Last Day In Lhasa

A visit had been planned to some monastery or other, but I decided not to go as I wanted to have a day in Lhasa, as I didn't feel like I'd really seen everything I wanted to see. After being strictly warned not to go wandering off (would I do a thing like that? :-) I headed into town.

I spent most of the morning just walking around the old town with it's small streets, little shops, and quiet alleyways - there's a real buzz to the place. And once you get away from the main square, you get into the real Lhasa.

Lhasa Old Town:



Most of the shops in the main square, and the street leading to it, are owned by Han Chinese, as (I've been told) the government offers the Han Chinese tax incentives to move to Tibet, the thinking being that it will dilute the Tibetan culture.

Back at the main square, I forked out the 85 Yuan (about eight pounds fifty) to get into the Johkar Monastery, just for something to do (the guide had told us it wasn't worth seeing), and ended up really enjoying it. It's one of my all time favourites, and given the festival is over, it was really peaceful.

You can head up to the roof for views - although the views aren't as good as those from the New Mandala Restaurant – which also does really great curries.

The roof of the Johkar Temple:







Buddhas in the process of being painted:



Corridor in the temple:



Painting in the temple:



Military in the main square:



The temple has an inner courtyard where you can spin the pray wheels, and as I'm walking around this really great Chinese guy stops me and explains that I was going in the wrong direction (is that anti-karma?), and then wandered around with me while I turned the wheels in the right direction.



From the inner courtyard you can go into the main temple (bizarrely labelled as the “Inner Cathedral" which has loads of interesting little temples inside.

Photo taking is banned so there are no pics...

After a rather good cup of coffee and slice of cake, I headed off to do a Kora of the Potala Palace, and spun the pray wheels on the way round – and there are rather a lot as I discovered. There's a nice park behind the Palace and after sitting around for a while enjoying the day, I headed back to meet Antonia and Brittny for dinner – no curry this time :-)

While we were eating dinner, two armoured patrol vehicles with huge machine guns on the roof and about twenty soldiers in each one drove through the streets. It felt very threatening. It really does feel like a country that's been occupied by a hostile army who are trying to control the people. A country under siege.

Every Tibetan I talked to talked of their desire for a free Tibet, or a compromise in which Tibet is in China but run under a different system like Hong Kong. The government is prepared to offer this (which is encouraging), but just for the Lhasa valley, which the people don't want as they say they want freedom for all Tibetans – not just those who live in Lhasa.

There's a lot of anger, particualarly among the young people, in the way they are being treated, as they feel that all the opportunities are given to the Han Chinese. Whether this is true or not I don't know – but that's what I was told (but there's always three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth). But the strength of feeling really surprised me.

Which is incredibly sad – as it's one of the most beautiful places on earth - and the people live an amazing life in harmony with the landscape around them. It feels that much of this is being swept away by an oppressive external force.

On reflection – I had some of the best moments of my life in Tibet. The train ride is truly a trip of a lifetime, and to see Lhasa and the Potala Palace felt like a privilege. To stand and see Everest in the moonlight, and to walk up to Everest Base Camp while the sun rose on Everest are moments I'll never forget.

But there's a sad side to Tibet. The heavy military presence. The overly aggressive approach of the army and police. The heavily armoured vehicles with machine guns on the roof patrolling the streets. The conversations where young Tibetans are asking for freedom, and the opportunitues for their future which should go with it. And perhaps saddest of all – the missing monks.

Paradise, it seems, has a dark side.

And I came away hoping that one day the Tibetans will get the freedom they so desperately long for.

Even More Trouble In Lhasa...

Today has been...interesting...and a little unnerving...

Given that the guide hadn't turned up the night before, and we were at a loose end, and decided to head off to Drapung Monastery. It's one of the places that wasn't on the original itinerary, but when I 'd been researching Tibet had decided that I wanted to go.

The guide had told us a few days before that there was going to be a Sky Burial – the traditional funeral rites for Tibetan Buddhists, and as I'd studied The Sociology of Death as part of my degree thought it might be an interesting experience. We'd been told by the guide that we couldn't go to the Sky Burial – but I'd been to see the Police and they said it wasn't a problem. So we set off early in the morning for the monastery.

It turns out that there wasn't a Sky Burial that day and that we'd been given the wrong information, but as we made our way up the hill, we'd been followed by a security guard.

There were no efforts made to stop us – he just seemed happy to follow us at a distance.

Having given up on finding the Sky Burial, and been told it was at another monastery at the other side of the valley, we decided that, given there was an hour until the ticket office opened, that we'd have a look around and then go back and buy a ticket.

The group had split into two by this point, and one half had been told that we all had to return and buy a ticket, which would have meant waiting around for an hour.

A few of us continued to look around – although you couldn't go inside anything other than one of the chapels as it was still all locked up.

The entrance to the main temple at Draprung:



The incredible view over the Lhasa valley:



Looking back to Draprung:



About 10 minutes later, we were told that the security guard was a Police Officer and if we didn't return to the ticket office we would have our Chinese Visas revoked (unnerving when your first told - but it felt like a bluff). As the rest of the group were at the ticket office, we decided the only fair thing to do was to go back and find out what was going on. So we walked back to the Ticket Office to find that all sorts of problems had broken out.

I got chatting to the Police guy, and he told me that the problem wasn't that we'd gone wandering off (although I'm sure it didn't help) – but that we shouldn't have been there without a guide in the first place. We had been told that our permit covered the whole of the Lhasa valley and we didn't realize that some places (like Drapung) weren't included.

We were then held at the ticket office for over an hour until our guide turned up.

Feeling slightly fed up at this point, I got a lift back into town with the driver, but a few of us were summoned to the Tour Office to “explain what we had done”. Apparently, the tour office was being asked to submit a report to the police, and they might have to pay a fine.

There were a few heart stopping moments along the way...but we finally got everything sorted out when our driver (who we'd nicknamed Speedy Gonzales) came to our defense.

In the afternoon we were taken by the guide to Sera Monastery – which is famous for it's debating. Senior monks test more junior monks by asking them questions, finishing each question with a clap to show it's time to answer. The monks have to answer straight away, and there's no thinking time.

If the answer is right, the monk asks another question. If the answer is wrong the senior monk slaps the back of one hand against the palm of the other, and they keep going until the correct answer is given.

Every one takes part – right up to the High Lama, and in one corner all the senior monks were grilling each other. It's all very good natured – although at one point two monks were getting really heated – although it all ended in good natured laughs.

Great fun to watch – although it did feel like there was a bit of show boating going on for the cameras at some points.

Monks going to debate:



Can I phone a friend?:



Getting ready for the next question - which was: Do coconuts migrate?



One sad thing about Sera Monastery is that before the 14th March uprising last year (2008) there used to be over 4000 monks at the monastery. Now there are less than 500.

Some are known to have escaped to India, walking over the mountains because (I've been told - but I hasten to add - not by the monks at this or any other monastery) the Chinese Government won't give them passports. Some are being held in prisons in Tibet, and some are simply missing. The same is true of every monastery you go to here.

And then it was back in the van to Lhasa for dinner...Indian – you just can't beat a good curry...