2 Sept : It is the second day we were in Tibet. Got dressed. Walked up one floor and was huffing. *wondering how to trek in Nepal*. Went to the Rooftop and saw the view. Everyone is performing the kora (i.e. pilgrimage) around Jokhang Temple. Minimum 3 times and as many times as one wish. Everyone does this before they start their work.
Married women wear coloured aprons. Easy for the men to identify single women.
For the next 4 days we stayed in Lhasa, we had our breakfast (which is part of the travel package) at the next-door restaurant. Mandala Restaurant. And we had Western food. Same menu. Fried egg, 2 toasted breads, hashed potato and a cup of coffee or tea. The coffee is Nescafe. If only they served Tibetan food. But I guess not everyone's palate is able to accommodate to that.
I love the designs on the chair!
The first itinerary of the day is to visit the Summer Palace. Its Tibetan name is Norbulingkha Palace, which means jewel.
We were headed to the first monastery but no photos were allowed. Inside the monastery was the statue of Buddha surrounded by oil lamps, and flowers. And Tibetans performing prostration.
This is a place where the Dalai Lama sits to watch the opera that is going on. This building is opposite the performance site. The Dalai Lama will sit at the window and watch the opera. The current 14th Dalai Lama loves opera.
There were many tents in the Summer Palace because it was the Yogurt Festival. It is an annual festival and one of the most important festival in Tibet, and people take yogurt for good luck for the entire year. Tibetans are seen enjoying their picnics here.
The Residence of the 14th Dalai Lama. Each Dalai Lama has a residence built in the Summer Palace. It started from the 7th Dalai Lama because he build the Summer Palace. The 7th Dalai Lama is from Mongolia and hence, Tibet has close ties with Mongolia then. Also, the importance of Dalai Lama started from the 5th Dalai Lama as he received recognition from the King of Mongolia. From the 5th Dalai Lama onwards, Dalai Lama holds the highest position in the country.
No photos allowed too. In this Residence, the clock stopped at 9. This is the time where the 14th Dalai Lama left his Residence and was put into exile in India. There are no photos allowed of the 14th Dalai Lama in Tibet.
The flowers in the Summer Palace were stunningly beautiful.
I saw this booth, and my friend told me that yogurts were for sale in the booth.
Outside the Palace, we ate the yogurt. It has 'halal' certification too. The yogurt is yummy. Not very sour.
Strawberry-flavoured yogurt. Also with 'halal' certification.
In the afternoon, we were set to go to Jokhang Temple. Another 3D ticket for RMB85. The Temple is opposite our Hotel.
Jokhang Temple was built by the 32nd King of Tibet for his Nepalese wife. The King married 3 wives (Chinese, Tibet and Nepal princesses). Inside the temple is the gold past Buddha (Tibetan Buddhism believes there are 3 Buddhas - past, present and future) statue brought by his Chinese wife. I was a bit confused why the temple was built for the Nepalese wife when the Chinese wife brought the statue. The guide explained that the statue is inside the Temple because of the Cultural Revolution.
Only open-space is allowed for photos. We are at the highest floor of the temple.
From afar, we can see the Winter Palace.
The glare of the hot sun is unbearable. But the view of the old city of Lhasa is stunning.
This is actually wood. This sort of tree is only grown at high altitude, 4500m above sea level. It can withstand earthquake.
In the evening, we went to see some local performance for RMB180. This was an ad-hoc arrangement and we agreed when the tour guide suggested, as we wanted to see local performance.
The food that was on the table when we arrived. The bowl on the left is local wine. The bowl on the right is butter tea.
When I ate this, it was soft, and didn't have any taste. The more I ate on it, I felt weird because I didn't know what I was eating. Later, I found out from the tour guide that this was barley cake.
Later, another set of food came in. Which will be taken away when the performance starts. And the performance started in 10 minutes. The food was taken away after 30 minutes. Ridiculous!
A local game where the cloth is hung around the neck of each contestant. The winner is the one who can pull the cloth and move towards his space.
This game was shared with the audience. And the winner gets to wed a pretty lady. The lady was one of the performers.
After the performance, we told our bus driver to stop us in front of the Potala Palace, as we wanted to see the Palace at night. We told him we are alright in walking back to the hotel.
Stupas on the road. Stupa is built to remember the 12 major deeds of Buddha. Some of his deeds are his birth, his education, his marriage, he leaving his life as a prince, his enlightenment and his death.
Potala Palace at night.
We walked back to the Hotel. The directions were very easy. It was just a 20-minute walk. Walk slowly, and one won't feel tired.
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