in search of some good postcards.  We weren't sure if it was left or right of the hotel, so Tim went one way and I went the other.  I found a lovely little shop, with an amazing selection of cards, and took my time perusing all the choices.  I was sure Tim would realize he went the wrong way, and show up here, but he never did.  We met up back out on the street - apparently, he found a postcard shop in the other direction, and picked up some cards as well!

Choedon waited for us to shop, then flagged down a taxi to take us back to the hotel.  She had an equally difficult time getting someone to stop.  Interesting, most places have taxis competing for passengers.  She told the driver where to take us, and paid him up front, an amount he wasn't too happy about.  Again, the driver stopped for another fare en route - this time a couple, who squeezed into the small car with us for a very cozy ride back to the St. Regis.  One last night in this lovely hotel, then on to Kathmandu, Nepal.

The same driver and guide who first welcomed us to Lhasa took us back to the airport the next morning.  They must do this drive, which takes about an hour, hundreds of times.  We had to get a picture of all the men in their Tibetan hats before saying good-bye.

"Asps - very dangerous.  You go first."

The guide led us into the international terminal at the airport, a terminal that wasn't opened for business yet!  He said they usually open around 9:15, 9:30. 9:45... He lined up our suitcases in front of the rope, then told us to have a seat.  A German family was waiting as well, also finishing a tour with Tibet Vista, and he took care of them as well.  He explained to us what we needed to do once we got inside, then headed out to pick up some new clients.  We watched the staff trickle in, boot up the signs and computers, and finally open for business.  We'd already passed through security to get into the building, but had to go through a second and third time.  We were the first customers of the day for the baggage check and the immigration officers, who seemed a little unprepared for the screening, and asked us to wait off to the side for five or ten minutes until they were ready.  Again we had to show our two passports, once again causing confusion and consultations.  But eventually we were allowed through to the little terminal with two gates and another wait.

Many of the passengers appeared to be trekkers, with their lycra clothes and high-tech backpacks.  The flight was a couple hours late leaving, but it was just another great people-watching opportunity.

Then it was up, up and away for a flight over the Himalayas!