Lhasa

We started from our hotel in Xian yesterday, at 11am, as our flight was at 1.20pm. Everybody thought that was to be sufficient for us to make it to the airport in due time. Little did we know that there were some bad traffic jams in the city that made us believe, at some point, that we would miss the flight. Luckily for us (and for our guide!!) we made it on time and the flight was also delayed so it was OK after all.

After a 2 ½ hour flight we landed in Lhasa yesterday afternoon. The flight was quite uneventful. There were, however, a few bad turbulences as we were flying over Tibetan mountains. Alex tricked me into letting him have the window seat so he enjoyed the great view of the mountains covered in snow below.

We were met at the airport by our guide – this time a young fellow who proved to speak good English (what a relief!) and to possess a lot of knowledge about Lhasa and Tibet. We were offered white, long scarves, a welcome sign in Tibet.

The journey to the hotel was quite long (more than ½ hour) but the scenery was absolutely incredible: very high mountains, some with snow on top, a beautiful, large river (Lhasa river) and very blue skies. The temperature was absolutely perfect, a real blessing after what we had to endure in Beijing and Xian. It was approximately 25 degrees and sunny. Lhasa is at 4,000m above sea level so the oxygen is scarce here. This is why, on the first day after arrival (or, for some, on the first 2 or 3 days) it is very common for the traveller to feel dizzy and to be tortured by nasty headaches (which we experienced yesterday and during the first part of today).

Our hotel is rated 3 star and it used to be a Holiday Inn some time ago. However, Holiday Inn withdrew their licence as the standards were not met but the hotel continues to use the Holiday Inn name. It is now called “Lhasa Hotel – ex Holiday Inn”. Interesting way of attracting tourists!! It is still considered the best hotel in Lhasa so... I guess any complaining would be useless.

After checking in, we took a nap in the hope that we would get rid of the headache which, I'm afraid, was wishful thinking. When we woke up, we felt the need for a light dinner so we went to one of the hotel's restaurants. We were both dizzy and nauseous.

The restaurant was an interesting surprise. They had mainly European dishes on the menu, the single Tibetan addition being the yak steak (which actually was a replacement for our beef steak). There were wonderful things such as minestrone or French onion soups, Wiener schnitzel, apple strudel and the like!! Paradise! And, on top of everything, the waitresses seemed to speak reasonable English!! We instantly felt much better! We ordered a full course dinner but we could hardly finish anything. Of course the dishes were not the best we had ever had but still, we felt a bit at home and more at ease.

Alex kept complaining of being unable to breathe properly so, after a (very) short walk in the hotel neighbourhood, we went back to our room and had an early night.

Due to Tibet's special circumstances, the local guides are quite eager that the tourists are not left unattended. They suggest, from the very beginning, that it's better for you to have long rests, stay in the hotel and only venture outside when accompanied by your guide. The given reason was that there are many people in Lhasa that came from other parts of Tibet and it's not very safe to wander the streets unaccompanied. Of course we saw right through it but... what could we do. If it was up to me, I would venture into the city and wander the small streets and see how the people really live. But Alex is very categorical about it –“it says in our guidebook that we could get in big trouble if we did that!” :-( It's a bad world out there!!

After breakfast, we were taken to Norbulingka, which is the former residence of the Dalai Lama. The park contains several palaces and chapels, the highlight of which is the New Summer Palace. This time there were things to be seen inside, mostly gifts to the Dalai Lama from various governments. All furniture and carpets looked old and shabby and in poor taste. The paintings on the walls were quite interesting though, once their meaning was explained to us by our guide. We learnt lots of interesting things about Buddhism and their traditions.

The next place on our visiting list was a nunnery (Lhasa Tsamkhung Nunnery), the only nunnery established in the old city of Lhasa. The name of the nunnery literally means meditation cave as, during the 7th century, a Tibetan king used to meditate in a natural cave at this site. The nunnery was first established in the 15th century. The place was quite small but interesting to be visited inside. We saw several nuns, dressed more or less in the same manner (a jumper to keep them warm and a skirt). All of them had their heads shaven and, it being breakfast time, were drinking a sort of butter drink (very rich and filling). They would either pray or copy the scriptures all day long.

Afterwards, we were taken to a local restaurant to have lunch. We were positively not hungry and the place looked so shabby that I wanted to skip the lunch altogether. It did not seem like a good idea though so I just had a bottle of water while Alex, our guide and our driver had a frugal lunch. To do them justice, I am convinced that the food was very tasty (Alex actually confirmed that) but to me everything looked dirty so I simply decided to refrain.

After lunch, we visited the Sera Monastery which was founded in 1419, has an assembly hall, three colleges and about 33 houses. About 600 monks are now in residence, well down from an original population of around 5000 monks. Debating sessions take place from 3.30pm to 5pm in the garden, which we witnessed. Basically, monks gather in the garden and get engaged in discussions / debates in pairs. They are grouped by seniority levels. The pairs are made up of one sitting and one standing monk. The standing monk is the one asking the questions, whereas the sitting monk is the one answering them. Whenever an answer is considered to be wrong, the standing monk would clap his hands. Consequently, the noise in the garden was considerable.

The next and last place that we visited was Lhasa's medical college. The visit was very similar to the one in Beijing, but this time we skilfully avoided the consultation and (I) the nasty, tasteless tea which they force on visitors. We were explained how the Tibetans use various plants and even parts of animals (like a yak's penis!!) to heal various illnesses. I bought a small and cute stone which they put on a string for me and which is, supposedly, good for blood circulation and heart. Of course I don't believe in the nonsense, it was an impulse purchase, the reason being that it looked so nice :-). I will probably be bored of it by tomorrow and throw it away... but, then again, maybe not!

Tomorrow we'll have a very full and tiring day but also very interesting! I can hardly wait! That is, if we won't die from lack of oxygen in the meantime :)