Nepal and Tibet

During the night, I actually have a headache and cannot sleep. This seems to be happening to a lot of our group, so it is probably just symptoms of altitude sickness. Thank goodness, we are taking our "tingle tablets" because we could be feeling a lot worse. Anyway, we embark on our visit to the Potala Palace, feeling a little the worse for wear. Robert has not had a good night either so we are tired before we begin.

We have seen the Potala Palace many times as we drive around Lhasa. It is pretty hard to miss because it is so very big and dominates the Lhasa skyline from its perch on a hill, on the edge of the city. It is a structure of massive proportions and is one of the most important Asian buildings ever constructed. There are mixed opinions of the Potala. I, personally, think it is beautiful and the first time I hear someone comment on how ugly it is, I am shocked. Before we drive up to the Palace, we go to the huge square that the Chinese have built across the road from the base of the hill. It is here that we have a group photo taken. We have been hoping to take a photo of the Potala Palace, like many we have seen in books, with the building reflected in the lake, which is right beside the square however, the Chinese have planted willow trees around the lake. They have grown to quite a substantial size, which prevents this photo from ever being taken again.

At long last we make our way up to the back of the Palace, Thank God, our guide does not expect us to climb the front stairs because there are hundreds of them and at this altitude, I know that I, for sure and certain will not arrive at the top. Our entry through the back door does not, however, guarantee that we will not be climbing any stairs. Almost immediately we begin to climb up and down as we make our way through this rabbit warren of a place. The room I have been looking forward to seeing is the throne room. It is here that we are reminded of scenes from the movie "Seven Years in Tibet", in which we often saw the Dalai Lama as a boy, sitting cross legged on his ornately decorated throne. We see the amazing Reception Hall with tubes of rich fabrics hanging from the ceiling, and a wonderful collection of bronze statues.

We are excited to visit the private quarters of the present Dalai Lama, who has not been back since he fled Tibet just minutes ahead of the Communists, who were intent on arresting him. We see chapels by the dozens, all with statues, butter candles burning in ornate, gold chalices, thangkas, three-dimensional mandalas and, most importantly, the tombs of many of the previous Dalai Lamas. All this entails climbing up steep, dark stairways, often really only ladders, only to have to climb down them again. All the while we listen to Karma tell the story of each room, tomb and icon. His English is not good, so the concentration is tiring. The stories, however, are really interesting and give us a good insight into the history of this amazing building. We also learn a lot more about Tibetan Buddhism and this helps us to understand the people and the reverence they display so openly. Now and then we reach a roof area and here we have a fabulous view over Lhasa. Again we are reminded of the movie, "Seven Years in Tibet" for it is up here, on the roof, that he used to look down, through a telescope really only to see how the other half lived.

We are surprised to have pointed out to us that the brown walls on the exterior of the Potala are not bricks or brown paint but compacted twigs which have been embedded into clay or plaster and have resulted in a finish much like the bristles of a scrubbing brush. There are many, many windows high up in the Potala, always in the trapezoid shape we see on all Tibetan buildings. The sunshades, on each window are finished with pieces of pleated fabric, which flutter in the breeze. The roofs are painted gold, as are the surrounds of the doors. Some of the doors are covered, on the outside, with coarse, thick curtains in a bid to keep out the cold winds. Others are just painted bright red, with a big gold knocker in the centre with long brass hinges onto which is tied a thick gold tassel. Prayer flags are strung up everywhere, fluttering prayers off to heaven with every breeze. We finally arrive at the front of the building and have to negotiate the hundreds of steps down to the bus, which is waiting for us at the bottom.

Once we arrive at the foot of the steps, we are confronted, again, with markets and hawkers. We have a little buy again here. We buy a lovely, very unusual leather-covered box, which takes Robert's eye, as well as some silver salad servers, which take mine. As we climb onto the bus, the hawkers are still trying to sell trinkets through the bus windows. You have to give them top marks for persistence.

We have our lunch together in a Tibetan restaurant. This is to be the first time we venture anywhere but the hotel for a meal. I am shocked at the carpet on the stairs. It is black and greasy. I am pleasantly surprised therefore, to enter a lovely, clean, cool restaurant, where the waitresses appear clean and are very polite. We order Tibetan meals and thoroughly enjoy them. So as not to have to return to the hotel before we go to Norbulingka, we are advised to go to the loos at the restaurant. Oh, my God! The worst toilets in the world!! Just a hole over a putrid cesspit of human waste! By this time, we have been giving toilets a rating on the scale of one to ten. This one in my book was minus ten.

The Norbulinka Summer Palace or the park, which houses many of the previous Dalai Lamas summer palaces, is a very large complex. It is mainly park-like, with large trees and many areas of unmown grass making it appear like a forest. This is where once wild deer roamed. Wide paths link the buildings, the most interesting of which is the present Dalai Lama's palace, which he built between 1954 and 1956. It was from here that he fled just minutes before the Communists arrived to arrest him. We see the gate through which he fled. As a matter of fact, his private quarters are kept exactly as he left them. It is amusing to see, that, although throughout the building there are the usual, formal meeting rooms, chapels and so forth, his private quarters tell us a little more about him. From watching "Seven Years In Tibet", we learn that he loves to tinker, has a great sense of humour and enjoys the trappings of modern life. In his sitting room is a Phillips Radiogram. In his throne room, the pictures painted there are cartoon depictions of his court and in his bedroom, there is a European style bed, which would have been very modern in 1956. The fittings in the house, such as light fittings and doorknobs are just like the ones we had in our house when I was a child. There is a well-kept garden in front of the house with roses and larkspur blooming and a fountain playing. Outside one of the buildings, tied up and asleep, we are amused to see two, identical guard dogs, around whose necks are bright, red, fluffy collars. How frightening!

Every Dalai Lama since the seventh has used Norbulingka as a summer retreat and gradually since then (1755), the park and the houses have been added to and modernized. A lake was built, a zoo was installed and the grounds beautified. When the Dalai Lama escaped in 1959, dressed as a Tibetan soldier, there was such an uprising, that most of the complex was destroyed. We see what is left of the zoo. The animals look miserable and uncared for, in ugly cement enclosures. Big brown bears roam up and down, up and down out of sheer boredom. Only a few of the houses remain and they are now used more as a museum than anything else.

We attend a cultural show with dinner tonight in the "Mad Yak Café. I wonder how the Brits, who are just recovering from "mad cow" disease, would react to having dinner here. This cultural show is not a patch on the show we saw in China last year. It is quite amateurishly produced although the musicians are good, if a tad high pitched. The costumes are the best part of the show. They are very elaborate. The buffet meal is extensive. I enjoy what I have but I choose quite fussily. I just won't try yak heart or female yak curd or some of the dishes only named in Tibetan. Robert tries yak butter tea, which is the preferred drink of all Tibetans. I am fussy about what I put in my mouth so I am happy with jasmine tea. Robert says it is not too bad. He feels it must be made differently for the tourists. We have read how they usually add rancid butter to their tea and it is very difficult to drink.