Keeping DL on the DL
June 15
When Tibetians need to talk about the 14 (and current) Dalia Lama they often use the initials DL to keep their comments on the “down low” which is an example of just how sensitive the topic is. Or maybe it is jut easier to say. Either way, today we are to visit the home of the Dalia Lamas since the 5th Dalia Lama moved the center from the Drepung monastery which we had visited the day before. The Potala Palace was originally built as a fortress in 1650 and center of political power ( The White Palace ). Later the 7th Dalia Lama built the Red Palace as the center of spiritual power combining the two.
The massive structure is 13 stories tall and by rule no structure in Lhasa may be taller. During the summer months visitors are restricted to a one hour timeslot and ours was at 12:40 PM. Nyima and our driver met us at 11:30 so we have the morning free time. Tom and Tyler stayed at the hotel and read and wrote while Evie and Sue went across the street to the modern Chinese indoor mall bizarrely named Times Square.
After a short drive, we began navigating through the myriad of lines ultimately leading us to hike up to the top of the palace. The midday sun conspired with the altitude so that we were dragging after the 15 minute hike up. The Palace is an amazing set of rooms, chapels, assembly halls, and courtyards. Highlights included a two story tomb of the 7h Dalia Lama which used 7,000 pounds of gold; a chapel containing 1,000 Buddha statues; and the personal meeting room of DL where he met etc the Chinese premier during the cultural revolution. Many rooms were painted with incredible murals depicting the story of Buddha. Other rooms were filled floor to ceiling with ancient scriptures. The spiritualness of the place is palpable.
We used 55 of our 60 minutes and emerged on the backside of the palace. Thankfully the walk down was not nearly as strenuous as the walk up and ended in a cool green park with a playground. The kids sorely needed some playtime so we sat the shade while they played on the workout-style play structures.
After a short break it was time to move on to Sera monastery which we had seen from the top Potola. The inside was impressive with its collection of statues, murals, and scriptures but the real treat was watching the monks debate in the courtyard. Arranged in pairs, a seated monk answers questions from a standing monk who aggressively shouts his philosophical questions punctuated by loud hand claps meant to create a focused mind. Awesome!
We watched the monks for almost an hour before heading back to our van for the 20 minute ride back to our hotel. Tom and Sue got dropped off at the Potola palace for some photos and to walk back to the hotel while the kids when back to the hotel for some screen time.
When we got back, the kids decided they didn’t want to go out for dinner so Sue and Tom went out to a wonderful rooftop restaurant as the sun set on picturesque Lhasa. All the while, the pilgrims continued to circumnavigate to Barkhor.
Just another day in Tibet.
