Welcome to Lhasa
Though before I began gushing about the wonders of Tibet I should preface this by saying that I was on a tour. I’m not talking about a massive bus, wearing matching jackets and following a flag or plastic flower. Actually, it was just Jason and I, set up with a Tibetan guide and driver.
The moment I stepped off the plane I felt the breathless, light-headed, panicky feeling one gets at such an altitude. I had expected this to affect me, just not so immediately. Lhasa has an altitude of 11,975 feet above sea level. The altitude has less effect if you are younger, at least in terms of developing life-threatening AMS. The main symptoms we noticed were being constantly out of breath and also the inability to get a sound night’s sleep.
Another surprise to me was the arid, brown landscape. I had imagined Lhasa would be buried under mounds of white snow, but this idea was no doubt influenced by too many Ads and movies. In reality, Lhasa’s location on a plateau hemmed by mountains keeps the climate relatively moderate year round.
Our guide and driver were both Tibetan, extremely knowledgeable about the region, culture, and Buddhist faith. Lhasa has a population of about 250, 000. We were told now that nearly half of these are Han Chinese, who are immigrating in waves spurred on by better business opportunities in the area and government incentives.
Despite this growth only a tiny portion of the Tibetan plateau is inhabited, with Tibetans still holding the majority outside of the larger cities. Most are nomadic herdsmen; others farm barley, wheat, and potatoes. Some of these nomads and villagers only see the city once in their lifetime, if at all.
The next day our first stop was the Potala Palace. Books have been written on this fascinating building, so I won’t attempt a detailed description. A few interesting things that stuck with me:
-Since traditionally the Dalai Lama is both the spiritual and political leader of Tibet the palace is also divided into two sections. The “red” buildings had housed the members of the Tibetan government while the “white” palace was home to the Buddhist monks.
-Tibetans pay a much smaller fee to enter than tourists. Those from outside the city often only get to come once a year. Families, including children of all ages, come to pray and leave offerings.
-Before the palace was built there existed only a cave shrine, built by King Songtsen Gampo in 637, the first Tibetan king to convert to Buddhism. Construction was begun on the actual palace in 1645 under the supervision of the fifth Dalai Lama, but the sacred cave remains. Thus our guide’s claim that the Potala has 999 rooms and one cave.
-The artwork is astounding. The majority of the previous Dalai Lamas are buried here. Nearly everyone in Tibet is given a water burial or sky burial except for the lamas, who are buried in giant gold stupas. Another amazing piece of art was the giant, three-dimensional Kalachakra Mandala in one of the galleries made from copper and gold.
After visiting the Potala we headed to the Sera Monastery, just outside of Lhasa. The main purposeof out visit was to see the monk’s debate. This is standard practice every afternoon in the courtyard.
On one side the younger monks debate enthusiastically with much gesturing, yelling, smiling, and clapping of hands each time they made a point. The older monks congregated in small groups sitting in the shade and and have much more reserved conversations. Both Tibetans and tourists are welcome to come and watch, though our guide said that since they were using the very technical language of the old scriptures.
The following day we visited the Medicine Buddha wall where many Tibetans come to pray for good health. The wall is a large rock slab covered in painted carvings of the Medicine Buddha and other deities. The rocks in front of the Buddha were literally worn smooth from the prostrations of worshippers.
We finished off the day visiting a traditional medicine clinic, a nunnery, and wandering around market amid stalls selling cloth, giant parcels of yak butter, household items, jewelry, metalwork, nuts, and other miscellany. It was all a strange mixture of the old world meets the new. It is common to see monks clad in traditional burgundy robes wearing a pair of worn Nike sneakers and talking on a cell phone.
Next, we are on the road to Shigatse, Tibet’s 2nd largest city.
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