Potala Palace and Yamdrok Lake

After lunch, we headed to the place that made me want to visit Tibet in the first place: the Potala Palace. Probably ever since watching the movie '7 Years in Tibet', I thought the place looked magical. With the palace being much higher than many other buildings, it's pretty easy to see it in the distance. Driving up to it was almost without description. I couldn't help but snap away with the camera. This place was now within walking distance! It's massive and beautiful. We had tickets for a 2p entry (a daily limit of less than 3000 are allowed each day) and lucked out by having clear blue skies. The grounds were teeming with tourists and buddhist pilgrims as we all waited to get in.

Palace photo while waiting in line outside.

UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription

About to walk into the base courtyards.

The China flag sits high atop the palace. While we were able to go into many of the upper rooms and courtyards, I didn't see the China flag when I was up there. Per our tour guide Tse Tan, only 3% of the palace is open to the public.

Tibetans fixing one of the roofs.

Start of the steps up. There are over 350 steps but they're very gradual so it wasn't so bad.

View of others walking up the steps.

Up close photo of the 'red' portion of the building which is really compressed juniper reeds.

View of the city atop Potala Palace.

Me inside one of the courtyards that one enters after going up the steps but before one enters the inner chambers and temples.

Photography is only allowed outside so I had little opportunity to take photos of the inside. Much like the Drepung monastery we saw before, there was just so much stuff in Potala! Especially large stuff. It boggles the mind how those items were transported into the buildings. Without use of a camera, I allowed my visual senses to feast at all the statues, relics, and imagery.

My favorite room in the whole palace was the Dalai Lama's living quarters. Much of the palace is dark. In contrast, his bedroom was high atop the palace and had ample windows, allowing for much sun light and drafts of the cool surrounding air.

My dad ignored the rules and snuck a photo of the Dalai Lama bedroom. The 'yellow' silk represents where the Dalai Lama would sit if he were present.

Me in front of Potala

Gnome in front of Potala

After Potala, we went to Sera monastery for a quick visit to see monks debating. By this time of the day, the group was pretty much exhausted. Sera was going to be a quick stop.

Fried chips aka potato wedges being sold outside the Sera monastery. Apparently, potato is a big staple food in Tibet. Tastes pretty much the same as those back in the US.

Entry to the debating courtyard

Debating monks

As seen in Drepung, the monks debate with the assertor standing up and the other sitting down. To add emphasis, the standing monk literally whips his hand back...

...and with force brings it forward...

...with a loud clap!

After Sera, Dad and I decided to grab dinner in a popular marketplace area called Bakhor Street. Bakhor Street is popular for its restaurants, open-air marketplace, and nearby Buddhist temple. After being unable to find a taxi for a few minutes, we jumped on a bicycle rickshaw instead.

We figured we'd have the best luck (sanitary and taste wise) going to one of the busier restaurants. We stayed adventurous and tried to stick to Tibetan food even though the restaurant served other cuisines.

Lhasa beer

Yak curry with potatoes. Tasted quite similar to a beef curry.

Tibetan mixed vegetables

Dinner wrapped up a full day of visiting three locations: Drepung, Potala, and Sera. We were exhausted. The next day (Thursday) was a comparatively light one with just a couple of sites. After breakfast, we made a trek outside Lhasa to visit Yamdrok Lake. Yamdrok Lake is about a km higher in elevation than Lhasa and about 2 hours away. About an hour of the drive is for traversing the steep mountain that leads to Yamdrok Lake. By the third day, I had gotten used to Lhasa's high altitude, but the 1 km incremental elevation was definitely noticeable. Breathing became a little more laboring. We crested the mountain peak and the turquoise waters of Yamdrok Lake sat below. Once the fog and clouds burned off, the view was majestic.

Kobe kicks at Yamdrok Lake.

Gnome at Yamdrok Lake.

Me on a Yak.

The last stop on our tour was back in Lhasa. We returned to Bakhor Street (same area as the previous night's dinner) and visited Jokhang Temple and toured its inner rooms. This temple is of very high significance to Tibetan buddhists and we saw many worshiping outside.

In the photo below, a Tibetan man touches his forehead to the column of prayer flags. A lady with him (wife?) walked repeatedly around the fixture while spinning her handheld prayer wheel in a clockwise fashion. Both repeated prayers in low voices.

Ornament atop the temple.

View of Bakhor Street from the top of the Jokhang Temple. Potala Palace can be seen from a distance.

Overall, seeing Lhasa was a huge check off my bucket list. It definitely exceeded my expectations! Often times, grand places seen in photos often disappoint when seen in real life. Not Lhasa. The city and temples were breaking at the seams with buddhist imagery and symbolism. I'm not Buddhist so I can only imagine the feeling this place would provide for a believer. The whole experience has made me want to learn more about the history of Tibet and culture that's built this place. I'd love to come back to Lhasa and make a visit to Mt. Everest base camp next time. Maybe opting to do some more camping rather than stay at a posh hotel. Although note to self: the St. Regis looked like a paradise in the heart of Lhasa.

The fourth and final day in Tibet was pretty much a travel day. An early morning flight leaving Lhasa destined for Hong Kong would have us stop in Chongqing before arriving in HK in the evening.

Parting shot of the group in front of the SUV. Left to right: Tse Tan (tour guide), me, Dad, and Little Chan (driver).