Lhasa

Last night we repared to the Yax Hotel restaurant. We dined on Sizzling Yak for CC and a Yak burger for me. It was delicious. The Tibetans hold the Yak in high regard as it is a clean animal feeding on the mountain shrubbery unlike the the cow, which eats litter. There is Yak of every variety in addition to the meat, there is butter, tea, yoghurt and ice-cream made from Yak. I have tasted all with the exception of the latter, which I intend to taste before I leave. 

    A white Yak - black Yaks are more       

                     Numerous

This morning, we visited the Jokang     Temple. The 1300 year old temple houses the golden Budda, the most revered in all Tibet. Candles in temples are Yak butter and it is impressive to see all the pilgrims (some very poor)  place money, flowers and fruit of all varieties to honour the Buddas in the various chapels in both temple and monastery. 

The Tibetans are a religious people, who are very gentle in nature as a consequence of their Buddism. In Tibet, monasteries are for efucation and temples for worship. We observed the young and old prostrating themselves outside the temple. For many, it is the trip of a lifetime to visit the most famous temple in Tibet. 

This afternoon we visited Potala palace - the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas. It is a massive structure overlookiing the city. It is the highest ancient palace in the world at a height of 3,767 m. The palace contains numerous chapels, golden stupas (tombs of several Dalai Lama) and prayer halls. It has been used since the 7th century AD but the present structure dates from the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama in 1645. It took 50 years to complete. 

 

It is composed of a red building with two white wings. The red wing is for prayer and meditation and is painted red to symbolise power. The white wing was used by the Tibetan government but today it is a museum while containing the living quarters of the Dalai Lamas though the present Dalai Lama is in exile in India. White represents peace. 

The sun was beating down on us as we climbed the reputed 1,080 steps to the very top of the palace. While being at an altitude of 3,665m, we felt every step we climbed. We had an excellent guide, a practising Buddism, who explained Buddism in detail to us. 

Three thousand visitors are only allowed to visit each day and one cannot choose one's time of visit. No photographs allowed inside the palace - dear reader you must make a personal visit.  

After completion of the tour of Potala palace, we repared to the hotel.