2 Days in Tibet

This is not the most fun place I’ve ever been, but it’s “interesting.” It’s certainly one of the most uncomfortable hotel rooms I’ve ever had. But the sights and the overwhelming Buddhist atmosphere are incredible. We’ve visited several shrines and all of them are crawling with pilgrims and older people praying and chanting.

Drepung Monestary

Today I had my health protected at the Horse Head Buddha by sticking the top of my head in an indentation under the Buddha while a monk said a prayer. Then my positive future was ensured by resting my forehead at the end of a stick that reached into the Future Buddha shrine while another monk made a prayer.

We saw the Summer Palace built by the Dalai Lama in 1957, only 2 years before he had to flee. One thing we noticed was that there are dozens of images of Dalai Lamas 1-13, but nowhere will you see the living Dalai Lama, who has been in exile in India since 1959. He’s not real popular with the Chinese government.

Summer Palace/Street Scenes

After lunch (more yak), we went to the Sera Monestary, originally built as a rival to the Drepung Monestary, which we’d visited in the morning. Sera is small and looked poorer, but has a bit of a tourist attraction in its Debate Courtyard, where 150 monks gather every day from 3-5 PM to debate, discuss, argue, and seemingly trash talk, whatever happens to be on their mind. It’s like a really really large Jewish family dinner, but without the food.

Some of the debates were quiet and serious, while some were loud and raucous, with one standing monk trying to lecture several seated monks, punctuating each point by clapping his hands once loudly and sliding his right hand up his left arm. One monk did a nifty spin move after each clap. He must be the T.O. of the group.

Sera Monestary 7/4/07

Came back to the hotel for a massage that was more enthusiastic than anything else, and now we’re just trying to catch our breath. Then to the Yak Café for dinner- I’ll probably have pizza.