Impressions of Lhasa

After a very (champagne fueled) fun Xmas day, it was a slight shock to get up at 4.30am on boxing day for the flight to Xining, gateway to Tibet. Then to board a sleeper train later that day for 25 hours to Lhasa. After a  chilly day in Xining, which included a visit to the largest mosque in China and a trawl around the local wet market, hoping to find somewhere to have a coffee and some warmth. Sadly only KFC was available, any port in a storm....

Xining is apparently well known for its baking...bought the one on the right..not bad!

Boarded the train at 7.30pm, ready for the gradual acclimatisation to the high altitude.
The train journey itself, although the highest in the world, (and controversial having been built on the permafrost plateau, potentially disrupting the eco system due to buried cooling pipes etc) didn't quite live up to expectations. the sleeper was very cramped, and no hot water for coffee or tea!

How many sleepers have an oxygen vent??

The promised viewing platform, when we arrived around 4 am  in the morning, was in complete darkness.  So I peeked out of the window and then turned over in my lower bunk! Tried to sleep off the impending headache. Slept through till 8 (still dark) and had our snacks for breakfast,followed by another 10 hours through the arid plateau, with a few glimpses of snow covered mountains in the distance. By now the  headache was taking hold, at 4,500m above sea level! Set veggie lunch in the dining car broke the day a little.  But still, an experience!

 The icy landscape viewed from the train..

Arrived in Lhasa around 6.30pm  still light, and checked into (after the slightly rough conditions on the china sleeper) what now seemed total luxury of the Four Points Hotel! Needed to rest, get rid of headache and aclimatise!
But after a broken night's sleep (insomnia another delight of high altitude) woke to clear blue skies, intense light and dry cold. (-12 at night) Not acclimatised!
Head off with my two fellow travellers and our lovely local guide, whose name I never quite got right, but I'll call her Nordun for now!

Went straight (very dizzily) to the heart of Lhasa, the Jokhang Temple. The holiest temple in Tibet. I dont think anything had prepared me for the sight I saw. Overwhelming.

Thousands of pilgrims from all over Tibet and surounding provinces were converging on Lhasa as part of the winter pilgrimage. The extreme cold of the winter and closure of schools, whole families and villages take the opportunity to travel to the holy sights and shrines. A Tibetan must do this pilgrimage at least once in their life.

The diffuse glare of the winter sun...

So walking clockwise around the city, around the temple, around the prayer wheels and stupors.

The scene is one of constant movement.  (Making photography very challenging!)

Devotions, like sun salutations, performed towards the temple. Around the city and along the roads, sometimes taking up to a year to reach the monastries and temples.

People queuing around the temple,with their yak butter offerings.

Inside the temple was fantastic, but no photos allowed.

Great views from the roof and the monks taking in the sunshine

Families with children

look at the little munchkins face!

And the clothing, varieties  of Tibetan dress, tunics, braids, bonnets. So elaborate!
The jewellery and hair braiding, headdresses, really intricate, and all different.

Baby comes too..

Prayer wheels...spinning around

The Potala palace, newly painted before Tibetan new year, gleaming against the clear blue sky.
Shrines of the Dalai Lamas, from the holiest 5th to the 10th.
Again no photos inside.

Pattern and colour..around every corner..

Doors and windows

An afternoon visit to the  Sera monastery and the debating monks, slapping, gesticulating and kicking the air to make their theological points. Very animated.

More pilgrims, moving constantly moving...

Scruffy, beautiful, happy children.

 Black smudge to keep away the demons.

Overall a moving, overwhelming experience. A country so deeply religious that they would trek miles and miles to visit the centre of their universe. Put up with hardship, and give money and offerings to the buddhist monks, for a better life in the next and longevity in this. Seemingly  so happy and pleased with this harsh life.

Delighted to have their photos taken, and a pleasure to show the result to them! While this soft westerner couldn't even cope with the altitude!!

nb. I've purposefully not alluded to any Chinese political situation and taken the visit on the delightful people only and the amazing scenes I saw. i hope you enjoy just a few of these images i captured-more available on request!