A Temple and A Monastery

Thomas and I both had trouble sleeping last night. Not sure if it had to do with the altitude or with allergies. We both felt a little light headed but nothing major so I don’t think the altitude is the problem. There is so much dust all around. From the time we left the airport to the time we got to the hotel there was dust blowing in the air. We both sneezed on and off all night. At around 4:00am I decided to work on my journal and edit some pictures. I did this for about an hour then tried to get some more sleep. It worked because the next thing I knew was that the alarm was going off at 6:30am. So we both got up, showered and dressed. Around 7:30am we went for some breakfast and coffee in the dining room. We talked with a few people who had to go to the infirmary during the night and there was a rumor that someone had to go to the hospital. We will see what is actually true when we meet the group for our excursion this morning. We have everything ready for today we are just relaxing until we meet the group at 9:30am.

So we met the group at 9:30am and found out that no one went to the hospital but they did see go to the clinic in the hotel. No one had serious problems but there were some that weren’t going on the excursions today. The rest of us climbed into the bus and made our way to Jokhang Temple. We parked at the end of the road and had to walk about ten minutes to the temple. There is a large open area in front of the temple and there were a lot of people there. They have two large incense burners our front where people put herbs and other plants as offerings. This creates a lot of smoke and a very thick, smokey odor. We walked closer and saw lots of people praying out front. Our local tour guide gave us some history, explained about the praying and lots of other information about their beliefs. After about 30 minutes we entered the courtyard of the temple. In here there was singing, dancing and praying. All very overwhelming to see the extent of their beliefs. Then we entered the temple, you can’t take pictures inside and it was very crowded and the incense smell was intense. There was also the smell of burning candles. People from all over Tibet were here to do offerings and pray at little chapels set up all around the temple. We were inside about 30 minutes and our local tour guide explained the meaning of symbols and statues. Once back outside we walked around a bit more and got more information – more than I can remember.

Then we had some free time to roam around the area and visit the market. Thomas and I spent an hour going into some stores and visiting a couple of smaller prayer houses. The market was interesting – they like haggling and they are very persistent. We bought a couple of small items and mainly just window shopped and people watched. After an hour we met the group again and we all went to lunch at a local restaurant called Lhasa Kitchen. They had a set menu so we couldn’t choose but the meal turned out to be delicious. We had soup, bread, vegetable spring rolls, yak meat, curry chicken, spinach, rice and noodles. It was a relaxing time after visiting the crowded temple.

 After lunch we made our way to Sera Monastery. We learned about the monastery and its history. We visited a few areas but the highlight of the visit is when we watched monks debating. The monks were all gathered in a courtyard and paired up. One was sitting and one was standing. The monk standing posed a question to the monk sitting. If the sitting monk answered the question correctly the standing monk claps his hands palms together. If the sitting monk answers wrong the standing monk claps his hands with the palm of one hand and the back of the other. The whole thing is very animated and it is loud as all these pairs of monks are doing this at the same time. It was incredibly interesting to watch. We spent about an hour at the monastery and then we returned to the hotel.

We had about an hour and a half to rest and freshen up before dinner. We met the group at 6:00pm and all the people that had problems this morning were doing better and joined us for dinner. We ate a restaurant at a different hotel. It was a buffet and they had only a few choices – it was good but not as good as lunch. After dinner we returned to the hotel. We both showered and then Thomas read a bit and I journaled and edited pictures. It was a long day and a good nights sleep will be good. We have another full day in Lhasa tomorrow.

Chongqing, Pandas and Tibet

Our alarm went off at 5:00am, we had to shower, dress, finish packing and get some breakfast before 6:30am. We got our things and met our group in the lobby at 6:45am and then we disembarked the Viking Emerld in Chongqing. A bus then took us to the Chongqing Zoo so we could see some pandas. The zoo opens early and people come to do exercises there. They had people playing badmitton, doing TaiChi and walking. We were lucky and there were about five pandas out. We got to take pictures and watch them eat and play. After about 40 minutes at the zoo we had to leave and make our way to the airport which was about an hours drive.

Once we were in the airport Arnold gave us our passports and boarding passes. Then as a group we headed to security. We are flying to Lhasa, Tibet this morning and you have to have an entry pass. So Arnold had a list of our names and passport numbers which was attached to an entry permit, so we all had to be together. Going through security was pretty easy and didn’t take that long. We are on flight CZ3463 on China Southern [Thomas was in seat 40B and I was in seat 39C]. By the time we reached Gate G16 we only had a ten minute wait before they started boarding. The flight was about three hours and I spent most of it reading. They did serve us a lunch of rice and pork with some vegetables. It wa pretty good. When we landed in Tibet we made our way to the baggage claim and picked up our bags. We then had to wait until everyone had their luggage and then we had to give our passports to Arnold so he could get us through customs. They scanned our passports and then we were free to leave the airport. We loaded onto our bus and our local tour guide welcomed us to Tibet with a white scarf that he tied around our necks. It was a special way to start our visit in Tibet. 

From the airport we drove about fifteen minutes to visit a typical Tibetan home. We didn’t meet the family but we got to see the different living areas and learn about how they live. It was an interesting visit but very quick and a little strange walking around someone’s home when they weren’t there. After the visit we were back on the bus for a one hour ride to Lhasa and our hotel. Arnold has been preparing us for the altitude so that we don’t have any problems and the local tour guide did the same during our bus ride. Lhasa is at 3600 meters or 11,800 feet so they strongly encouraged all of us to follow some simple rules. Drink plenty of water, cut back on alcohol, move slowly and avoid strenuous exercise. So far Thomas isn’t having any problems but I have felt a little light headed. Hopefully we will be okay – our tour guide is slowing everything down while we are in Tibet.

We arrived at our hotel – The St. Regis Lhasa Resort – and we got our room keys and we were free to do what we wanted until dinner at 7:00pm. After settling in the room Thomas did some reading and I walked around the hotel taking pictures. I also spent some time editing photos and journaling until it was time for dinner. At dinner we found that four of our group were already having dizziness and nausea and one didn’t even come down for dinner because she was feeling too bad. We are hopeful that everyone will be okay tomorrow when we go out to explore the city.

Dinner was a buffet in the restaurant and they had quite a large variety of food. We all found things we liked and had a great meal. Back in the room after dinner I showered, edited pictures, did my blog post and journaled. It was long day and I need some sleep for tomorrow so I can enjoy Lhasa.