The Potala Palace was originally built
for Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty (618–907) and a princess from Nepal.
They married the king of the Tubo Kingdom about 1,300 years ago. The fifth
Dalai Lama rebuilt this palace, and it became the winter home of Dalai Lamas
from 1649 on. It has a vast, awe-inspiring maze of corridors and stairs leading
through countless rooms of richly decorated statues, tombs, murals, and
antiques.
We started with the museum which was informative
and helpful before seeing the palace especially the red plants tied in bundles
to form the red part of the palace. (we wouldn’t have realized they were plants
otherwise)
These are the plants that make up some of the walls. The famous red color (crimson) isn't from a single plant, but a traditional paste made with milk, honey, sugar, and natural red earth/pigments, creating a unique hue. Red symbolizes life force, compassion, fire, and spiritual transformation in Tibetan Buddhism, aligning with the sacred nature of the Red Palace.
After the museum Greg and I climbed past the white buildings,
which are the dormitories of the monks to get to the entrance of the white
palace. It used to be the living quarters and the offices of Dalai Lamas. We stopped to rest several times to catch our breath. There were also some viewpoints to take in the surrounding beauty.
Housed within the Red Palace are
several mausoleums of previous Dalai Lamas. The mausoleum of the fifth Dalai
Lama is overlaid with gold, diamonds, pearls, and many other precious gems. It had many steep steps and some ladders to climb to get there.
No photos were allowed in the rooms of the Palace, but they were allowed in the outside portions only.
Potala Palace looked very different from the other monasteries that we have visited. It's a vast palace-fortress (dzong)
housing administrative, living quarters (White Palace), and religious/funerary
(Red Palace) areas, whereas many monasteries focus solely on monastic life and
worship.
After the palace we met up with Tom & Cathy and the guide took us for milk tea which was very good. One family was really watching us and we smiled and waved and waved bye when we left.
We continued our walk to the area below and behind Potala Palace.
the back view of Potala Palace
It was now time for lunch, and we met up with the van to take us there. One thing our guide failed to mention was that the walking tour would start right after lunch without going back to the van. (so hats and more were left behind for the rest of the day)
restaurant
Lhasa Kitchen Restaurant
chicken Biryani & beef Biryani & naan for us
We continued to walk to the Pandatsang Compound which is the site of the office for Qing administrators stationed in Tibet to learn about the economic and cultural exchanges between eastern China and Tibet in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). It is representative of the traditional Tibetan architecture and used to be the home of Lhasa’s biggest merchant family. Jokhang Temple is a 4-story, golden-roofed temple that is at the rich and living heart of Tibetan Buddhism. It was very interesting to see the locals on the pilgrims’ path around Jokhang; the Barkhor circuit. many rent costumes to wear for the day
gathering to worship
The video I took didn't work but it showed the order of the steps they do to worship, and many do it all the way around the temple and Barkhor Street. (think burpees and moving forward at the same time)
Jokhang Temple
Many locals like to say "hi" to us
especially the small children got so excited to use a little English. When we were posing for photos at the temple, a young man from mainland China and he was quite
keen on finding out where we were from. His English was very good, and we were enjoying talking to him. Our guide seemed to think he was annoying us, so he chased
him away.
After the temple we continued on to Old Barkhor Street where we did some people watching and shopping. I bought a magnet and a string of small prayer flags, and my favorite was a yak made of yarn and a small prayer wheel.
Our guide is nice but a bit hard to
understand and not sure he understood us well when we asked a question. He was not very informative at sites either. We were supposed to finish our day at Ani Tsangkhung nunnery, but I guess he substituted the tea house as we didn't go.
Back at the hotel we ate at the bar again since we had another large lunch. We ordered a hamburger to split but got a
chicken club which was tasty. The bartender didn't speak English, so pointed to what we
wanted, so not sure where the mistake happened. No biggie.
We walked back to the little market near the hotel and popped into some of the shops. We received our Myanmar visas today
from Jason via email, and we got them printed by the front desk.
Tonight, we packed up to do the circuit to Mt. Everest. Tomorrow, we drive from Lhasa to Shigaste.
Photo Album: Potala
Palace, Jokhang Temple, Pandatsang Compound & Barkhor Street - Lhasa, Tibet https://photos.app.goo.gl/zScbEWrhNnqHWjLN9
Trinkets
yarn yak
magnet
prayer wheel
prayer flags (1set was from Nepal)
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