TIBET'S POTALA PALACE

                       The World's Highest Palace

            The first thing anyone arriving in Lhasa, Tibet notices is the Potala Palace, which dominates the Lhasa skyline. The extraordinary 13 story Palace, one of the grandest monuments in Asia and the world, towers over one of the world’s highest cities. Stretching 400-meters east to west and 350-meters north to south, it would be hard to miss! It stretches 400-feet toward the sky on top of the red hill and is 1000-feet above the valley floor. It definitely dominates the city. At an altitude of 12,359-feet it is the highest ancient palace in the world. The name translates into Buddha of Mercy.

            Built in the 17^th century it boasts 10,000 chapels, a labyrinth of mysterious dungeons and 1000 rooms, including the Red Palace, where the Dalai Lama once lived. It took 7000 workers and 1500 artists/craftsmen more than 50 years to build the adjoining Red and White Palaces that are known as the Potala Palace.

            A small bus drove us up the hill to the 5^th level of the palace. From there we walked up one level at a time until we eventually reached the top. There were not too many stairs and the climbs were not too steep.

            The palace has a complicated  layout of halls, chapels, libraries, small galleries, and winding passageways on several levels. The Great West Hall, the largest at 7800 square feet, is surrounded by three chapels. I thought the inside of the palace was dark, dank and dingy even  though it houses a stunning array of treasures including bright brocades, religious scrolls, murals, gold and jeweled-encrusted tombs, 200,000statues and hundreds of Buddhas. The Palace was designated a UNESCO site in 1994. Some restoration was in progress.

            The Red Palace is painted red to symbolize stateliness   and power. The White Palace  represents peace and serenity. The building was started by the 5^th Dalia Lama in 1645 and only two parts of the construction remain that date to the 7^th century.

            We spotted 3-4 of the ten resident cats of the palace that are kept to keep a rat population under control.

Sweeping views of the city below could be seen from various vantage points. It was a clear sunny day and at the very top of the world we were surprised to see how large the city actually is. At ground level it seemed smaller.

Top of the world was a perfect place for a group photo. We lined our cameras on a bench for our guide to take the pictures. We were the focus of many Chinese also visiting the temple and it was fun to see so many of them line up to take pictures of us. It was a new experience to be an attraction. But there was no way an American group could blend in to that society.

A walk down many many steps returned us to street level. However, for the most part the steps were not very steep and pretty easy to navigate.

AN ANCIENT TEMPLE

                                             Jokhang Temple

This 1300-year-old temple is located in the oldest part of Lhasa, Tibet. What a cultural event! We saw  people walking around twirling prayer wheels and people chanting as they fingered prayer beads. Prayer beads contain 108 beads and the chant sounds like Om Mani Padme Hum which in Tibetan refers to the precious pearl on Buddha, the red water hill, and a clean heart to take me home.

            Seeing the throngs of pilgrims was a peek into a totally different culture. Outside the temple were two prayer poles covered with prayer scarves and prayer flags. On each side of the temple huge incense burners belched smoke. The aroma of incense permeated the whole city.

            Our Tibetan guide explained, “Tibetans pray with their thumbs inside the palms with palms together. Then they touch the forehead for mind, the lips for speech and the chest for the body. The motion is quick from forehead, to lip, to chest.”

            We observed many outside the temple prostrating themselves to Buddha. Shoes were removed. Women tied their skirts. After doing the prayer bit they fell to their knees, usually on a mat, put their hands palm down on pads and slid forward  flat onto the pad. That was repeated over and over. Later when walking the square we saw pilgrims prostrating themselves every few steps. People paid no attention and simply walked around them.

            The main gate of the temple faces west toward Nepal. The door fronts of the inner chapel date to the 7^th century. In 1950 Red Guards shelled and ransacked the temple. Part of the damage has been restored. The present temple dates to the 17^th century.

            As we walked clockwise around the inner of three halls we passed long long lines of pilgrims waiting to put yak butter into various burning candles and to peek into the many small chapels that were off the hall. We were told it was not uncommon to take 4-5 hours to complete the circuit.

            Large metal vats of of yak candles with 5-6 wicks the size of my little finger burned all over the temple. Many find that aroma offensive, so we all took the advice of our guide and used the tiger balm under our nose we’d purchased at the herb market. However, I found the incense aroma a lot more troublesome.

            It was very dark, dank and damp inside the temple. Wall paintings depicted Tibetan history. The inner hall murals date to 1648, while the murals on the outer walls are 19^th century.

            Large baskets, bigger than a bushel basket, filled with money, were located in many areas in the temple. Most of the bills were small, but people could make any donation that they desired. We were assured  that no one would steal money from the temple. In 2001 Jokhard Temple was designated a UNESCO site. Some restoration has taken place since then.

            Originally it was undecided where to build the temple. Some high priest threw a gold ring which landed on a sand bar in a swampy area. This was considered a good omen. Goats carried dirt in baskets to fill in the swamp so the temple that was originally called the goat dirt temple.

            Eventually we worked our way around to the 7^th century golden Buddha for which the temple was built. I was actually glad to see sunlight as we left the temple.

            Surrounding the Jokhang Temple is the Barkhor Baazar. Most of the venders and hawkers displayed the same merchandise. Prayer wheels, prayer beads, jewelry (junk) and small brass objects dominated the marketplace.

            This was an interesting visit. One I’m glad I did as it gave me a better understanding into another culture and religion.

CHINESE HOTELS

Hotel Surprise

A couple of years before the Olympics in Beijing we were not sure what to expect in hotel accommodations. Long story short, we had excellent hotels everywhere we traveled and wanted for nothing anywhere.

 The 100-year-old Beijing Hotel, centrally located, was a five-star hotel. Once in our room we only did minimal unpacking, showered and hit the firm queen-size beds for a hopeful good night’s sleep. It was nearly midnight. We had passed over 15 time zones but we had arrived in China!



The Garden Hotel in Xi'an

Another surprise awaited us at the five-star Xi’an Garden Hotel. I remarked, “I certainly did not expect a 5-star hotel in China to  be a truly 5-star, more like an American 3-star. This place is gorgeous, the landscaping is beautiful." We walked across a zig zag--–remember the dragons---wooden walkway over a lovely pond to get to our room.

Our Chendu hotel, JJH or Jinjiang, built in 1958, was located across from the Jinjiang River. Jin means prosperous----people’s expectation the hotel would experience prosperity like the new China.

The cabins on the American ownedVictoria Empress for the four days on the Yangtze River were small but comfortable with two single beds, a desk, hanging closet, and a small bathroom with a shower over a short tub, sink and commode. We loved the balcony and spent a fair amount of time on it. of the ships are . The 77 cabin Empress was 287 feet long.

The Tibet hotel was what I really expected throughout the trip. It would be a 1 ½-3 star hotel in the United States. We had a fabulous view of the Himalaya Mountains from our room picture window. Heat is turned on by the calendar not by the weather.

The time for heat was off during our stay. At 12,000-feet it gets pretty cool in the evening. There was no way we were going to get heat but were offered additional blankets. During the day we left the drapes wide open for the sun to warm the room and with the added blankets we actually slept well in the comfortable beds.

Our Hong Kong hotel was like any large plush hotel in any large city.