"Our first day of actual activity, we went downtown to the Drepung Monastery.
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| Drepung Monastery |
It was easier to walk, having adjusted a bit to the altitude. This was a good thing, as we spent several hours at the Drepung Monastery going up and down ladders to see rooms that were different shrines.
Then we returned to our hotel for lunch. We avoided street vendors at first. As a result, our meals were mostly Chinese –rather than Tibetan—although our hotel did serve yak-butter tea (definitely an acquired taste.)
After lunch and a nap, we went downtown to the Jokkang temple. It is tradition to make a pilgrimage to Lhasa that ends at the Jokkang temple. The greater distance that you travel the more devout you are considered. In this case, traveling means you fall to your knees, push your body forward on the ground, pray-chant, then bring your knees up and push forward again. You slide, you jack-knife yourself forward, and you slide again. Once you reach Lhasa, you must then circle the Jokkang temple a certain number of times and then enter the temple and circle the temple. Our group did not go to all this effort, but instead rode a bus.
Surrounding the temple area were multiple small streets filled with street vendors. In the past, this area sold traditional Tibetan handicrafts-which people made to supplement their incomes in the winter. When we got there, the little stalls sold cheap goods that had come up by truck from Pakistan. I got the feeling that Lhasa was not overrun by Han Chinese coming to the city and selling things. Rather it was overrun by the Pakistani traders coming up to Lhasa by truck and selling cheap imported goods. Everywhere we saw young Tibetan and Han men listening to cheap transistor radios and walk-men with the latest Hong Kong pop, Taiwan and Japanese pop artists.."
(...to be continued. Next: English-Speaking Monks and their Disappearing Lifestyle)
After lunch and a nap, we went downtown to the Jokkang temple. It is tradition to make a pilgrimage to Lhasa that ends at the Jokkang temple. The greater distance that you travel the more devout you are considered. In this case, traveling means you fall to your knees, push your body forward on the ground, pray-chant, then bring your knees up and push forward again. You slide, you jack-knife yourself forward, and you slide again. Once you reach Lhasa, you must then circle the Jokkang temple a certain number of times and then enter the temple and circle the temple. Our group did not go to all this effort, but instead rode a bus.
Surrounding the temple area were multiple small streets filled with street vendors. In the past, this area sold traditional Tibetan handicrafts-which people made to supplement their incomes in the winter. When we got there, the little stalls sold cheap goods that had come up by truck from Pakistan. I got the feeling that Lhasa was not overrun by Han Chinese coming to the city and selling things. Rather it was overrun by the Pakistani traders coming up to Lhasa by truck and selling cheap imported goods. Everywhere we saw young Tibetan and Han men listening to cheap transistor radios and walk-men with the latest Hong Kong pop, Taiwan and Japanese pop artists.."
(...to be continued. Next: English-Speaking Monks and their Disappearing Lifestyle)
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