Sera Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet – Debating Monks

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Sonya

Sera monastery is a few kilometres from Lhasa. We headed there mid afternoon with the intention of watching the debating monks. Every day (except for Sundays), the Sera Monastery’s monks undertake a one-on-one (or sometimes two-on-one) debate on the philosophies of life (so we’re told). As we waited until 3pm, quite a few dozens of monks gathered in the courtyard in pairs or teams, and began discussing a particular topic. Usually, one monk was seated on the ground cross legged (or on a mat) with his partner standing above him. The standing monk would pose a question (so it seemed), or make a statement and as he completed his sentence clap his hands whilst at the same time stamping his left foot. It was a fascinating thing to watch, though we had no idea what was being said as it was in Tibetan. Our guide advised that even he didn’t understand what was being discussed as the debate topics were related to their Buddhist studies. We watched the debates for over an hour, intrigued and at times amused, as some monks were quite intense and serious (oblivious to the tourists watching one), others appeared to be joking around with each other. It was certainly an interesting afternoon.

Lhasa, Tibet – Jokhang Temple and Drepung Monastery

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Sonya

Jokhang Temple and Barkhor square

Our first day in Lhasa started with a visit to the Jokhang Temple, walking through the bustling Barkhor Bazaar to the Barkhor square.

By the time we arrived, there were already many pilgrims outside the temple, performing prostrations whilst two large incense burners omitted strong smoke of juniper.

As we lined up amongst the tens of Tibetan pilgrims, we couldn’t help but notice the strong smell of yak butter which we later found is used to burn offering candles. The Jokhang Temple is quite a large complex. We entered courtyard first and our guide Demdah advised that this was the place where important examinations (e.g. to determine the highest lama) sat by Gelugpa Iamas are held.

After the courtyard, we entered the inner prayer hall which is surrounded by a number of chapels. The prayer hall contained six statues – two of Guru Rinpoche, three Jampa statues (Maitreya, the Future Buddha) and the thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara. We would learn later that these statues would be seen repeatedly across many of the monasteries in Tibet.

As per Buddhist tradition, we encircled the surrounding chapels clockwise. Inside the chapels, we were also required to encircle the room clockwise. There were numerous chapels, including the Chapel of Tsongkhapa (the founder of the Gelugpa order, probably the most renown of the four orders), Chapel of Chenresig, Chapel of Jowo Sakyamuni (said to be the most important shrine in Tibet, as it houses the Present Buddha image at age twelve and is thought to have been brought to Tibet by Princess Wencheng, the Chinese wife of King Songstan Gampo – the founder of Tibet). After visiting a number of chapels, we headed to the roof of Jokang to view the surrounding areas, including views of Barkhor Square and Potala Palace.

Drepung Monastery

After Jokang, we headed to Drepung Monastery, located about 8km from Lhasa, stopping by Potala Palace to pick up tickets for the next day (there is a 2000 limit on ticket numbers per day for the popular attraction). Drepung was founded by one of Tsongkhapa’s disciples in the 15^th century and is part of the Gelugpa order. It has a number of key buildings, we visited Ganden Palace, the main assembly hall (with a large Jampa statue), the kitchen (used to cook the lamas meals) and a meditation hut where we were told some monks meditate for years on end. It was our first monastery and I enjoyed walking around and admiring the beautiful deep red and white buildings with their wispy white curtains. We had a lunch of rice and vegetables at the Monastery restaurant next door before heading to our next destination.

Xining, Qinghai to Lhasa, Tibet railway, China

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Travis

From Xining we caught a train to Lhasa, Tibet province in China, we chose the hard-sleeper, and even though it was the most we had paid at 500 Yuan (plus 200 Yuan booking fee), it was the worst seats we had, with six bunks per room. Naturally, we were left with the middle beds that were so low you couldn’t even sit upright. Fortunately, this then meant we would spend most of our time outside the room which meant we spent a lot of time looking at the beautiful scenery. The train to Lhasa is the world’s highest elevated train, reaching 5072 metres above sea level over the Tanggu La Pass.

Tanggu La Pass

When of the requirements when entering Tibet is all foreigners must have a guide, because of this we booked our first multi-day tour with Tibet Highland Tours. We booked a nine day tour of Lhasa, then Everest Base Camp to Nepal border for 10,650 Yuan (the majority of this cost was the cost of the four-wheel-drive driving as around one thousand kilometres from Lhasa to the Nepal border.

On arrival at the Lhasa train station we were greeted by the Chinese SWAT and police who made sure that our guide was there to meet us (we learnt that the entry and exit were the main formalities, travelling around Lhasa could be unaccompanied). We met our Tibetan guide Demdah who gifted us with traditional white silk scarfs (Khata), and introduced us to our driver before heading to our hotel.

The below photos were the best we could take from our train’s dirty window.

Qinghai Hu, Xining, China

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Sonya

Xining is located in the Qinghai province, a region on the north-eastern border of Tibet. Again we caught a train from Urumqi to Xining, this time though we had four people per room, but since we had the bottom bunks it wasn’t too bad.

We decided to spend some of our time in Qinghai exploring the outer areas, and I was drawn to the idea of visiting Qinghai Hu (Lake Kokonor) and in particular Niao Dao (or Bird Island), a breeding ground for wild geese, gulls and other birds. With an extra few days before our train to Lhasa, we decided to arrange a trip to Qinghai. I called China Travel Service (CTS) Xining and was fortunate to get through to a helpful English speaking man who helped us join a day tour (yes, another one!). It was to cost 120 Yuan for the over three-hundred kilometre trip to Qinghai Hu and included a visit to Niao Dao, tickets were extra.

The following morning our transport picked us up bright and early at 7am. Our group was a much younger group, and once again a young English speaking Chinese guy took us under his wing and translated where he could.

Dang’r, a traditional Chinese town

Our first stop was Dang’r, which was an old traditional Chinese town about seventy kilometres from Xining. The old city consisted of a Children’s school, government with court, and a Temple of Confucius. Dang’r is said to have been an important cultural city along the Tang-Tibet and Silk Road routes.

Zan Pu Linka (Royal Garden)

The second stop was a Tibetan temple (Zan Pu Linka, meaning Royal Garden) which had some beautiful murals. From what I could gather, the gist of the temple’s purpose was to unite Han Chinese and Tibetan culture.

Yaks and Pagodas

After the temple, we witnessed some amazing scenery. Snow capped mountains, against a clear blue sky, bright green grasslands scattered with yaks, goats and sheep. On the way to Qinghai Hu we drove through an elevated land which had a few picturesque pagodas located atop some hills (the twin pagodas of Sun Moon Pass). We stopped for some photos and a came across a Tibetan lady with a baby yak. She thrusted it into my arms and the next thing I knew we were paying 5 Yuan for photos with it. It was a simply adorable creature though!

Niao Dao (Bird Island)

Finally after many hours of travelling we reached Niao Dao. Also packed with Chinese tourists, we spent some time visiting the various attractions on the island. There were many birds as it is breeding season. Surprisingly one of the highlights were the hovering gulls, I’d never seen anything like it!