East is Relative

Lhasa

What can I say about Lhasa? I’m finding it very difficult to find the words.

People lied down in the motorcycle lanes on the streets to do prostrations on their way to Jokhang Temple and the Potala Palace. I saw a statue of the Buddha that some Tibetans aspire to see once in their lifetimes, and make great pilgrimages to see. I spoke in depth with our young Tibetan tour guide, who muttered Buddhist prayers as we entered temples and chapels, and fiddled with his cell phone headphones, unlike his elder counterparts, who all carried strands of 108 prayer beads to count their mantras. I was physically touched by several smiling Tibetans, who wanted nothing more than to say hello, or to tell me my bracelet was beautiful, or to shake my hand. I was greeted with, “Tashi delek,” by dozens of Buddhists who were swarming the temples and monasteries to celebrate the Tibetan New Year.

Part of me knows that I must be romanticizing Tibet, as is so common for Westerners. I can’t help it. I’ve posted up the pictures and I think for awhile I’ll just let them speak for themselves.

I took a 34-hour train from Xi’an to Lhasa, then a 44-hour train from Lhasa to Chengdu. I’ll start my real touristy-stuff for this city tomorrow. I went on a huge yarn crawl yesterday and bought my weight in wool (washable and other). I’m pretty excited about that. I think I just need a few days to process Lhasa before I really comment on it.