Tibet 03

Day 4



Lhasa
Norbulingka (Summer) Palace, Potala (Winter) Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkor Street

Entering the Summer Palace of Dalai Lama is called Norbulingka. It means "Jewel Park" in Tibetan. Now listed as one of World Cultural Heritage, though the head has been absent for a long while the monks have done their best to take good care of this place. It is one of the few places that has many trees towering above your heads. Because Tibet is located at a high altitude overall, it is very hard to find any tree that is quite tall. I think this was the last time I could breath in fresh oxygen from the trees during my stay in Tibet.

My visit to Tibet was in July. But though it was burning hot in Beijing, as you can see the local people's dressing it is not the same weather in Tibet. Its a bit chilly in the early morning and late at night. But whats funny is that during the daytime, because we are at a higher altitude, and close to the sun, it gets quite hot again. I think I felt all four season in one day.

One of the doors at Norbulingka Palace. One pattern you will notice all over Tibetan culture is the beautiful bright colour! The bright yellow walls followed by white buildings, and now these rainbow colored temples... It made me sad to think that this beautiful temple has been kept empty for a long while, it was a second home to Dalai Lama.

The next stop we made was Dalai Lama's other Winter palace: The Potala Palace. Built in the 7th century at the time of Songtsan Gampo and extended in the 17th century by the 5th Dalai Lama, the Potala Palace is one of the most famous site of Tibet. Most foreigners regard this place as the central part of Tibet. Not only because of its geography location, its history, but also the unique way in which it has been constructed.
Can you believe, this beautiful white palace built four centuries ago. 1,000 rooms divided to Red Temple and the White Temple. In order to reach the top, we took stone stairs like this for about two hours. 250 stone steps.. I am not Bhuddist myself, but even I could feel that this place is indeed something special. You could tell by the stones that it has been stepped by centuries of people. Every step I was taking counted more than I thought.

At one of the midpoints of Potala Palace. The white walls and the clear blue sky just made me gasp in awe. Beautiful.

Ok, so one other interesting point to note while visiting a foreign country is their toilet culture. Tibetans are nomads. They are usually not used to the concept of toilet as the Western people do. Here is an example.

At the midpoint of Potala Palace there was the highest toilet on earth.

Tada! Here it is! Why is this the highest? Because the hole in the middle, that depth is about 3,500meters high. Can you imagine? You can hear your busying yourself echo at the other end after couple seconds later, since you have to think of the time the stuff drops to the floor. Hey, don't laugh. Its still an experience. :P

A view from walking down Potala Palace. Because of its high location, you can get a good view of the overall Lhasa city.

Because Tibet is a strongly religious country, where over 90% of the population is Lamaism you will see such religious culture everywhere. This is an example. Outside the Potal Palace is a long wall of these yellowish circular shaped object. You will see the people holding a small one like this too. Turning it around and around calling "Omanibami." Wishing for the good fortune and good afterlife. Around and around. As a never ending cycle.