Lhasa | Blue Lapis Road

EPILOGUE: FACES OF LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏)

Other than the spiritual monasteries, wonderful mountainous scenery and marvelous night sky, one thing we miss from our Tibetan trip is undoubtedly the faces of the Tibetan people. Their devotion to Buddhism, friendliness to foreigners, connection to their Himalayan homeland, and colourful clothing contribute to a unique and beautiful culture that we would always remember.

One face we would certain miss is the cute dog that always lingers at the entrance of Trichang Labrang Hotel (赤江拉讓藏式賓館).

Despite the presence of tourism, there is still a community atmosphere in Barkhor Old Town near our hotel, especially in the morning when locals comes out to get breakfast and grocery.

Near our hotel, delightful kids often run around the narrow alleyways.

And so as Buddhist monks who found their way towards Jokhang Monastery.

Vivid colours is everywhere to represent the unique Tibetan culture.

Large flag poles are pilgrim magnets along the kora route around the Jokhang Monastery.

The forecourt of Jokhang Monastery is always a great place for people watching.

Pilgrims on the kora route of Jokhang Monastery in traditional clothing and accessories.

Prostrating pilgrims express their devotion to Buddhism through their physical actions.

Pilgrim and prayer wheels along the kora of Jokhang Monastery.

Pilgrim and prayer wheels at Sera Monastery.

Pilgrim at the kora route of the Potala Palace.

And that concludes the posts on our Tibetan trip 2017.

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More blog posts on Tibet 2017:
JOURNEY ABOVE THE CLOUDS, Tibet 2017 (西藏之旅2017)
DAY 1: TOUCHDOWN ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD, Lhasa
DAY 1: TRICHANG LABRANG HOTEL (赤江拉讓藏式賓館), Lhasa
DAY 1: KORA AT BARKHOR STREET (八廓街), Lhasa
DAY 2: FIRST GLIMPSE OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 2: KORA OF DREPUNG MONASTERY (哲蚌寺), Lhasa
DAY 2: DREPUNG MONASTERY (哲蚌寺), Lhasa
DAY 2: JOKHANG MONASTERY (大昭寺), Lhasa
DAY 2 : SPINN CAFE (風轉咖啡館), Lhasa
DAY 2: NIGHT VIEW OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 3: POTALA PALACE (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 3: SERA MONASTERY (色拉寺), Lhasa
Day 4: KORA OF GANDEN MONASTERY (甘丹寺), Lhasa
Day 4: GANDEN MONASTERY (甘丹寺), Lhasa
DAY 4: TEA HOUSE AND FAMILY RESTAURANT, Lhasa
DAY 5: ON THE ROAD IN TIBET
DAY 5: MORNING IN SHANNAN (山南)
DAY 5: SAMYE MONASTERY (桑耶寺), Shannan
DAY 5: SAMYE TOWN (桑耶鎮), Shannan
DAY 6: YAMDROK LAKE (羊卓雍錯)
DAY 6: PALCHO MONASTERY (白居寺), Gyantse
DAY 6: WORDO COURTYARD (吾爾朵大宅院), Shigatse
DAY 7: ROAD TO EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營)
DAY 7: EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營)
DAY 7: STARRY NIGHT, Everest Base Camp
DAY 8: PANG LA PASS (加烏拉山口), Mount Everest Road
DAY 8: SAKYA MONASTERY (薩迦寺)
DAY 9: TASHI LHUNPO MONASTERY, (扎什倫布寺) Shigatse
DAY 9: ROAD TO NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 9: EVENING AT NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 10: SUNRISE AT NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 10: LAST DAY IN LHASA, Tibet
EPILOGUE: FACES OF LHASA, Tibet

February 4, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: བོད་, ལྷ་ས་, Barkhor, Buddhism, Buddhist, 西藏, Lhasa, people, pilgrim, pilgrimage, prayer, Tibet, Tibetan, wheel, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 10 (2/2): LAST DAY IN LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏), 2017.09.25

Our driver Sangzhu dropped us near our hotel Trichang Labrang (赤江拉讓藏式賓館) in Barkhor Old Town. After dropping off our bags, we stopped by the eatery beside the hotel for a quick bite. The friendly eatery owners, a talkative young couple, were excited to welcome us and chatted with us. We ordered a Nepali platter, fried momo and two cans of local beer to celebrate the completion of our road trip. The momos were quite delicious, and went well with the beer made with Highland Barley. It was the last full day of the trip. After filling our stomach, we didn’t want to visit any attractions, but spent time wandering in Barkhor Old Town, checking out souvenirs, watching people, and photographing anything that interested us, until the dinner time. For dinner, we decided to try the Tibetan hotpot at “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱们的藏餐馆).

After returning to Lhasa, we stopped by the small local eatery next door from Trichang Labrang Hotel. The young owners were friendly and talkative.

To celebrate the completion of our 6-day road trip, we ordered some local beer and highland barley wine.

The most delicious snack we ordered was the fried momo (Tibetan dumplings).

For dinner, we revisited the “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱们的藏餐馆), the atmospheric courtyard restaurant nearby.

Again we ordered the highland barley wine (青稞酒). The wine came in an interesting bird-like pottery jar.

The main dish of the meal was the Tibetan hotpot. It came with vegetables, melons, beef, ham and yak meat.

We wanted to linger around Barkhor Old Town for a little longer after dinner.

In front of Jokhang Monastery (གཙུག་ལག་ཁང༌། 大昭寺), pilgrims, worshiped on the stone pavers as usual.

Other than pilgrims, tourists also gathered at the Jokhang forecourt.

In front of Jokhang main entrance, more pilgrims gathered to worship, including some Buddhist monks.

The sky was getting dark but the Jokhang forecourt was getting even more crowded.

Some pilgrims preferred to stay near the large flag pole in front of the Jokhang.

Around Jokhang, groups after groups of pilgrims and tourists walked the kora in clockwise direction around Lhasa’s most sacred site.

The kora route was flanked one side by souvenir shops and the other by the majestic facade of the Jokhang.

Along the kora route, many pilgrims were performing prostration the entire way.

Some tourists treated the pilgrimage forecourt as a public plaza and sat on the pavers to chill out among the pilgrims.

Among pilgrims and tourists, chilling out in the Jokhang forecourt included this large and gorgeous husky.

We would certainly miss the spiritual atmosphere of the Jokhang forecourt.

On our way back to Trichang Labrang Hotel, we passed by one last time the store where we bought our bottled water everyday of our Lhasa stay. The next morning, we would take the airport shuttle bus near the Potala and fly back to Hong Kong via Chengdu. Although short, it was a delightful experience for the three of us on the unique Tibetan culture and magnificent Himalayan landscape. Hopefully next time we could have more time and travel further to the western corner of Tibet.

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February 3, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: གཙུག་ལག་ཁང༌།, བོད་, ལྷ་ས་, Barkhor, barley, beer, Buddhism, 西藏, food, highland, Jokhang, kora, Lhasa, momo, monastery, pilgrim, pilgrimage, restaurant, Tibet, Tibetan, 咱们的藏餐馆, 大昭寺, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 4 (3/3): TEA HOUSE AND FAMILY RESTAURANT, Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.19

Traveling to Lhasa is not complete without paying a visit to some of the city’s many tea houses and Tibetan restaurants. After returning to Lhasa from Ganden Monastery, we spent the rest of the afternoon at Guangming Gangqiong Sweet Tea House (光明港瓊甜茶館), one of Lhasa’s most well known sweet tea houses in Lhasa. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg defined “third place” as the place other than “home” and “workplace” where people spend most of their time hanging around to socializing. As a home away from home, a Tibetan sweet tea house is the venue where locals gather everyday for community news, causal chats, and a sip of traditional sweet tea. Located at Danjielin Road (丹傑林路) just a stone throw away from Jokhang Monastery (大昭寺), Guangming Gangqiong Sweet Tea House (光明港瓊甜茶館) is a popular mingling place for locals and foreign tourists. Once we stepped in the door, we were immediately overwhelmed by the animated atmosphere. It took us a while to find three empty seats at a communal table in the largest tea hall. From a shelf at the far corner we picked up three empty glasses. On the table, we each put a one yuan bill under the empty glass. Soon, a staff came by our table, took the money and filled our glasses with Tibetan sweet tea. From the serving counter at the back of the tea house, we ordered three bowls of beef noodles. As we chatted about the upcoming travel itinerary, sipped our tea and devoured our belated lunch, our eyes were rolling from left to right taking in scenes of lively interactions of local customers.

The vibrant Danjielin Road has many souvenir shops and restaurants, including Guangming Gangqiong Sweet Tea House (光明港瓊甜茶館).

We passed by a smaller tea hall where the ceiling was decorated with synthetic plants.

Other than Tibetan sweet tea, we also ordered beef noodles from the serving counter at the far side of the room.

Other than drinks and food, tea house is a popular venue for gossips and card games.

There were a few staff constantly walking around the tea house to refill for customers.

Also on Danjielin Road, the Tibetan Family Kitchen (更潘藏家廚房) is a pleasant place to get a taste of Tibetan family cuisine. Located on the second level of a residential block, it wasn’t easy to find the entrance to Tibetan Family Kitchen. From Danjielin Road, we found our way through a retail arcade into a tranquil skywell where a flight of staircase led up to the upper level. Stepping into the Tibetan Family Kitchen felt like walking into some local’s home. Beyond the entrance, the first thing we saw was the busy kitchen. We sat down at the communal table in one of the two dining rooms. On the communal table, two kids were doing homework at one side, while we sat at the other side going through the dinner menu. We chatted with the friendly hostess of the family restaurant, and ordered two dishes, a bowl of soup and rice. The food was excellent, and so as the interior decorations of Tibetan Family Restaurant. Surrounded by the walls of comments by visitors from around the globe, every single details of the interior design expressed a strong sense of Tibetan culture.

The Tibetan Family Kitchen is located on the second level of a mixed use building.

We followed a flight of stair up to the second level to reach Tibetan Family Kitchen.

Entering the family restaurant was like going into somebody’s home.

There are two dining rooms in Tibetan Family Kitchen.

Many walls in Tibetan Family Kitchen were filled with visitor comments.

All furniture and decorations in the family restaurant express a strong sense of Tibetan culture…

…including this traditional lantern.

We shared the table with two kids of the owner’s family.

Having dinner at Tibetan Family Kitchen really felt like being a guest in a local Tibetan home. Even the food was quite homey with nothing fancy but delicious and comforting.

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January 2, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: drink, 西藏, family, food, Gangqiong, Guangming, kichen, Lhasa, restaurant, tea, Tibet, 光明港瓊甜茶館, 拉薩, 更潘藏家廚房 | Leave a comment

Day 4 (1/3): KORA OF GANDEN MONASTERY (དགའ་ལྡན་ 甘丹寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.19

The closest thing to Tibetan pilgrimage that we experienced in Lhasa was our visit to Ganden Monastery (དགའ་ལྡན་ 甘丹寺). Slightly after 5am, we left the hotel and walked to the street intersection of Yutuo Road and Duosenge Road near the Jokhang Monastery. Several locals had already gathered at the street corner waiting for the public buses designated for different monasteries around the city. The bus for Ganden Monastery soon arrived and we were told to get on with the pilgrims. Foreign tourists were not permitted to take these pilgrim buses. As visitors from Hong Kong we were allowed to join the locals. Before departure, a vendor get on the bus to sell prayer flags. We picked a five-coloured one that costed 50 RMB. Before leaving Lhasa, the bus stopped by a security checkpoint where all passengers were required to register with our identity cards, and a local bakery where the majority of the passengers including us went down to get some bread for breakfast. Soon our bus left Lhasa into the countryside northeast of the city. After a two-hour bus ride, our bus finally arrived at Ganden Monastery on Wangbur Mountain at about 8am.

Just like our Drepung visit, we decided to walk the kora pilgrim route around the monastery before visiting the actual buildings. From the parking lot, we followed a sloped path heading up the hill behind the monastery. After making a turn in front of a small security station, we soon arrived at the hilltop overlooking the monastery. A pilgrim stood by an incense burner surrounded by myriad of prayer flags. We took out our 5-colour prayer flags, tied it to the flag cluster, and made a wish for a smooth journey ahead of us. We continued onto the winding kora path along the slope. The path soon split into two: the upper and lower. We followed the upper path and passed by a number of small shrines. We took out the bread we bought and sat down beside the path for a brief rest. Beyond the scenic valley of Lhasa River, layers of mountains extended as far as the eye could see. Further down the slope there were more prayer flags, small shrines and probably a small platform for sky burials. We followed several local pilgrims to finish the latter half of the kora and arrived at the monastery at its far end.

We passed by the forecourt of Jokhang Monastery at around 5:30am. Pilgrims were burning some sort of plants at the incense burners.

After arriving at the parking lot Ganden Monastery, we walked uphill along a path heading to the trailhead of the kora pilgrim route.

At the hilltop, the view of Ganden Monastery was spectacular.

A local dog followed us from the parking lot all the way up to the hilltop.

At the hilltop, a local pilgrim was preparing offerings at the incense burner.

We tied our 5-coloured prayer flags at the hilltop overlooking Ganden Monastery.

The kora path continues beyond the prayer flags to the backside of the hill.

We soon reached the first shrines along the kora path.

Below the kora path, the Lhasa River passed through the valley behind the Ganden Monastery.

Also known as Kyi River, Lhasa River is a tributary of Yarlung Tsangpo River.

Farming terraces occupy a valley below the Ganden Monastery.

The kora path split into a few footpaths along the slope, connecting a series of pilgrim shrines.

The kora offered us a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains.

There were many violet wild flowers on the green slope along the path.

Some pilgrims took the lower kora route along the green slope.

Towards the end of the kora path, we once again passed under a series of prayer flags.

After the prayer flags, a few more Buddhist shrines came to sight, as we approached the Ganden Monastery at its far side.

At the incense burner near the end of the kora path, we could see the winding vehicular road that our bus first arrived.

The winding road where our bus zigzagged up earlier in the morning looked wonderful from a distance.

We entered the monastery compound from its far end.

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December 28, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: Buddhism, Buddhist, Ganden, hike, kora, lamasery, Lhasa, monastery, mountain, mountains, religion, scenery, Tibet, Tibetan, valley, Wangbur | Leave a comment

DAY 3 (2/2): SERA MONASTERY ( སེ་ར་དགོན་པ 色拉寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.18

After a simple noodle lunch, we hopped on a taxi for Sera Monastery ( སེ་ར་དགོན་པ 色拉寺). At the northern suburb of Lhasa, Sera is a popular destination among foreign tourists where its famous debate sessions usually take place in the afternoon. Unlike Drepung where reaching the monastery required ascending the Mount Gephel, accessing Sera Monastery from the main road was just a few minutes’ walk. There weren’t too many tourists around. As one of the three main Gelug university monasteries in Tibet, Sera is consisted of a series of colleges, residences, and assembly halls on its 28 acres of land. Once with a monastic population of about 5000, the current monastery is a shadow of its past. Founded in 1419 by Sakya Yeshe, Sera Monastery has gone through ups and downs in history. Fortunately, the monastery was left relatively undamaged during the Cultural Revolution in 1960s.

Beyond the main entrance, we passed by the large stupa Tsangba Kangtsang and a row of prayer wheels circled by several devoted pilgrims. We turned left into a small alleyway between several small buildings and continued to the courtyard of Sera Me College. We entered the main hall and visited the upper deck of the building. There were hardly any tourists around, except a few prostrating pilgrims at the front veranda. We then headed over to Sera Je College, the largest college in Sera, and Tsogchen, the Main Assemble Hall, before finding our way to the famous debate courtyard. Many visitors had already gathered at the perimeter of the courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard sat a large group of monks all dressed in red robes. Full of anticipation, we sat down on the pavement curb behind the monks, hoping to witness their unique exchange despite we knew we couldn’t understand the Tibetan language. We soon realized that the particular day of our visit was an exam day for the young learners instead of a regular debate session. Instead of forming small debate groups, each young monk were given a brief time to perform his speeches and gestures in front of a panel of two teachers. It was interesting to watch how the young monks perform their hand clapping and speeches in attempt to win over the crowds and the teachers. We stayed for about half an hour before heading back to the monastery entrance and quickly hopped on a taxi returning to the Barkhor Old City of Lhasa.

There were more lamas than tourists at the entrance when we arrived at Sera Monastery.

The first thing in Sera Monastery we encountered was a large stupa and a row of prayer wheels.

We walked into a lane left of the entrance attempting to find Sera Me College.

The colourful monastery buildings were quite eye catching. We wandered into different empty courtyards before reaching Sera Me College.

The Sera Me College dates back to the earliest years of the monastery.

Like many other monasteries, the stair at Sera Me College was really steep.

The front veranda of Sera Me College were occupied by prostrating pilgrims.

We had seen this checker pattern several times at different Tibetan monasteries.

Next we walked over to the largest college at Sera Monastery: the Sera Je College.

We had a peaceful moment at the upper level of Sera Je College.

The flat roof of Sera Je College was also accessible, but we couldn’t stay for long because of the strong afternoon sun.

It was fortunate that most buildings at Sera Monastery escaped damages from the Cultural Revolution.

We then returned to the maze of alleyways and headed towards the Main Assembly Hall.

Dated back to 1710, the Tsogchen (Main Assembly Hall) is the largest buildings in Sera Monastery.

We rested a bit under the shade on the upper level of the Main Assembly Hall.

After Main Assembly Hall, we returned to the main path and walked to the Debate Courtyard at the far end.

Through the doorway, we could see the courtyard was already filled up with spectators.

The young monks walked out one by one to perform their debate speech and body gestures.

We sat down behind a group of monks for a while and watched the performances by several monks.

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December 6, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: སེ་ར་དགོན་པ, Buddhism, Buddhist, college, debate, 色拉寺, 西藏, Gelug, lama, lamasery, Lhasa, monastery, monk, Sera, Tibet, Tibetan, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 3 (1/2): POTALA PALACE (ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་ 布達拉宮), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.18

We arrived at the central gate of the Potala at around 9am. We excitedly looked up at the magnificent icon of Lhasa as we entered the palace ground beyond the first security checkpoint. We found our way towards the main ramp that ascend up to the Potala. Before climbing up, we made a brief stop at a small museum that housed a decent collection of treasures from the palace. Despite its interesting exhibit, we didn’t stay long as we wouldn’t want to miss our time slot for the palace visit. The walk up the main ramp looked easier than it actually was. Because of the 3700m altitude, the climb up the main ramp to the Potala may prove challenging to many tourists who haven’t completely acclimatized to the Tibetan highlands. We took our time walking up to the ticket office near the top palace level. After all the effort of pre-booking and climbing, we finally got a real admission ticket for the Potala. A flight of steps led us up a colourful passage to a open courtyard known as Deyang Shar. After a brief break at Deyang Shar, we walk to the far side of the courtyard and followed other tourists and tour guides up a small set of triple stairs into the White Palace. The Deyang Shar was the final spot of our visit that we were allowed to take photographs.

The first room we arrived at was the throne room of the Dalai Lamas. Walking into the former throne room felt like entering into a scene of Scorsese’s movie Kundun. The visit continued to a series of Dalai Lamas’ former reception rooms, meditation room, study room, etc. After the Dalai Lama’s living quarter in the White Palace, we continued our visit to the Red Palace from the top (3rd floor) down. On our way down the floors and through the chapels and assembly halls, we passed by impressive statues, golden chortens of former Dalai Lamas, mysterious chapels such as Chapel Arya, one of the oldest structures in the Potala built by King Songtsen Gampo. If not the noisy tourists and their rude tour guides were virtually everywhere in the visitor route, our Potala visit would be much more pleasant. One of the highlights was the 12.6m chorten of the 5th Dalai Lama. Gilded with 3.7 kg of gold, the chorten of the 5th Dalai Lama was significantly larger than the other chortens displayed in Chapel of the Holy Born.

In 7th century, King Songtsen Gampo erected his royal palace on the Marpo Ri (Red Hill). A thousand years later, construction of the Potala’s White Palace (Kharpo Podrang) began in 1645 under the order of the 5th Dalai Lama. In late 17th century, the larger Red Palace (Marpo Podrang) was also built to house the funeral chorten of the 5th Dalai Lama. Since then, the Potala has become the residence and final resting place of the Dalai Lamas. In modern days, the Potala was largely spared from the destructing forces of the Red Army during the Cultural Revolution. Extensive renovations took place in the 1990s to restore the palace. Since then, the Potala has been turned into an open air museum that attracts thousands of visitors everyday.

The palace visit took us about 2 hours. We exited the Potala from its back entrance. A prominent walkway zigzagged down the Marpo Ri, leading us to the kora path of pilgrims that surrounded the base of the Potala. We followed the kora path and entered the Zongjiao Lukang Park (宗角祿康公園) north of the palace. Large groups of park users were dancing at different open areas in the park under loud music. We strolled for a bit in the park and then moved on to find a small noodle eatery for lunch.

Unlike the mysterious night scene, the morning view of the Potala was splendid and elegant.

During our visit, we only had access to small parts of the White and Red Palace.

Despite the access and photography restrictions, a visit to the Potala is still a must-do for most tourists in Lhasa.

To reach the ticket office of the Potala, walking up the main ramp is the second major challenge for many tourists (the first challenge being getting up early to queue for the pre-booking.

From the main ramp, we could clearly see the Potala Square (布達拉宮廣場) beyond Beijing Road.

After an exhausting climb to the top, we finally reached the entrance gate and the ticket office.

From the entrance gate, we could see the beautiful landscape outside of the city of Lhasa.

The mural of the heavenly guards and other mythical figures caught the attention of every visitors passed through the entrance gate.

The entrance door was beautifully decorated with colourful details.

After the entrance gate, we passed through a flight of colourful stair up to the entrance courtyard of the White Palace called Deyang Shar.

The Deyang Shar is a pleasant courtyard that serves as the entrance for the White Palace, and the courtyard is also the last spot where visitors are allowed to take photographs during their Potala visit.

The visit of the Potala for all tourists begins with the White Palace.

At the Deyang Shar, groups of tourists began their palace visit via a steep stair.

After the visit we exited the Potala at the back side of the palace.

We walked down a pleasant walkway down the Marpo Ri.

The walkway led us down to the kora path of pilgrims that surrounded the base of the Potala.

Along the kora path there were small shrines for pilgrims.

Near the Zongjiao Lukang Park, we passed by a popular shrine frequented by pilgrims.

We followed the kora path and entered the Zongjiao Lukang Park (宗角祿康公園) north of the palace.

We strolled for a bit in Zongjiao Lukang Park and then moved on to find a small noodle eatery nearby for lunch.

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November 26, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: Architecture, ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་, Buddhism, Buddhist, Deyang Shar, heritage, historic, History, Kharpo Podrang, Lhasa, Marpo Podrang, Marpo Ri, monastery, palace, Potala, Red Palace, Tibet, Tibetan, UNESCO, White Palace, 布達拉宮 | Leave a comment

DAY 2 (6/6): NIGHT VIEW OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17

Across the street from the Potala lies the 600m x 400m Potala Square (布達拉宮廣場). Every night, at the centre of the square the large musical fountain attracts a small group of spectators to watch the dancing water jets in front of the architectural icon of Lhasa. The once mystical scene of the Potala with flickering candle lights at each window is now replaced with consistent flood lights illuminated from below. Today, after the palace museum closes for the evening, there are hardly any light appear from inside the palace windows. In the evening, stream of pilgrims pass in front of the palace, and so as the busy traffic on Beijing Road, and groups of tourists by the musical fountain at the Potala Square.

We didn’t come for the fountain show, but for the water puddles on the floor. According to Pazu of Spinn Cafe, the water puddles of the musical fountain provide a great opportunity to photograph the splendid reflection of the Potala Palace. All we needed to do was to wait for the moments of gaps between the water jets changed their programmed movements. The uplights changed colours simultaneously as the water rose and fell. Beyond Beijing Road, the well-lit backdrop of the Potala seemed a little distant and lonely.

After a nice chat with Pazu of Spinn Cafe, we took a taxi to the Potala for its evening view.

Near Potala west entrance, we crossed Beijing Road via a pedestrian tunnel and arrived at the enormous Potala Square.

We walked to the musical fountain near the centre of Potala Square.

Then we waited for the photogenic moments when the water jets stopped and the tranquil reflection of the palace appeared on the ground.

Watching the tourist silhouettes posing in the reflection was quite a pleasant scene.

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November 14, 2017 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: lama, Lhasa, Potala, Tibet, Tibetan, water, 布達拉宮, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

Blue Lapis Road ultramarinus – beyond the sea

Posts tagged “Lhasa”

EPILOGUE: FACES OF LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏)

DAY 10 (2/2): LAST DAY IN LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏), 2017.09.25

DAY 4 (3/3): TEA HOUSE AND FAMILY RESTAURANT, Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.19

Day 4 (1/3): KORA OF GANDEN MONASTERY (དགའ་ལྡན་ 甘丹寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.19

DAY 3 (2/2): SERA MONASTERY ( སེ་ར་དགོན་པ 色拉寺), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.18

DAY 3 (1/2): POTALA PALACE (ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་ 布達拉宮), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.18

DAY 2 (6/6): NIGHT VIEW OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa (拉薩), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.17