Beijing to Lhasa

For the 48-hour train ride from Beijing to Lhasa, our home was a small but comfortable 4-berth soft class sleeper compartment which we shared with a man who was travelling as far as Xi'an, and a woman who was returning home to Lhasa. The scenery during the first day was not that exciting, as we passed through several Chinese cities. The second day, we were on the newest stretch of the rail, 1149 kms from Golmud to Lhasa. This stretch, which was completed July, 2006, and now links Tibet with the rest of China (for better or worse). The scenery was spectacular - snow covered land, with mountains in the background. We saw wild asses, hawks, foxes, wolves, Tibetan antelope, and many yaks. As we were repeatedly told over the train's loud speaker, the rail is an engineering marvel - most of the track is built on permafrost, at an altitude between 3800 - 5000m, making it the highest rail in the world. For this part of the journey no smoking was permitted (yeah!) as oxygen was pumped into the cars. Each passenger also had an oxygen outlet by their bed, and tubes were handed out by the rail staff at the beginning of the second day.

We arrived in Lhasa (3800m) right on schedule on the evening of March 1, and found accomodation at the Yak Hotel. Our first day in Lhasa was spent meeting with our travel agent and finalizing arrangements and permits for our 6-day jeep tour to Nepal. It is very exciting just to walk the streets in Lhasa - there is a wonderful energy in the Tibetan quarter, and people are still quite curious about foreigners. Children, especially, call out "hello", and in the 4 days we've been here, we think we've seen maybe 15 other westerners. It is still quite early in the tourist season, and although the mornings are very cold, in the afternoons, the sun comes out and warms us up as we walk around seeing the sights.

Yesterday (my birthday) was a very special day. In the morning, we went to Potala Palace, the imposing former home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government. Built in the seventh century, the building is an incredible structure made of stone and wood, and containing over 1000 rooms. It houses solid gold, jewel-encrusted tombs of the fifth through the eleventh Dalai Lamas, and tens of thousands of Buddha figures. Hundreds of devotees visited the palace with us, many of them adding their offerings of yak butter to the many lamps throughout the Palace, or leaving small donations of money, or thangka scarves at the statues.

We joined the devotees outside the palace for one circuit or "puja" of the palace - walking in a clockwise direction around the palace, which was close to 2kms. This was the most remarkable part of the Palace - seeing the devotees spinning their prayer wheels, chanting prayers, and doing prostrations. It was quite overwhelming watching some of the pilgrims laying down and stretching themselves out on the cold stone pavement, pressing their foreheads to the ground, saying a prayer, and then standing, taking small steps to where their hands had extended and then repeating the whole motion. Some wore aprons and used wooden slats strapped to their hands to protect themselves as they slid to the ground. Many had a permanent bump on their forehead. We gave small donations to help them as they cannot work while doing their puja. People were very friendly, and one woman took my hand and pressed it to her cheek to warm me up. We walked together hand in hand for a few hundred metres, unable to communicate but for smiles and hand squeezes.

In the afternoon, we went to the Sera Monastery, a residence and study place for over 500 monks. We were hoping to see the monks debating points of Buddhism. As it was full moon, and the first full moon after the New Year, we weren't sure if the debates were going to happen, but luckily we stayed for a couple extra hours with our fingers crossed, and we were thrilled when we started to see the monks gathering in the main courtyard. Two senior monks sat like judges in the centre, while the rest of the monks were divided into two large groups, facing each other, sitting on small cushions or pieces of cardboard on the ground. The debates were kicked off with one monk making some points in front of the senior monks. Soon, he was joined by several additional monks, who all wanted a piece of the action. The mood was lighthearted, as points were accentuated by a loud clap of their hands, and even a little wrestling.

After about 30 minutes, the monks disbursed, and then were called back about 5 minutes later by a loud gong and two Tibetan horns blarring from the roof. They all returned and took their places inside the temple for a special chant (which we understand to be in celebration of the full moon). The sonorous chanting was wonderful, and we listened for quite a while, until all of a sudden about a dozen monks sprinted out of the temple, and returned with large urns of yak butter tea which they poured for all the monks there.

This morning we visited the Jokhang Temple, which is one of the most holy places for Tibetan Buddhists. On Sundays, only foreigners and special groups are allowed inside the Temple, and while this meant it didn't have the same atmosphere as if it had been full of pilgrims, it did allow us to take our time looking at all the statues of Buddha, and enjoying the amazing view from the rooftop.

Tomorrow we leave Lhasa on our way to Kathmandu. As travel is closely monitored in Tibet, we are a tour group of two, taking a 6 day jeep tour through Tibet to the Nepalese border.

Location: Lhasa, Tibet