How to describe Tibet? I have heard it called “Shangri La”, and I have heard it called “The roof of the world”, but there really is no precise way to describe this amazing and mysterious place in a few simple words or even paragraphs. It is an absolutely amazing place that time seems to have forgotten. It has some of the most impressive natural and man-made sites in the world and generally has the friendliest people I have ever met. They seem to smile and laugh more than any other people in the world. The sky in Tibet is so blue, and it seems so low, that if I stood on a chair, I felt like it could have touched me. My trip to Tibet with my family, in a nutshell, was a life changing experience.
The first site we visited, and the one I most wanted to visit, was the Potala Palace. It is located in the center of Lhasa city and it took my breath away. I was surprised at how big the whole complex is. The lower half is painted in half, with red buildings on top. It looks like a giant fortress. It was the home of the Dalai Lama of Tibet. It was packed with people, but because they limit the number of tickets sold each day, it wasn’t overwhelming. I’m glad to have a guide, because if one was allowed to roam alone I’m not sure he’d ever found his way out. It seems to go on and on. It is like a huge maze. It is full of incredibly beautiful treasures. Every square inch seemed to be decorated. Even the ceilings are amazing. Everything seemed to have secret meanings. I’m sure that place could be studied for decades and never fully understood.
We also take a look at the Jokhang Temple. The tour guide told us the legend of its creation and I found it quite strange. Supposedly, the temple was built on a lake. They had tried to build the temple a lot of times, but each time it collapsed. An educated woman said that the geography of Tibet was like an old woman, with the lake in the center. To build the temple, he suggested that they kill the old woman by filling in the lake. They were supposed to use 1,000 sheep to transport the land. Those must have been some pretty strong sheep! However, the temple is really cool. It is actually a large complex and it was full of pilgrims who had come from all over Tibet. There is a long corridor that had paintings showing the temple under construction. I tried to take some photos, but they didn’t turn out very well, too many people. After the temple, the guide took me to visit Barkhor Street. It was not a very long walk, because it is a circular path that surrounds the temple. I had a lot of fun there. It was packed with tourists, Buddhist monks, and pilgrims. It was a really neat mix of towns. Many of the pilgrims crawled on the ground. Apparently, on their pilgrimage from their homes, they walk two steps, then prostrate on the ground, then walk two more steps, and then prostrate on the ground. This is repeated for hundreds of miles, until they reach Lhasa. Talk about dedication. Many others were spinning prayer wheels. The street was lined with stalls selling all kinds of things. There were some really beautiful arts and crafts and of course some touristy stuff. Most of the objects for sale were related to Buddhism. I saw a lot of pottery and tea shops there. I think my favorite things they had for sale were Thangka’s paintings. These are religious Buddhist paintings. Some of them were really beautiful and the details in them are amazing. I saw a man paint hair on the head of a creature. I was painting them one by one. I can’t imagine how long these paintings take to complete. My mother and I bought a couple of these.
On my second day, we went to the Norbulingka park. Apparently it is the largest garden in Tibet. This place was beautiful. Even though it was crowded, it was actually quite peaceful.
The Dalai Lama’s summer palace. It was quite large, with a lot of water and wooded areas. Every wall in every building was covered in murals. After the park, I went to the Sera Monastery. This place was also packed, but it was full of monks in their red dresses. They had a debate. They told me that monks often meet here to have discussions on Buddhist scriptures. I couldn’t understand them, but it was a lot of fun watching them and I realized that they really took it very seriously.
We saw the largest mountain in the world, Everest. It was really beautiful. It was covered in white snow and seemed to be the pillar that supports the sky. I took so many photos of it. You could see it from almost every place we went. I don’t think I’d like to try climbing it, but I really enjoyed it
looking at it.
I think what I liked the most about visiting Tibet was the evening we spent with a local family. Ours was a small group so it was a very enjoyable intimate visit. The family we visited lived in a traditional wooden house, which was beautifully painted. It was very colorful and had religious decorations all over it. It didn’t have all the modern conveniences, but it was really beautiful and I felt very comfortable there. They wore traditional Tibetan clothing. I asked if it was just for our visit, but they said they used it every day. The family was so sweet. I had a feeling they were just local people, and the language barrier didn’t seem to matter. Of course I had my guide to translate, but I realized that this was a truly loving family. The father gave us a tour of the house, while the women prepared dinner. It was all local food. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked it, but after a few bites, they really seemed to grow on me. We had what they call Tsamba. It is a kind of dough made from barley. They had it simple, but they offered me some sugar and butter to mix with mine. I tried it both ways and I definitely liked it better when I added the extra ingredients. They told me this was a staple food and that they ate it at every meal. We also had beef stew, steamed duck, and beef jerky. They offered me Tibetan vodka, but I’m not a big drinker, so I politely declined and they didn’t push it. After dinner we had Tibetan butter tea. I had heard of it and was told that most visitors don’t like it, but I liked it. It really filled me up. I can see why they drink so much. It really seemed to instantly warm me up and energize me. I saw the woman prepare it and asked her to teach, because I had never seen anything like it. They put boiling tea, salt, and butter in a fine mixer and then whipped it all together. It took some work, but it was worth it. After dinner, they showed us some of their local dances. They wanted us to join. At first, I wasn’t comfortable doing it, but seeing how much fun they were having, I decided to give it a try. We all laughed so hard we could barely dance. I really hated leaving. It was a really wonderful experience.
Many people had warned me about altitude sickness. I was worried about it, but I didn’t have much of a problem. I did experience headaches for the first few days, but that was it. My brother, on the other hand, had a much worse time than I did and had to miss our first day of site visits. Our guide suggested that we drink a lot of water, and that really seemed to help a lot. Something to do with dehydration, I think.
Tibet is truly an amazing place. We were only there for five days and I hated having to leave. I felt like I could spend the rest of my life exploring this amazing province. Sadly, with my limited writing ability, I can’t even come close to describing it. It felt so mysterious, yet cozy. It is a place where ancient religious beliefs blend seamlessly with modern life. People live as they have for thousands of years, and it seemed to me that they do so by choice, not by necessity. Every place we went was full of people, but it made for some really interesting pictures. The diversity of people there was really great. It was a wonderful experience and I really hope to be able to return one day.
Tibet is part of my adventure, below is the complete itinerary of my “China Adventure Tour”:
Beijing: Day 1: Arrival in Beijing. Day 2: Beijing city tour to the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven Day 3: Travel to the outskirts of Beijing; Walking the Great Wall of Simatai. Day 4: Beijing Hutong Tour; half day free.
Lhasa: Day 5: Flight to Lhasa; visit the Tibet Museum. Day 6: Lhasa city tour to the Potala Palace and Barkhor Street. Day 7: Explore the monasteries of Lhasa and visit the Tibetan family. Chengdu: Day 8: Flight to Chengdu; taste Sichuan food Day 9: Chengdu city tour; Visit the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base and get an up-close look at giant pandas.
Lijiang: Day 10: Fly to Lijiang; excursion to the Old City. Day 11: Drive to the Upper Tiger Leap Gorge; hiking and accommodation in guest house. Day 12: Continue the walk to the Garganta del Salto del Tigre Medio; overnight at the guest house. Day 13: Keep going up and cross the Yangtze River; drive back to Lijiang. Day 14: city tour of Lijiang; half day free.
Guilin: Day 15: Fly to Guilin via Kumming. Day 16: drive to Longji; walk on rice terraces. Day 17: cruise on the Li River to Yangshuo; bike ride through the countryside. Day 18: Guilin city tour; Final departure.