Tibet Travelogue

Our journey started with a flight from Hong Kong to Chengdu, a city of 2 million in central China. The city is  polluted and surrounded by mountains so the pollution has no where to go. This is a picture of the sun at 10 AM on a sunny morning.

Chengdu is located in Sichuan province, which is famous for its pandas. The majority of pandas in the world are here. This panda is  eating bamboo shoots.

Pandas also like to play.

Outside of Lhasa, one of the first Buddhist monasteries in Tibet was located in a fortress. It was later moved. At 13,000 feet we decided a horseback ride up the hill was well worth the $1.25 US investment.

An alternative would have been a yak, but we decided a picture was good enough. Yaks provide butter, milk and yogurt, all staples of the Tibetan diet, as is yak meat, which tastes like tender beef. 

The colorful flags are prayer flags. You tie them up to send your prayers out to the universe for manifestation. In the background is the fortress.

Another staple of the Tibetan diet is barley, called qingke. It's used to make a type of bread, as well as beer. Lhasa beer, "brewed from the roof of the world" is very tasty.

At over 13,000 feet, the sun is pretty intense over the Yarlung Tsangpo River at midday. I described our river crossing in A Lesson from Tibet. 

You can see the sun reflecting in Christine's sunglasses in this photo.

This local resident at Samye is using a solar reflector to heat up some water. Due to the high altitude, water boils at 90 degrees centigrade.

Samye Monastery is surrounded by desert and mountains. There are supposed to be authentic yogis living in the caves in the surrounding mountains, but you need a special permit to go there.

Another shot of the beautiful Yarlung Tsangpo River, taken late in the afternoon.

One of the coolest scenes was watching the monks debating at Sera Monastery. The debates are very spirited and involve a lot of hand clapping. This monk is winding up to deliver his point.

These Tibetan scriptures are located inside the Tibetan Museum. You can feel the love and devotion contained in the writings just from standing near their glass cases.

Christine is standing on the grounds of Norbulingka, which was the summer palace of the Dalai Lama.

Atop the roof of the Jokhang Temple, one of the most famous in Tibet.

A service is being held at the Jokhang Temple. You could feel their love and devotion, even on the roof.

Barkhor square in front of Jokhang. You can see the Potala Palace in the background.

5 AM on the morning of the Shoton Festival. The smoke is from incense, which at times, was overwhelming. We had to climb the mountain to view the Thangka unveiling.

The rolled up white canvas being carried between the buildings is the Shakyamuni Thangka. It is unveiled once a year at sunrise, marking the beginning of the Shoton Festival.

This is sunrise over Lhasa on the day of the Festival.

Shakyamuni is another name for Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Over 300,000 locals and visitors came out to watch the Thangka unveiling. Click here to see a video of the Shoton Festival.

My favorite picture. Christine took this at the Drepung Monastery - The Illuminating Power of Meditation.

Christine took this picture in the Palco Monastery while the monks were chanting. Two petitioners are prostrating themselves in the foreground. Notice  the orbs. The feelings of love were intense.

Zhongshan Castle, in Gyantse, as seen from the Palco Monastery. It was quite a hike up the mountain, stairs and ladders to get to the top.

The view looking down the stairs from near the top of the castle.

This is in the turret atop Zhongshan Castle. In the distance is the Palco Monastery.

This was one of the monks traveling with us. He was fun and knowledgeable. We had an excellent discussion of Buddhism and mysticism at dinner one evening, with Christine translating for us.

This is a moving meditation by the monks at Sakya Monastery outside Shigatse, Tibet. One of them seemed a little lackadaisical...

... and sure enough they were. This monk took a break to reach under his robe and answer his cell phone. Click here to watch the Sakya monks' moving meditation.

Yomdrok Lake, one of the highest lakes in the world (almost as high as Lake Titicaca in Peru).

Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dalai Lama. It is 13 stories tall - it looks taller because it's built into the mountain. The red part is for religious affairs, the white is administrative.

Our sleeping car on the train from Lhasa to Xining, northeast of Lhasa, in the Qinghai province, but still on the Tibetan plateau.

This is part of the most spectacular rainbow I've ever seen. It was a full double rainbow.

This is a close up of the termination of the double rainbow.

Click here to see a video of this amazing, double rainbow on the Tibetan Plateau.

A few of the snowcapped mountains we saw on our train ride. There are also yaks grazing.

Even in remote areas of China you can find a Starbucks!

A mosque in Lanzhou. Almost a third of the population is Moslem in the Gansu province, located in northwest China.

A monk at play in Lanzhou.

We attended a show in Chengdu, with jugglers, tumblers and puppeteers. The highlight of the show is the "changing faces" act. The actor stomps his foot, touches his face or some such prop and his mask changes instantly. This specialty originated in Sichuan province.