Friday, May 21, 2010

"Impressions of Tibet" - Dave Ellison

Potala Palace, Home of the Dali Lama

Friday afternoon in Lhasa after arriving from terribly smoggy Shanghai yesterday afternoon. The good news is the air is finally clean. The bad news is there isn't much of it at almost 12,000 feet elevation. Even with Diamox, I had a rough start and didn't feel even close to normal until this morning.

This morning's visit to the Jokhang Monestary, we understand the holiest place in Tibet, was packed with pilgrims, for many of whom this is a once-in-a-lifetime visit. From there we visited - and climbed- the majestic Potala Palace. It's the signature landmark of Lhasa. Then after watching "monk debates" at the Sera Monestary, we stopped in the bazaar in Lhasa for an hour of shopping. It's been our most active walking day.

Impressions and some of what we learned:

Tibet is part of China and has about 25% of her land mass, but it is very different. It has its own language, ethnicity, and Buddhism is entrenched despite the best efforts of the Central Govt to discourage it. However, one sees the PLA (Chinese army) all over. And Han Chinese, the dominant Chinese ethnic group, now make up perhaps 40% of Tibet. China is paying the big bucks to Han to get them to move here. Lhasa is a combination of first and third world urban feel. And its very dry.

Dr. Kate Kaup is knowledgeable, fluent, full of energy and fun. Pretty good combination of qualities to lead us. This is an amazing experience for Frances and me. I hope Furman alumni and friends will take advantage of these opportunities in the future.

"First Full Day in Tibet" - Tom Triplett

Our Purple Paladin Bus


The Potala Palace
We had our first FULL day in Tibet on Friday, May 21st. Everyone suffered a bit on our first night from the altitude, but everyone answered the bell on Friday morning.
Our first stop was the Jokhang Monastery in the center of downtown Lhasa. It is a very old monastery and most crowded place I have ever been. Pilgrims were coming from all over to visit the shrines, some of them going full prostrate every THREE steps to pray. There devotion is unbelievable. There was much yak butter and incense being burned inside. Truly an experience of a lifetime being in there.

Tibet pilgrims praying outside Jokhang Monastery


A market outside of Jokhang Monastery



Amazing woodwork


Our next stop was a hospital nearby that practiced traditional Tibetan medicine. We had a brief lecture on their practices by a doctor there. It was most interesting. For all you biology majors out there, he told us they figured out that the development of the fetus closely resembles the stages of evolution. In Biology 21, Dr. Pielieu taught us that morphology recapitulates phylogeny.
They figured this out about 700 AD!


A native Tibetan Medicine Hospital


Our next stop was the Potala Palace, home of the Dali Lama. We had a set time we needed to be there, so we got take-out, Tibetan style. Kate ran into a shop and got us some Tibetan qiches and muffins to eat on the way.

The Potala Palace is so big you have to see it to believe and you can't take pictures inside. Going to the top is quite a feat, especially at 13,000 feet, but we all made it and were glad we did.


Information on the Potala Palace



After a late lunch, we went to the Sera Monastery just outside of town. We were able to observe monks debating religious topics in their unique style.


Monks debating at Sera Monastery


Prayer wheels at Sera
Kate then took us to the market ouside the Jokhang Monastery for about an hour of shopping and bargaining with the local vendors. Some were better bargainers than other, but everyone came away with some treasures from Tibet. We had a late dinner at an upstairs restaurant downtown and then crashed.

Market Square
Saturday we look forward to a monastery out in the countryside and a visit to a village medical clinic.



A beautiful Tibetan Family photo