Here are some of our photos from the trip. (Because of the length of this trip, I am breaking the photos up into several different pages. This seventh section is from our final five days in Lhasa.)
1) Before we left Lhasa for Mt. Kailash, Jonna commissioned a tankha from a talented young artist. The tankha was finished when we got back and it was stunning. Here is Jonna with the artist and his painting. It was eventually framed with fancy brocade cloth.
2) We rejoined our friend Holly in Lhasa and then immediately did a day trip to the monastery of Samye. This is the oldest monastery in Tibet, originally built around 700 AD. Our trip entailed a four hour bus ride followed by a one hour ferry ride. Monks from all over Tibet and China come to Samye, so half the passengers on the ferry were monks as evidenced by this photo.
3) This is the main temple at Samye. Many of the surrounding temples and stupas were destroyed in the 1960s but are now being rebuilt. This temple is dedicated to Padmasambava and there are many beatiful statues of him inside.
Samye is the seat
Hepo hill is right next door
The root of my faith
4) Pilgrims leave small donations everywhere in temples. In this case, they have been slid into the door jams of one of the chapels. This photo also shows the typically rich decoration found on all the walls, doors, cabinets and shrines inside the temples. (Photographs are not allowed inside but this door was on an external walkway. Thus it is the closest example I have of what the inside of the temples often look like).
5) The entire wall surrounding the Samye monastery complex is topped by these small stupas. This is an artsy shot trying to super impose the wall and stupas with the clear blue sky.
6) Consider this Samye Road, rather than Abbey Road. Jonna, Holly and myself did part of the kora around Samye. Here are Jonna and Holly turning the prayer wheels as they walk the kora.
7) There were four stupas placed at the four corners of the main temple in Samye. These were destroyed in the '60s but have recently been rebuilt. Each is painted a different color: Green, White, Red and Black. I thought the black one looked particularly striking with the valley as a background.
8) One of the interesting thing about Tibet in general and Lhasa in particular is that all businesses are run out of these little garage enclosures on the first floor of buildings. ...and I mean every business. This is a dentist's office!
9) For our final day we visited the Tibet Museum in Lhasa. We knew ahead of time that it would be a challenge because of the political spin contained inside but we felt we should see it anyway. It turned out to be disappointing in many ways. First, the political propoganda about Chinese involvement in Tibet prior to 1950 and the numerous references to the "peaceful liberation" were nauseating. However, equally sickening was to see all the amazing religious relics on display and then realize they were acquired by the ransacking of monasteries. You can get an interesting glimpse into some of the history and culture of Tibet here but I think the negatives ultimately outweigh the positives.
10) In addition to the garages, the native Tibetans (who can't always afford space in a building) also do business on the streets of Lhasa. This is a butcher. The meat is butchered down on the street surface, lying on a piece of cardboard and chopped up with a hatchet. No sign is necesssary, the head of the animal currently being sold is on display so you know what you're buying and how fresh it is. Yum! Sure made Alan sorry he is a vegetarian!
Go back to the sixth '06 Tibet Photo Page.
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