Tibet Part 1:

Tibet is going to have to be a 3-parter. I have so many photos and a ton of video to edit so I'll get to work. We were very excited to finally be flying to Tibet. Whether or not we would be able to go there was up in the air for a long time as Tibet usually closes to foreigners in March and then re-opens but this year it was only a partial re-opening. We met a lot of people in Beijing and Xi-'an that wanted to go but got shut down. Since we were all one family and all one nationality we got through where larger tour groups didn't and then when they lost our visa I thought we were done but the China Travel Company got us there. Our first views of the mountains!

When we landed we got these silky white scarves as a symbol of welcome. Click HERE to find out more about them. It was much colder than in Chengdu.

We met our driver and guide, Namgil and headed toward Lhasa. Here's a picture of the river that turns into the Brahmaputra River farther down.

Namgil told us that we would be stopped by the authorities a few times before getting to Lhasa and that we should never take pictures of Chinese soldiers because we could all get in a lot of trouble. The military presence was very heavy when we were there. In fact most Tibetans can't even go to Lhasa anymore because they don't have the right papers. It's so sad because it's a pilgrimage that most of them want to take. Apparently the Chinese do not want the Tibetans getting together in large groups because they are worried about revolts. But the Tibetans are non-violent toward others for the most part. When they protest, they usually do it by hurting themselves so it seems pretty unnecessary if you ask me. Here's Namgil with our Tibetan permit trying to get us past the first check-point.

Our hotel was AMAZING! It was hand painted in incredible detail - this continued through the stairways and corridors and even into our room. It was traditional and such a close walk to Barkor square. Right where you want to be.

Detail view of the ceiling:

Teddy in front of the hotel front doors:

At this point Jeff and the kids started to feel sick. We were warned about altitude sickness but I was like "That's not gonna happen to US right guys?!? ... um guys??". Jeff said it felt like 5 beers + a hangover at the same time. They thought they needed food so we headed out to get some. We found this cool restaurant with a view of the Jokang Temple and I ordered traditional Yak butter tea. Soooo weird. Like funky tea with curdled something. Not awful but something that you'd have to grow up with to appreciate. Then the kids started puking. Talk about a Tibetan buzz-kill....

So I got our food to-go while Jeff and the kids beat a hasty retreat back to the hotel. When I got back they were all down for the count looking horrible and quietly moaning. I was seriously considering calling for a chopper evac or something. But they all fell asleep and I took our food to the roof and celebrated my first night in Tibet with some Yak meat and a view of the Potalla Palace.

The next morning everyone was feeling a bit better. Not fully better but definitely on the mend. So we knew that the only thing we could do was wait for them to acclimatize and keep the pace slow. We set out to explore Barkor Square. The smells of Tibet! I wish these pages had a scratch and sniff. I will always remember that unique smell of Yak butter + incense.

We started at the front of the Jokang Temple. Tibetans are DEVOUT. Humblingly devout. They have so much less than we do and their religion means so much to them. It's so unjust and frustrating that many of them are unable to come to these holy sites to visit when it clearly is important to them. These people were repeatedly prostrating themselves in front of the temple.

Part of the pilgrimage is to walk around the temple (which is Barkor Square) in a clock-wise direction. They pray, chant, and spin prayer wheels as they go. The prayer wheel is a very important religious item. Many Tibetans are illiterate but there are prayers written down inside the prayer wheel. They believe that as it spins the prayers on the outside and the prayers written on paper inside go up to God. Most people walk this route. But the truly devout do it one body length at a time, prostrating themselves all around the entire outside of the temple. We saw many people doing this. It takes them hours. So the square road around the temple is part church, and part market place with everyone moving in the same direction. You have to go clock-wise around.

Prayer wheels and incense.

Tibetan women all wear these colorful striped aprons. Their clothes are very beautiful.

The route around the Temple in the morning. Not very crowded yet. Kind of like Fantasyland at 10am....

We ran into Nam-gil's father in law and son! He was so proud to introduce us to his little-guy!

Nam-gil was amazing, and by far the best guide we had on our trip. He figured us out very quickly and realized we didn't want to go do Touristy things as much as we wanted to see the real Tibet. He took us down a side street to a temple tucked away. It was packed and there were NO tourists there at all. We could not take pictures inside but I got a bit of video you'll see later. The temple was completely full. It was very dark and there was row after row of people sitting on the ground, spinning their hand-held prayer wheels and chanting. The smells of incense and yak butter candles were intoxicating. And the sounds were mesmerizing. What Nam-gil told us next had me completely floored. He said that people come to this temple to pray for world peace, an end to hunger and world-wide conflict. Wow. So how do we pray? I don't know about you but I'm pretty selfish about it. I usually have a laundry list about cares and loved ones and all of it is about my family and my life. These culturally rich but economically poor people were spending hours of their time praying not for themselves but for the rest of the world. It literally brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it. So remember the next time you're having a bad day - a Tibetan is praying for you.

Spinning the larger prayer wheels on our way out.

When we got back to the Temple square it was getting busier. And I needed some time to process what I had just seen. Namgil took us back into the maze of side-streets to a Traditional tea-house.

On the way we passed these women making and selling flat bread similar to naan. The kids love that so we bought some for pennies and then went inside the tea house to sit down.

The tea comes in these metal milk jug looking things and it costs just about nothing for a large container. And it tastes amazing. Like the milkiest, creamiest chai tea you've ever had. Nothing I've tasted really compares but a good chai comes closest to describing it.

We ate our bread with our delicious tea and just tried to digest our first morning in Tibet.