Lhasa: where tradition meets the modern world

Confession: glad to see a slightly bigger city after being on the road for some time. And to see a Giordano store in town ☺

Lhasa was surprisingly modern and well planned. Of course there is a polemic whether this is good or bad for Tibetan but let’s not go into that.

The good thing is there is a part of Lhasa that is kept traditional. I cannot get enough of walking in this old part of the city and just watching people from all over Tibet passing by wearing their variety of traditional clothes and performing their own religious rituals.

Oh and you should see for yourself how the town are surrounded, literally, by snow-peak mountains. Breathtaking.

Since it was the Ramadhan month, I had the pleasure to join the evening prayer – isya, tarawih (20 rakaat) and witir. It was, um, a bit different from back home. The clothes varied I presume depending on where they come from in Tibet. And the whole prayers were done in a matter of one hour. Once done, no speech, everybody just went home, lights out and the door of the mosque was shut. Efficient, my kind of mosque ☺

Our itinerary in Lhasa covered a visit to two monasteries, the Pothala palace (used to be Dalai Lhama’s palace), and the summer palace of the Dalai Lhama.

Ignorant me. You see one monastery you see them all. Not so, actually. Each has its own story. And the amazing paintings on the wall always tell a lot of story about Tibetan Buddhism (how I wish they could maintain the monasteries a bit bette)r. Unfortunately, the Guide was not all that expert on Buddhism. Luckily though, one of my travel companions has a strong interest in Buddhism. Horray.

We were also very lucky to witness a monk debate session. Numerous groups of monks debating on whichever topics they choose. They conveyed the argument with such enthusiasm, ease and respect to one another. Nothing got out of the way. When the session ends, the argument also ends there. A great habit to apply.