China Trip Part II (Lhasa)
Sep. 5th, 2024 12:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipArriving at Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, we checked in to the Kyichi Hotel (aka Jiqu Fandian) and made a rendezvous with another fellow-traveller, Alison. Located near the Lhasa old town the hotel features comfort, an excellent style, and very pleasant dining courtyard. Lhasa, following a massive increase in Tibetan annual economic growth over the past thirty years (around fifty times, yes you read that right - although I haven't calculated real and per capita values), is a surprisingly modern bustling city with the central government pouring money for years into infrastructure and education with resulting commercial benefits; in 2020, the per capita disposable income was double the figure from 2010. The permanent population of the region of 3.5 million is at least 80% ethnic Tibetan (by language), although it does receive some forty million domestic tourists per annum, whilst foreign visitors is a mere 500,000.
The area does have some truly impressive cultural centres; on our second day we visited the Drepung Monastery and then the Sera Monastery, both home to monks of the Geluk ("yellow hat") sect, dominant in the region. The former monastery is the largest of its sort, whilst the latter is renowned for the theatrical "debating monks", which is more for show rather than an expression of serious differences. The following day was a visit to the massive Potala Palace, the historical seat of the Tibetan government and the local Jokhang Temple and finally, today, the Ganden Monastery and the "caves" (really nooks with small buildings attached) Drak Yerpa. Visiting these locations requires a degree of fitness; eschewing the modern conveniences of lifts etc, visitors will often have to climb several thousand steps and the temples themselves are located on mountain-sides.
As a strange aside, apparently locals and visitors alike think I'm an Australian yeti; I'm big, wild shoulder length hair, grey beard, etc, all of which makes me quite a novelty here. The yeti theory is the only logical conclusion that the travel group has come to on the number of people (men, women, monks, youngsters) who have asked me for photo opportunities. Whilst people are friendly and say "hello" to our group, but apparently I'm the exotic circus geek or something. I'm not too sure what to make of the woman who immediately rang her husband and tell him about the "super cute Australian" she had just met, or the marriage proposal from the security guard. This all said, tomorrow morning our party heads out into the countryside for my version of a temple - nature - and eventually to Mount Everest (aka Qomolangma to the locals).
The area does have some truly impressive cultural centres; on our second day we visited the Drepung Monastery and then the Sera Monastery, both home to monks of the Geluk ("yellow hat") sect, dominant in the region. The former monastery is the largest of its sort, whilst the latter is renowned for the theatrical "debating monks", which is more for show rather than an expression of serious differences. The following day was a visit to the massive Potala Palace, the historical seat of the Tibetan government and the local Jokhang Temple and finally, today, the Ganden Monastery and the "caves" (really nooks with small buildings attached) Drak Yerpa. Visiting these locations requires a degree of fitness; eschewing the modern conveniences of lifts etc, visitors will often have to climb several thousand steps and the temples themselves are located on mountain-sides.
As a strange aside, apparently locals and visitors alike think I'm an Australian yeti; I'm big, wild shoulder length hair, grey beard, etc, all of which makes me quite a novelty here. The yeti theory is the only logical conclusion that the travel group has come to on the number of people (men, women, monks, youngsters) who have asked me for photo opportunities. Whilst people are friendly and say "hello" to our group, but apparently I'm the exotic circus geek or something. I'm not too sure what to make of the woman who immediately rang her husband and tell him about the "super cute Australian" she had just met, or the marriage proposal from the security guard. This all said, tomorrow morning our party heads out into the countryside for my version of a temple - nature - and eventually to Mount Everest (aka Qomolangma to the locals).
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Date: 2024-09-06 02:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-07 12:31 pm (UTC)At Mt Everest today there was one cyclist, which would have been an extraordinary test of endurance getting there.