Highs, lows, food and reflection.
Return to Lhasa, and back on the road with of course a few things to see on the way. Firstly a trip to one of the sixth largest monasteries of the Gluga School of Tibetan Buddhism (Ta Shilhun Po) and we joined the locals as the doors to the first temple opened, and felt the wave of hands on us as everyone pushed to climb the stairs up to the double doors-apparently this is normal as everyone wants to be blessed/say prayer as close to first as possible! We fought our way up to the top and bundled our way inside to stand beneath the tallest statue of a Buddha at 23m high. Photos were allowed with payment and while I didn't really want to take photos inside there was the most beautiful shot of a monk lighting candles-I caved and I paid, typically he didn't see me pay and I got shouted at, everyone looked, I felt guilty and embarrassed even when the other monk explained I had donated. So I took one shot, it's not perfect….but maybe it's for the best.
The three other temples contained giant stupas and while walking round the monks stated blowing horns and hitting a drum while in the next temple they all chanted. I spoke before about overwhelming experiences in these monasteries and yet again we have seen and been apart of something special. It's a magnificent place. Alas as ever the ups have a down and during the "liberation" the Chinese destroyed two of the original stupas so these are now replicas.
Cant leave the guys for 5mins without them finding and spoiling a dog!
In the "Summer Palace" back in Lhasa the influence of China is strong, our Tibetan tour guide clearly was uncomfortable, he loves the Palace but not what the Chinese Government have done to it, it felt Incredibly touristy, very manicured, part of it was built for the Chinese Lama and not the Tibetans. They had plonked a gift shop in the Lama's original residence and shops where you could dress up in Chinese dress and have a photo taken. There was security everywhere and unlike the other monasteries all the donations do not go to the upkeep of the or to the Monks it goes into Chinese Governments pockets. In the introduction I spoke about a place where guides aren't even allowed to point out/discuss the painting of the current Dali lama on the wall, this was here, we walked into the room and *mumble mumble, shifty look, cough on that wall* we saw it under the gaze of three security cameras. We skulked around the Palace in hushed silence, the guide quite visibly upset and had said that we were more than happy to not be here long. It also transpired this day that he had wanted to be a monk and had been declined by the Chinese to allow the path he felt he belonged on. It was all quite sad really.
Our new hotel was in the heart of Lhasa so later in the evening we wandered around bought a few gifts for those back home and later found a restaurant. Tucked down the back streets, through a curtain, up three flights of stairs, it was true Tibetan and we ate like kings (and a Queen). The House of Shambala Restaurant was a delight with friendly staff, great freshly cooked food and we had the place to ourselves. What better way to end the day, so we relaxed with some Lhasa beer for pretty much the whole evening and reflected on our trip, the beauty, the temple experiences and the reality.
We wondered how we would ever be able to explain to people the chants, the feeling of those temple statues as they look right at you as if they know you are there and what you are feeling, the sight of standing next to the bluest lake you will ever see in your life, the emotions of friendly proud people encouraging you to share in their place of worship. Can we put into words the feeling of seeing our Tibetan guide filled with laughter as we joke around with him and see him turn from cautious behaviour to "one of the gang" and see his eyes light up of curiosity as we show him photos of our home and London. The views, the mountains, the history and the bitter sweetness of the trip. Can we really describe it? The truth is, we can't. We just can't
Where Eagles Dare
Last day before we fly back to Chengdu (grumble) and our last two visits and little did we know how amazing our last visit in this wonderful country be, but first the Ganden Monastery.
Fun Facts: Ganden was built in 1409AD and covers an area of 150000 square meters and in 1961 became a national cultural relic. We were taken into several temples and walked the "streets" of this large place. As it seems this whole trip we got lucky, the remaining Monks (once home to 3000+ now only around 300) were reading from scripts and chanting in one of the temples and if that wasn't enough to bring a lump to the throat we were all blessed by a monk with a tap on the head with the very first Dali Lama's original hat.
Even with the emotion (again) in the temple at Ganden Monastery (picture above) this day was all about one place: Drak Yerpa.
Drak Yerpa, is built high high in the mountains and quite literally into it. It consists of a monastery and a number of ancient meditation caves, while high above is a mountain top covered with prayer flags, thousands and thousands of them and every day someone puts a bundle on their back hikes to the top and places more. There is so many that from afar they actually look like rock formations.
The walk to the top wasn't easy especially after all the altitude ups and downs over the last week and even our guide was struggling, 4246 meters above sea level will make even the fittest huff a little, but was it worth it. A plus point to Drak is a lot of tourists rarely go here and with not many people around except the odd wandering Monk we truly felt on top of the world. The meditating caves were all in tact, (the Chinese couldn't muster the energy to destroy this place it would seem) and the views are sensational, eye shatteringly sensational with deep valleys, winding roads, snow capped mountains and air so pure its like the first breathe you ever took. The meditation caves and temples are all connected by a sea of stairs it is a place of peace and calm and where eagles soar and donkeys stroll about. It is Magical.
On the way down we were passed by two men, all day we had been followed by Chinese Government officials, I'm pretty sure the hike to the top of Drak finished them off for I didn't see them again afterwards! But again, it just highlights what exactly is going on in Tibet and how important it is for tourists to be with guides.
View from the top of Drak Yerpa
A small section of the Prayer flags that adorn the mount tops
Friendly neighbourhood Drak Yerpa cat
Tired, mentally drained and emotionally done! The drive back to Lhasa was a quiet one and we were in for one last unexpected treat. The pass took us on a looping road and in the distance we could see a sea of prayer flags as the road dropped and swept round a corner the vision became clear. A bridge of prayer flags. Below is a video of this, our last stop on the road back home, it will do it far more justice than words will.
So then that is it. We had one more night in Lhasa and a meal back at that lovely restaurant, flew back to Chengdu the next day (very glad we didn't do the train all the way back!), stayed one night in Chengdu and then flew back to London the morning afterwards. I hope that you have enjoyed reading the above posts on this trip, as I have repeated time and time again my words and photos probably cannot do it justice but hopefully they have given you a snapshot into an amazing country which, as you have read is on the verge of being written out of history. I am glad we saw it when we did because I fear it won't last long and yes, anti-Chinese groups will tell you not to travel here but you should because: a/ the Dalai Lama encourages it for all the reasons in the above pages (good and bad) and b/ the more of the West that travel (with open eyes) the more we can report back and just maybe change will happen. Maybe.
It was the most incredible trip I have ever been on and I have been fortunate to be on a few of them now, but spiritually it touched us, aesthetically it was other worldly and on a human level it emotionally affected us. It has been two weeks now since returning and It still hasn't really sunk in, I think it will be a long time before it really does.
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