Lhasa

We were greeted at the Lhasa train station by our guide for the week. Currently, you can’t travel to Tibet without hiring a guide to take care of you the whole time. Ours showed us to our hotel, recommended restaurants, and for the first two days showed us around the many temples and monasteries of Lhasa.

A pilgrimage around Barkhor square. Clockwise only.

At the center of Old Lhasa is Barkhor Square, around which crowds of pilgrims walk strictly in a clockwise direction, as dictated by the dominant Yellow Hat sect. Many periodically dive down, forehead touching the road, and essentially swim along the street. It’s an eerie scene, and they do it day and night.

Jokhang Temple in foreground, Potala Palace in background.

 

Pilgrims at Jokhang temple.

Monks debating at Sera Monastery

Potala Palace

Some precarious maintenance on Potala Palace

Apres-monastery 

Street scene in Lhasa 

Yak market

Upon arrival in Lhasa, Cindy came down with some nasty food poisoning, limiting her to about 5 hours out of bed per day. Since we were staying in the Shambala Palace hotel, I started calling her the Shambala Princess, which she appreciated.

Shambala Princess