Tibet

Up at 4:15AM and we are on our way to the airport for our flight to Lhasa, Tibet.  At last, the destination I have dreamed of for years.  Shangri-La.  Tibet has only been open to foreigners for the past 20 years.  The airport is like a zoo, with hundreds of people milling around, apparently a typical occurrence.  We are fogged in. All flights are grounded.

We chat with a couple of young Americans.  Three hours later, the fog lifts.  Everyone is pushing and shoving to get on their planes.  You’d think it is the last plane out of Saigon!  We are on our way. 

The view from the plane over the Himalayas is amazing.  Peaks and valleys all the way to the horizon in an endless waltz of never ending snow and ice, the surface etched with dozens of thread-like rivers.   Apparently it takes about a week to drive this trip along the most treacherous mountain roads.  The railway has not yet reached Lhasa, but what a trip that would be!

Finally, we are there.  Our guide and driver  meet us and we set out for the 1½ hour drive into Lhasa.  The snow-capped scenery is stunning. It's dramatically different from the pollution-choked cities of China.  It’s so tranquil and grand driving along the Lhasa river with a cobalt sky above. The air is clean and crisp – at 13,000 feet above sea level - we feel a little giddy.  The headaches will start later but it doesn’t matter.  We are there.  We see the images shown here carved into the rocks along the way.

We are told that there are only 300, 000 people in Tibet, 1/3 of them in Lhasa.  Virtually all Tibetans are devout Buddhists and the country has been occupied by the Chinese since 1949 who were determined to stamp out Buddhism.  The spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism is the Dalai Llama who has been in India in exile since 1959.   All likenesses of him and discussion about him are banned.  There are signs of the Chinese military everywhere and the Chinese have been moving ethnic Chinese into the country in an effort to overwhelm the country and make it like the rest of China. 

On our first morning we visit the most enduring symbol of Tibet, the 13-storey Potala Palace, seen here.  This is the 1000-room ancestral home of the Dalai Lama, originally built in the 7th Century, sitting high on a hill dominating Lhasa.  We walk through it mingling with pilgrims, mostly nomads, who come annually to pay their respects and leave money in dizzying quantities at the bases of more than 200,000 icons and statues in the countless rooms of this awesome edifice.  The pilgrims carry yak butter which they add to burning candles in every room to keep them alight, each Buddhist making his or her contribution to their heritage.

The images are memorable.  chapels, priceless gold Buddhas, ancient tapestries and replicas of previous Dalai Lamas create an endless procession of treasures.  The roof of the palace is open to the public affording spectacular views of the town and surrounding mountains, which dominate the horizon in every direction.

Next day, the scene at the 7^th Century Jokhang Temple is incredible.  Some pilgrims pray, chant and prostrate themselves over and over to get themselves into a meditative state as they reach out for enlightenment.  Others, seen here, circumambulate the temple in a clockwise direction over and over, whirling their prayer wheels or chanting and using beads.  It is a scene straight out of mediaeval times.

Later, we head for the huge Drephung Monastery.  We climb and climb.  We visit chapel after chapel.  At the very top, with breathtaking views across the valley, we get to witness a wonderful debate/lesson with students gathered in a semi-circle around a physically active monk/teacher who drills two students at length on their knowledge of philosophy and who get a clap of the hands for every right answer and a jeer for every wrong one.  

Later we go to the Sera monastery where we see hundreds of monks in prayer in a large hall, chanting and praying.  If  we close our eyes and ignore the constant reek from the yak butter candles, and given that we don’t understand either Hebrew or Tibetan, we imagine that we could be in a synagogue in New York City.

Notwithstanding the breathtaking scenery and awesome architecture, it is the people of Tibet that are our most enduring memory. We find people friendly, approachable and warm.  Quite different than the Chinese!  Judging from our conversations with our guide, the faith of these people is impressively unshakeable.  The people here truly march to a different drum.  We are approached by a man in the street asking if we have brought pictures of the Dalai Lama.  He is their earthly ruler and incarnation of God . Enlightenment is their aim, not monetary success or other worldly trappings.  Notwithstanding invasion, conquest and occupation, the beautiful people of Tibet are truly an inspiration.  

     Himalayas              Dalai Lama        Mother & Child     Potala Palace Roof        Icon               Friendly Monk                Debate

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