Arriving at the Roof of the World

My dad and I left Beijing first thing Tuesday morning on a flight headed to Lhasa. Because our destination is politically sensitive, we had to pass through an additional security check at the airport where they checked the validity of our Tibet permit. That aside the flight was pretty normal. During a stopover at Chengdu, we were shocked to see coffee being solid for 35-78 Yuan (about $6-13 USD). In contrast, Johnnie Walker Black Label cost 45 Yuan ($7.50 USD)!

While flying to Lhasa courtesy of Air China, I saw a neat feature I had never seen before. The cabin display units were showing a direct video feed of cameras positioned at the front and bottom of the aircraft. Similar to what a pilot or landing gear may see respectively, one literally saw the ground become farther and closer as we took off and landed respectively.

Here's a shot of the cabin display unit as we made our approach into Lhasa. The video screen showed the Lhasa airport in the distance.

After getting our bags, we met our driver Little Chan and tour guide Tse Tan. Because of the short duration of our stay, we couldn't take advantage of the common tour packages sold by many of the Tibet tour companies in town. Instead we had our own private itinerary complete with lodging, a driver, a tour guide, and entrance tickets to various sites we'd be visiting over the next couple of days. As is the tradition, Tse Tan draped my dad and I with white Tibetan scarves. Lhasa is a good hour or so away from the airport so we hopped into the SUV and drove into the city.

The mountainous lands around Lhasa are quite majestic. The clouds from the 'Roof of the World' hover right overhead.

Infrastructure around Lhasa has been booming for the past 5 years since the advent of the railway connecting Lhasa to more of mainland China. Large, smooth highways make for an easy drive.

Tse Tan, our tour guide, rocking an Android phone!

Some of the city streets as we get into town.

PBR!?! Of all things to see advertised in Tibet I can't say I expected PBR! (Still never saw it on a menu whole time we were there!)

Our trusty SUV

Tibetan kids walking along the street

Needless to say, the sensitivity to Tibet's autonomy or lack thereof makes for an environment where there is a definite presence of Chinese military on the ground. Making things even more complicated, this years marks the 60th year of Chinese rule, so arguably the presence is even higher. Bottomline, there are soldiers stationed throughout Lhasa as pictured below as well as soldiers roaming the streets with assault rifles at their sides.

Soldiers from afar.

Chinese military trucks ahead of us.

Tibetan pedestrians crossing the street.

Our hotel. Quite the unique setup since it's billed as a museum-hotel. Much like a museum, there are replica artifacts everywhere from the lobby, to the mezzanine floors, to in-between guest rooms. A stroll through the hotels makes for a quick tutorial of Tibetan culture.

From the outside.

In the lobby.

It was originally planned that we'd do a light activity the afternoon we arrived such as visit a monastery, but our flight arrived an hour late and the monastery had closed by the time we got settled. It was probably for the best since it's recommended that one's first day is spent relaxing, getting acclimated to the high altitude. The lack of oxygen was definitely noticeable just when I stepped off the plane. I purposely tried to relax, take deep breaths, and just all-around chill out. I also found myself prone to headaches which I almost never get in normal elevation. I was pissed! The altitude hit my dad quite a bit harder. Per his words, when he got to the hotel room, he felt the world spinning and had to lay down. We ended up getting dinner at the in-hotel Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was actually excellent, probably because it caters to the many working and touring Chinese in the area. I think having empty stomachs worsened any mild altitude sickness we had since we both immediately felt better after dinner. In contrast, sleeping was poor at best. Despite a draining day of travel, we both awoke at 11p... then 1230a... then 130a... then 230a... you get the idea.

The next morning was a brand new day. A night of staccato sleep wasn't the greatest, but I was fresh nonetheless. Still a mild headache. Ugh! I downed some water to stay hydrated. At breakfast, I wanted to experience Tibetan breakfast first hand. I had butter tea which contains yak butter. It has a slight 'sour' taste, but it's mild at best. I didn't find it to be particularly gamey.

In addition to butter tea, I ate the traditional Tibetan breakfast which is a mashup of barley flour, butter tea, and honey mixed up into a chunky paste pictured below. It wasn't bad. Good actually: I ate the whole bowl. Seemed super nutritious and full of fiber! Not sure I could eat it everyday, but I liked it!

After breakfast, Tse Tan and Mr. Chan picked us up. It was going to be a full day: Drepung monastery, lunch, Potala Palace, and then the Sera monastery. First stop: Drepung.

As we approach the Drepung monastery, we drove by Tibetans making the hike to Drepung for worship.

Entrance to Drepung.

Souvenir shops at the base of the monastery mountain. Dad and Tse Tan stand in the foreground.

Tibetan craftswoman makes souvenir trinkets from clay.

Dad burns flowers for good luck.

Per Tse Tan, the Drepung monastery allows beggars on its grounds. Small children in particular were everywhere. As a Tibetan himself Tse Tan gave small monies to Tibetans throughout the monastery grounds. Unfamiliar with the situation, I had few small bills at my disposal and had to say no more often than I would have liked.

Small girl in blue begs for money.

Signage on a rock. Tse Tan told me what it said but I forgot =)

Tibetan worshippers are also at the monastery. Man to the right is a beggar.

Drepung is an active and working monastery with the largest number of monks in Tibet. Below are one of the living quarters in Drepung.

Above Drepung, Buddha paintings on rocks sit high above.

Tibetan man and girl spin the prayer wheels.

Buddha painting along with prayer flags.

Drepung has many buildings throughout and the steps that connect them.

Beautiful courtyard. The steps at the base comprise of three 'columns'. The middle one is draped in white silk and is solely reserved for the Dalai Lama.

Tibetan monastery architecture up close. Per Tse Tan, the window drapes are replaced annually after the New Year. The red color that runs and stains the white drapes is from the 'red' part of the building which are actually compressed juniper reeds.

The three (Tse Tan, Dad, and I) spent the next couple of hours climbing endless steps and darting in and out of monastery buildings and temples. I have never seen so many buddhas, sculptures, statues, tapestries, etc. in my life. Many of the rooms charged extra for photo taking or did not allow photography all together. My pictures do not do the place justice. I was utterly shocked at how much 'stuff' is in these buildings! It seems almost endless. In my opinion, most historical places almost disappoint in how few relics or antiques are shown or how detached they are from the public. Not Tibet. There's so much stuff I couldn't remember what was what.

Alongside us tourists, actual worshippers and pilgrims are readily around. Many are from far-off places in Tibet and making their first visit to Lhasa. Like the mom and child below, many stop at each of the iconic statues to pay respects, place small monies, and add dallops of yak butter to plates of ever-growing yak butter candles (imagine a candle but instead of wax, it's yak butter).

Main hall building.

Walking through the monastery grounds.

We lucked out in that we came across the monks in active debate within Drepung's main hall. At my count, there were at least 300 monks watching as two monks debated in the center. The standard set up is one monk stands and asks/asserts towards the other (sitting) monk. To add emphasis, the standing monk literally whips his hand back and with force brings it forward with a loud clap! The sitting monk responds accordingly. This exchange is repeated over and over again through the course of the debate. We arrived mid-debate and after 20 minutes or so, the debate was a wrap and the monks filed out. Another thing I noticed is that among over 300 monks, none wore glasses! Granted many are young but still a perplexing observation.

One of many, many, many buddhas in the monastery. Literally each statue of something is found in another form at least five times more in the monastery.

Another.

After touring the monastery, we headed back down the hill that the monastery sits. I took snaps of Tibetans working to remodel the monastery grounds. I came to China last year, but am still amazed at the cultural differences between the US and China/Tibet when it comes to infrastructure building. There are no power tools or Bobcats to be found. Not even a hard hat. It's just brute manual labor in its simplest form. Shovel, sledge hammer, and exertion. Man or woman, it doesn't matter. Leaves one speechless sometimes.

Small cafe at the base of the monastery.

After leaving Drepung, Tse Tan took the group to a local Tibetan Steakhouse to grab lunch. I was starving. Probably why my headache was back in full force. I ordered some yummy chicken and vegetables over rice. I inhaled the stuff. While it was Tibetan food, it tasted much like comfort Chinese food. In contrast, Dad barely touched his same dish. He was dead tired and a little disoriented to eat.

After lunch we headed to Potala Palace. I'll leave the rest of the day's recap to the next post. Too much for one post!