Day 15 - Lhasa

Today we decided to rent some mountain bikes, and bike to a village on the outskirts of Lhasa. Each bike was less than 30 Yuan for the entire day, or less than $4 - not a bad deal!

We rode down some small dirt roads, past some walls of Yak cakes, and saw an inviting Tibetan house.

The family that lived there was super nice, and they invited us in to their kitchen for some Barley Wine, and showed us around their house.

We continued to ride, and rode past some farmers, who invited us to sit with them and drink some more homemade Barley Wine and Yak butter tea. Really some of the friendliest people I have ever met, although I can’t speak too highly of their snack food :)

We continued to ride up a hill, and happened upon the Pabonka Monastery, a seldom visited monastery - but we later learned its one of the most ancient Buddhist sites in Lahasa.












The young monk showed us around, in return for his friends borrowing our mountain bikes for a quick ride around the monastery.



We headed back to Lhasa for for our final evening, a mellow night in the hotel bar reminiscing about our fantastic journey!
Thanks John, Jen, Harry, Karsten, and of course Ashley and Chinabackroads for making this such a fun, inspiring, and exciting journey; also thanks to our drivers and guides for your great information and getting us around safely; and most importantly, thanks to all of the Tibetan people we’ve met along the way - your culture, beliefs, attitude, and kindness are an inspiration to me and should be to the rest of the world.

Day 14 - Lhasa

Our first stop today was the famous Jokhang Temple. This is the most holy temple in all of Tibet, and Buddhist pilgrims flock around and inside the temple.





We then walked the Barkhor pilgrim circuit, where the faithful pray and prostrate, and the business people sell trinkets.

Our next stop was the famous Potala Palace - formerly the spiritual and political center of Tibet, but now really just a museum. There are, however, some amazing artifacts, including the gold and jewel encrusted tombs of all of the Dalai Lamas (with the exception of the 6th I believe) and some incredible historical artifacts.



Finally, our last visit for the day was the Sera Monastery. This was truly fascinating - it’s a very active monastery, and we were able to catch the monks debating philosophical points of the Buddhist scriptures. The older monks teach the younger ones, and clap their hands and perform other actions depending on whether or not their students make good arguments or not.







We spent the evening at a local “bar” our guide recommended (and joined us) - it’s more like a show of local pop music and dancing. It was a lot of fun - we were the only foreigners in there, and it really gave us an idea of what real local Lhasa entertainment is about for the younger kids.

Day 13 - Lhasa

Today we visited the Ani Sangkhung Nunery, located within the old Tibetan quarter of Lhasa. Unfortunately the Chinese government limits the number of Tibetans that are allowed to become monks and nuns, and nuns are especially closely watched and looked upon suspiciously. But the nuns here seemed happy, and their nunnery seemed active.







Lhasa is a very vibrant, interesting, and thriving city - with a diverse mix of pilgrims, monks, nuns, Chinese, small shops, and tourists. Although I’m sure it’s a completely different city from what is was before 1950, I didn’t expect Buddhism and traditional Tibetan culture to flourish as freely as it appears to. Despite the tragic results of the Chinese invasion and the destruction of the Cultural revolution, Tibetans have persevered and somehow managed to cling to their culture and tradition.
                   
We then visited the Dalai Lama’s Summer Palace, which had some interesting artifacts.
     
We later visited the Tibetan History Museum (no pictures allowed) which had some interesting historical artifacts (ancient tools, bowls, leather, masks, statues, paintings, etc), as well as some annoying Chinese propaganda.
Later that evening we caught a show put on for tourists, of traditional Tibetan music. It was kind of entertaining, if you could block out the throngs of 8th graders from Seattle 

Day 12 - Bayi to Lhasa

Today we departed Bayi, and first stopped at the scenic Tsodzong Monastery, set in the middle of the gorgeous blue Draksum-tso (lake) and surrounded by snow capped mountains.

There’s some nice sites, including a holy tree, a sky burial site, and some ancient male and female fertility symbols.





We then proceeded to climb our highest pass - 16,500 feet, and the Kongpo Bala pass.

Karsten brought a bottle of Yunnan to celebrate, and it quickly went to his head.

Harry threw some prayers into the wind…

Jen and John hung prayer flags…

Our drivers and guides enjoying the view (not partaking in the Yunnan Red!)

We descended and drove through some more spectacular scenery…

before finally arriving… in… Lhasa!!

Day 11 - Pomi to Bayi (Kongpo Region)

Today we drove along the beautiful Parlung Tsangpo, toward Bayi. In the town of Tongmai, we got stuck for an hour or so at a 1 way bridge, which had been destroyed in 2000 when a dam broke in Yigong Lake.Lonely Planet Tibet says this is one of the most dangerous sections of roads, but it had been paved in 2002 or so, and it felt relatively safe.



The drive between Pomi and Bayi is beautiful - it’s very similar to the Swiss Alps, with snow covered peaks, lush forests, and blue waters.

We stopped in Lunang for lunch, where I experience my favorite culinary encounter of the entire trip - Shi Guo Ji, or Stone Pot Chicken!! It’s fresh black organic chicken, cooked in a pot made of stone with Chinese herbs - simply delicious.

We crossed another high pass, and took some more requisite pass shots.



We then visited to the Lamaling Temple, which was a beautiful, quiet temple, where we had the rare pleasure of witnessing the monks chanting.







We spent the night in Bayi at the Fujian Hotel. Bayi is the second largest city in Tibet, with a population of about 90,000. However you still cannot find Western food - we did have some very good Sichuan cold noodles though, and found another VCD music video bar, playing the same videos we saw in Pomi!