Lhasa Tibet: The Potala Palace

The Potala Palace was the home of the Dali Lama prior to exile. It was built around a cave that was used for meditation ages ago and now is a throne for statues of those key influencers of Tibetan Buddism. It is sad for me to see something that once offered an active path to enlightenment to the peoples of this area. Now it is just a shrine, that doubles as a museum. The climb up was long and the views divine. We then continued to two other temples and a market.
Factoid: Tibetan Monk sects are described as 'Red Hat', 'Yellow Hat' and others. The Yellow Hat sect have daily debates where the monks challange themselves on the teachings of Buddism. The attached video shows the monks throwing questions at each other like pitchers in a baseball game, then those sitting try to answer questions like “what is the meaning of life”.

Tibet is a blend of cultures

When we were in Lijiang, which is in Southwest China, we noticed how different many faces looked from those we saw in Beijing and Shanghai, where the faces look more typically "Chinese". Now, we are across the border in Tibet and we are seeing in people's faces what we'd read: that people here come from all over the region - Nepal, Mongolia, Burma and India and the "stan" countries - Pakistan, Afganistan being the biggest, from China and basically all over the region. There are distinct regions in Tibet too - Khampas, Amdo, Lhopa, Monpa. Here are some of the faces I've been noticing

Some other things I noticed about the people in China and Tibet - In China, where there is a one-child per family rule, parents and the whole extended family, dote on the little ones. You often see grandparents along with parents, all playing with one young child. Everyone seems very happy.

I have seen no pregnant women - maybe that's because of the family planning rules, or maybe pregnant women in China stay out of site??

Coming from the USA, it was strange to see so many families with one child - none of those families with 2 or 3 or more children as you see in the states.

Asian women's faces get lined as they age, but their hair stays black for a very long time...you can see ancient women with just a few strands of grey. So, when I said to "buy China" (equities) a few posts back, I'd skip the hair coloring companies!

Lhasa, Tibet: Our first morning in Tibet

Awoke this morning after sleeping on a very nice, clean down comforter that was neatly draped over a slab of marble. ‘Firm’ is an understatement, these beds are made to make the mountain people comfortable when in the city. Ellen and I resorted to loading 3 thick winter comforters on top of the marble so we could slumber. At about 4am I went up to the roof for a view of the stars, the city and the surrounding mountains. Even with city lights the star came out to play. As the light of the sun brightened the day Tibet started to show us her beauty.
Factoid: It is illegal to have a portrait of the Dali Lama in Tibet. A tour guide was caught with a DVD of the Dali Lama and was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Lhasa Tibet: SOS orphanage

Upon our arrival in Tibet we went to the SOS orphanage and spent some time with the children, thier director and one of the campus mothers. They have a dozen homes that house 8-12 kids each. Each house has a ‘mother’ that looks after the needs of the children. Very personal and human, quite a shift from institutionalized orphanages. They have this really cool solar cart that warms up meals though solar reflection, too. Tomorrow we are off to the Potala Palace, once home to the Dali Lama. Over 320 steps to the top with 68% oxygen.
Factoid: The Tibetans stack dried Yak manure for heating in the winter. It is common to see these Yak stacks in front of homes awaiting the winter chill. I tried Yak steak last night and it was very good.

Beijing to Lhasa, Tibet: Travel Day

We started this morning at 1AM as our freshly tailored clothes arrived, or at least partially arrived. We were surprised to hear that the remainder of our order would be at the hotel at 8AM, an hour after we were to depart for Tibet. We got a few hours sleep and arose at 5AM to track down the remaining garments: with no luck. They finally arrived at 6:15AM, 15 minutes after our bags were to be packed and sent ahead of us. With some help, we had them forwarded to Xi’an so we would stay under our weight limit for our trip to Lhasa. Lhasa, Tibet is at nearly 12,000 ft: it is dry and clear and comfortably warm for over 2 miles above sea level. In one flight we went from near sea level to 12,000 feet. Lhasa is near neighboring Bhutan and we flew near Mt. Everest on the way from Beijing.
Upon arrival to the Brahmaputra Gran Hotel, we were greeted with the traditional white scarf and local music and a dancing Yak. The hotel is like a museum, Tibetan artifacts are in all the halls and rooms and tell of the history of these people. The hotel rooms actually have oxygen bottles by the side of the beds where you normally would find water.
Factoid: In Lhasa it takes three breaths to get the same oxygen you would get in two in Beijing. There is about 68% of the oxygen that you would find at sea level.