The Travelling Life of Silvan Colani
November 2005 - Tibet
Ever since I fell in love with the mountains it has been my dream to travel to Tibet. Few places in the world stir the imagination as much as Tibet does: “The roof of the world”, home of some of the greatest mountain ranges on the planet, a place famed for its spirituality as well as its natural beauty.
Being the adventurous type, my idea had always been to travel independently – preferable by motorbike or jeep – free of the constraints of an organized tour. In fact, I bought a road map of Tibet as far back as August 1996 – so this trip has been a long time coming. However, given the political sensitivities in the so-called Tibetan Autonomous Region (the entirely unenticing acronym TAR) and its respective travel restrictions I had to settle for an organized ‘tour group’ for my first glimpse of this holy land. But since the ‘tour group’ only consisted of Mei, myself, a guide and driver I figured it was an acceptable compromise.
Gateway city to Tibet is Chengdu, the gray foggy and drab capital of Sichuan province. What a miserable place – at least late at night and early in the morning, because that’s fortunately all we saw of it during a brief overnight stay. But once you take off on your early morning plane out of the gray muck, a totally new world opens up barely five minutes into the flight. The fog and pollution give way to forbidding mountain ranges set against the clear blue sky. The vast Tibetan plateau rises majestically underneath with snow-capped peaks – from minor hills to 7000-meter giants – as far as the eye can see. It’s a truly awe-inspiring sight and hopefully a prelude to a week of more stunning scenery ahead.
Eventually the landscape goes from powdery white to chocolate brown as the plane slowly descends into Lhasa. It’s stunningly barren yet beautiful – unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
Once on the ground, it becomes clear however that you’re still well inside mainland China. The highway into town is newly paved – a gift by the motherland for the recent celebration of 40 years of “liberation” (or occupation, depending on your point of view). The closer you get to Lhasa the more mainlandish it gets: big ugly communist party buildings, PLA barracks, gory Chinese hotels and shops plus plenty of squatting and spitting. A little Shenzhen at 3700 meters!
Fortunately we made a stop at a small Tibetan monastery right next to the highway. I can’t remember its name or significance, but it was build around 1175 (!!!) and was beautiful and charming. The monks inside were chanting and we gave the prayer wheels a little spin for good luck.
Our accommodation in Lhasa, the Tibetan style Dhood Gu Hotel, was a nice little gem in the old part of town.
We spent the afternoon taking in the sights and slowly acclimatize to the altitude. Despite the encroachment of everything Chinese, the old part of Lhasa has maintained its charm. Also, the local Tibetans are very friendly and you can wander around the alleyways peacefully. The traditional Tibetan houses – with whitewashed walls and large colorful windows – look magnificent against the deep blue sky. The locals, with dark, grubby faces and rosy cheeks are quick to flash a smile when you greet them with a friendly “Tashi Delek” (hello). Foreigners are still a bit of a novelty, particularly to the pilgrims from the more remote parts of Tibet. Some of them will stare at you in amazement for a long time, especially if you greet them in their language. The local word for foreigner is ‘Halo’ and you hear that wherever you go – sometimes as a greeting (“halo!”) and sometimes as in “Look there’s a Halo!”
The main focal point in town – aside from the Potala Palace – is the Barkhor and the Jokhang temple. The Barkhor is a circular route around the Jokhang temple, the most revered religious structure in Tibet. A constant flow of pilgrims walk these alleys in a clockwise direction from early morning into the night. Some are prostrating themselves all the way, i.e. they clasp their hands in front of their faces, their chest and then fall down on their knees and slide forward until they are stretched out flat on the floor. Some use cardboards or slippers to protect their hands as they slide on the dusty pavement. It looks rather painful and tiring, but some pilgrims go hundreds of kilometers that way.
The cobble stones of the Barkhor circuit, which is Tibet’s holiest devotional “kora”, are polished smooth from centuries of circling pilgrims. So are many of the halls and corridors inside the Potala and Jokhang. To see the devotion and deep belief of these Buddhists – yet their cheerful and jovial nature – is both amazing and refreshing (especially coming from a place like Hong Kong, where the main religion is MONEY…)
We visit the Jokhang itself the following afternoon, when it is open to tourists and relatively quiet inside (in the morning and evening it is open to the pilgrims, when there is a constant flow of mumbling and praying devotees filing through the different chapels and prayer halls). The Jokhang was built in the 7th century, but only a few parts are surviving from the original structure. The inner sanctum houses the most important images and chapels, including that of Jowo Sakyamuni, the most important shrine in Tibet. Pilgrims touch their forehead to the statue’s left leg before being told by a monk “bouncer” to move on. From the roof of the Jokhang you have a magnificent view of the Potala Palace and the prostrating pilgrims down below.
While the Jokhang is the spiritual heart of Lhasa, the Potala palace – as the residence of the Dalai Lamas – dominates the skyline of the city and is one of the most imposing buildings you will ever see. The Potala is a structure of massive proportions, consisting of two main parts, the red palace and the (older) white palace. Work on the white palace was commissioned by the fifth Dalai Lama in 1645. Since its construction, the Potala has been the home of each of the successive Dalai Lamas all the way up to the current 14th Dalai Lama, until he fled the communist invasion in 1959.
As you start your tour of the Potala from the roof down (in clockwise fashion, of course) one of the first rooms is the throne room where the Dalai Lama would receive official guests. There is a picture of the 13th Dalai Lama on the left of the throne, but the picture of the 14th (current) Dalai Lama has been removed – as sadly has every picture of him in all of Tibet. Next is a reception hall, meditation room and the bedroom of the Dalai Lama – all of which have been used until 1959. They are simple and small rooms, yet warm and ‘homely’ in a special way.
The lower floors contain countless chapels as well as the tombs of all the Dalai Lamas, from the 5th to the 13th (except the 6th, who was a bit of a special case, apparently spending more time in the nightlife districts down in Lhasa then up in the palace). The different levels of the Potala are connected by steep stairways and walking from bottom to top is serious exercise at 3700 meters!
At night we checked out the various restaurants in Lhasa, most of which serve Tibetan, Nepali, Indian and a variety of Western dishes. The ‘Potala Traditional Snack Bar’ was particularly good, servicing an excellent Yak Sizzler and vegetable spring rolls. The menu also featured such delights as ‘Lhasa Girls’ (apparently very spicy!), ‘Yak Meat Big Balls’ and ‘Carts Berg’ beer – we stuck to Lhasa Beer instead.
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