Off to Tibet

The Maoists called a strike (no one does anything) for Monday, September 16, and I had no class on Tuesday, AND the planes for Tibet go Tuesday and Saturday, so I decided to go to Lhasa Saturday and return Tuesday.

China South West has a monopoly on the flights, so they aren't cheap.

Lhasa is at 12,500 feet and many people have altitude problems, but I seemed to be okay. I went up the thousands of steps to palaces, monasteries, and temples very slowly, but I suspect I would have been no faster at sea level.

China requires a "group of at least 5", so I found myself part of a mixed group of 11 people who wanted to go to Lhasa on Saturday:

Diki, a Tibetan who lives in Switzerland (more about Diki later)
2 Russians, 3 Japanese (most of whom got sick), 1 German and a man from Turkey who all became part of an organized tour in Lhasa.
a young French woman, Patricia, a German Monk, Than, who left Viet Nam at 15 as a boat person and who knew EVERYTHING about the Buddhist places we visited and me. We three decided to do things on our own rather than taking the tours.

Here are the pictures:

The first morning we went to the Potala Palace, (see http://www.sacredsites.com/1st30/potala.html ) where we spent many, many hours, and I took many, many pictures. And then I cleverly deleted them all. Anyway, here are a few pictures taken later outside (this way you miss the pictures of the rats that are everywhere in the Potala - and everwhere else including the hotel lobby):

At lunch, we met some trekkers, and Patricia arranged to go with them on Wednesday after Than and I left.

Then Sunday afternoon, Patricia, Than and I went to Jokhang Temple (see http://www.sacredsites.com/final40/613.html ). (We saw the others dutifully followimg their guide). The pictures I took there are part of the cleverly deleted set (I was pretty upset with myself), so I went back late Monday afternoon and took more. So, pretending it's Sunday, here are the pictures of and from Jokhang (lots from the roof):

Ignore this - no 13

On Monday, Diki (Tibetan woman who lives in Switzerland) took us to a nunnery near a prison (the nunnery was founded because a young man turned into a woman and couldn't - obviously - stay in his monastery). Because she didn't feel well, we didn't hike up to the nunnery. On the way back, we stopped at a school where her cousin works. She then invited us to her house (actually her aunt's) for lunch. This was the best food we had in Lhasa. The pictures include the cab driver who took us there, some children we saw outside, her aunt's attack cat (it actually keeps them rat free), her aunt's house, and the lunch itself.

In the afternoon, Than wanted to go to Drepang, the largest Monastery in Tibet (see http://www.tibettrip.com/lhasa/drepung.htm ), but not #1 on the tourist track (there were none). It was wonderful. I hope the pictures capture this (I sure took enough!). The monks opened up temples and rooms for us which were locked, and talked to us at length (Than had some passable Tibetan). It was late when we left, so we got a ride down to the main road in a truck (6 yuan), and then took a bus back into the city:

Saturday, Sunday and Monday I finished up the day by walking around the Barkhor Street Bazaar (see http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/tibet/lhasa/barkhor.htm )

And here are some pictures I took just walking around:

All too soon it was Monday night. Here, Than, Patricia and I are at our goodbye meal:

On the way back, we again passed over the Himalayas. The last few pictures are of Mount Everest (so said the pilot):

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