I Think Not

I arrived in Lhasa, the capitol of Tibet, on a flight from Chengdu, China. The altitude gain was 3,400 meters and since the plane was pressurized until that last minute it at the Lhasa airport gate, I figure my body felt the equivalent of a 3,400 meter decrease in pressure in a split second. I didn't notice anything at first, but on the bus ride into town I started to feel sick, and by the time I got to my hostel, I felt awful. I went to my room and stayed there for 5 days with a headache, fever, ringing ears, and stomach ache, until one day I was so sick I had to go to the hospital. I wish I had the good humor to take pictures of the hospital to show you, but believe me, it was enough of a joke by itself. It didn't need me making fun of it. After 8 days I started to feel less like death was hovering by my bedside, and I went out to look around Lhasa. To my dismay, I found that Lhasa isn't very Tibetan. Since the Chinese "liberation", all but the Potala Palace and a couple temples have been striped of their Tibetan culture. There were still plenty of Tibetan pilgrims though, so at least some of the locals were... well locals. My second week in Lhasa was pretty much exploring what little there is to explore, and then trying to find suitable food to eat (Tibetan food in Tibet is notoriously limited, and awful). By my 3rd week I could not wait to get out to see the "real Tibet" (later discovered to have pretty much been destroyed by the Chinese invaders), and started looking for a group to go to travel around Tibet with. After a full week of missed connections, and shady dealings I finally found Eran, Andries, and Josephine to share a Land Cruiser with to Nepal. Thank Buddha!

Flying in from Chengdu, the whole plane got up to see the Himalayas through the windows

I stayed at 2 places, and they were both really nice, but this older one, the Pentoc Hotel, was the more authentic Tibetan of the two.

Ugh. Some of my oxygen bottles for the first days of altitude sickness. I didn't think they did anything. I never actually felt any different when using them. Maybe they were fakes.

Yak butter is used for everything, but especially as wax for candles in all Tibetan temples. By the time
I left Tibet the once pleasant smell of Yak butter could make me retch if I caught whiff of it even faintly.

More prayer wheels. Not the hand-held kind, but still the same premise - with prayers inside. Walk by and spin them clockwise. What are they greased with? Yakbutter of course!

This is how pilgrims get around. Usually with boards on their hands so the road doesn't wear through to their bones.
They travel hundreds, if not thousands of slow kilometers, laying down full-length and touching their foreheads to the
ground each and every step they take towards Lhasa. (See the "Pilgrims walk around Lhasa" video above)

Almost every Tibetan carries one of these prayer wheels. Inside is a prayer flag.
Buddhists must always keep their prayer flags spinning to reach a higher state.

A local girl sells Tibetan scarves (a sign of welcome) to some Korean women I was with

The Potala Palace - The Dali Lama's previous residence before being forced to flee to India. The Chinese who violently manipulated their way into Tibet, claim that the Dali Lama still lives here! Well, I didn't see him in any of the rooms I went to. Seems odd that the Chinese claim they are protecting the Dali Lama, yet it's also illegal to bring a photo of him into Tibet... contradictory even... but I guess that's just China's way.

This is the view of the old city of Lhasa from the top of the palace. The old city
used to be just at the foot of the palace, until the Chinese came and destroyed it.

The Chinese decided to build their own "modern" version of Lhasa which now sprawls East of the palace.
Though "modern" is apparently a subjective word to the Chinese. Few buildings have plumbing or a toilet
of any kind, and the streets are littered as badly as any other Chinese city. Noise and air pollution go un-checked.

The stairs in the palace are much more like ladders than anything else.
I speculated that it's due to the steep nature of the buildings themselves.
But then again, this seemed to be the only style of stairs in any old
Tibetan building.

The old city of Lhasa. As you can see, no attempt has been made at improving
the condition of the destroyed buildings. Perhaps a reminder to Tibetans?

Some restaurants I visited in search for decent food:
Because the Tibetan diet isn't as varied (or interesting) as the western tourists' diet, most
restaurants serve bland "international cuising" along with the traditional Tibetan momo's and
butter tea. What they lack in their menu, they make up for in their Tibetan design.

Of no relevance, but one of the many things that bothers me about the Chinese
(stay tuned for an actual list) is their apparent need to shave everywhere and anywhere with
their electric razors. I thought it was surprisingly rude when this guy started shaving at the
dinner table right in front of his friends, when all of a sudden his girlfriend started doing
it for him. Disgusting. Chinese culture has a warped sense of decency and lacks respect for others.

As "National Day" approaches it is well-known that the police increase their presence in Lhasa.
The Chinese fear Tibetan frustrations will boil over (understandably) one of these years when
Chinese celebrate being communist, and force Tibet to take part. I was at a shop a few days before
National Day, when I witnessed a full-grown man brought to tears when the police made him
hang a Chinese flag on his Tibetan storefront. When he refuse, the police did it for him. At least
no one denies it is a police state in Tibet...

The way travelers meet people to head to Nepal and elsewhere is by message board just like the old days.
There are various established boards around Lhasa, and other towns. This is one such board.

THESE ARE NOT MY PHOTOS:
These are postcards I mailed out, but I love these pictures...