Journey to the Roof of the World

To our relief "Shady Guy" turned up at the designated car park at the designated time and we all jumped into a couple of taxis to get to the airport. Mr Shady then checked our bags in for us (not worrying about "did you pack this bag yourself sir?") and the painful moment came where we handed over 11000 Yen (or one thousand one hundred pounds!) in cash to a person we were never going to see again. Let me tell you that it makes a rather large wad of 100 Yen notes! The flight to Lhasa was short with beautiful snow-capped mountains poking through the clouds making for good in-flight entertainment. We were met straight away by our Tibetan guide and for the 90 minute drive into to the capital she made us feel very welcome and gave us some god background history. After checking in, the first job was to buy the entry tickets for the Potala Palace which can only be bought 24 hours in advance (no sooner or later). First impressions on seeing the palace were of this amazing structure gleaming red, white and gold, set against a perfect blue sky and towering over the city with its mountainous backdrop. Rather special! We then visited the Jokhang Monastery in the heart of the old city and the holiest building in Tibet. Outside it is nothing to special but inside is a different story. For me, the dark atmosphere, smell of incense and butter lamps, worn wooden columns and multitude of relics and paintings all added up to produce an aura of spirituality, devotion and peace unlike anywhere I have been before. All sounding a bit hippy I know but it made an impression! Our guide helped by explaining many of the images and statues though at times her history did appear to contradict what was written in our guidebook and what we held as more common knowledge about the cultural revolution. Having a guide however did bring the place to life more than wondering around by ourselves as we did in so many Mongolian monasteries, and did much to improve our knowledge and understanding of Buddhism as a whole. In the evening we walked the Barkhor circuit, the route around the Jokhang used by pilgrims, joined by not just the devout but also the army patrols kitted out in full riot gear (helmet, shield, shin guards) and armed with batons and rubber bullet guns. These patrols were in addition to the guard posts set out at regular intervals and the soldiers posted on roofs and balconies. It all gave the impression of an occupying force rather than the peaceful liberators that they would have us believe. What an introduction to Tibet our first day proved to be!

Day 2 and our morning was free to do a bit more exploring. We again wondered around the old town though this time all the shops and stall fronts were in full swing and full of goods ranging from hanging yak meat (which looked fresh and the head under the table confirmed the animal of origin) to prayer flags to jewelry and other trinkets. We first allowed ourselves to be swept along with the masses clockwise, spinning their prayer wheels, fingering strings of beads and uttering mantras before then exploring the Muslim area and back alleys of this ancient city. In the afternoon we all met up to visit the Potala Palace. We saw the current Dalai Lamas throne room and living quarters (which looked familiar from our pre-travel viewing of 7 years in Tibet), the elaborate gold stupas which house the skin of previous incarnations, the insides get burnt, along with many smaller chapels and rooms. The whole visit was a bit rushed as we found out afterwards that if any visitor is inside for more than an hour their guide is fined a massive 1000 yen (100 pounds) which is just absurd and goes to show just how difficult the government is trying to make travel into this area. Still, the hour that we did have was very interesting and not one that we would have missed.