Potala Palace - the spiritual center of Tibet.

Potala palace was begun in the 7^th century and built by different Dalai Lama , has over a thousand rooms ,cant take a picture inside Potala. Its realy amazing when we saw the interior , the furniture , the wall EVERYTHING indescribable.

I wrote down few rooms I have visited, here we go :。。。。

1．Daily chapel “the chamber the takten” was the Dalai Lama office.

2．The chimey namgyal – the everlasting victory – The Dalai Lama ussualy spent his hours here and he took his lessons in this room too.

3．The Jamkang –the maitreya Buddha Chapel- this chapel originally was the chamber for the 8^th Dalai Lama since the establishment of huge maitreya.

4．Loilang Khang – the lolang kang the solid mandala chapel- was a chamber for the Dalai Lama in 1749

５．The sasu Namgyal - the victory over the triple world- in the central part , facing the window stand 5 panel in wish for the health of Manchu emperor Kang Xi written in different languages , such as Tibetan , Chinese , Manchurian and Mongolian.

6. Chimey Dedan Khil – the eternal happiness- was the chamber of the 6^th Dalai Lama and later for 8^th Dalai Lama around 1782

7. The lima Lhakang – the allow steel chapel- is a collection of a thousand of ancient images brough from India and Nepal , all made of mixture of metals and alloy steels in red, yellow and white colous. There are also a hundred images made in the time of emperor Yong Le of the Ming Dinasty.

8. Lama Lhakang – tomb of the 7^th Dalai Lama. Was built in 1757 in the mode of the bodhi stupa , it is GOLD sheeted in 498kg of SOLID GOLD 9.3m in heigh and 5.4m in weigh.

GOSH…..every piece of furniture covered with complex carvings.

We also saw tomb of the 5^{th ,} 8^th , 9^th , 11^th , Dalai Lama. The tomb of the 8^th Dalai Lama build in 1805 with 5574 kg of GOLD and richly gemmed in diamonds , pearls , corals , turquoises , etc

The intense spirituality radiating from that place is, to say the very least, AWESOME.

and Potala Palace really the spiritual center of Tibet.

Tibetan Prayer Flags

As a minority people in China , People in Tibet do believe in different thing from the Han culture.
Different from the modernized look , unique lifestyle , unique skills , unique medicine ,unique arts or architecture, unique spiritual things and of course living on the world famous plateau.

The Tibetan / Zhang people love to expressing their feeling through song , dance and prayer. Especially for prayer flags are a common sight in Tibet area prayer flags are colorful panel or rectangular cloths often found strung along mountain ridges , peaks high , trees, on hill tops , a rock , around religious sites such as monasteries and stupas to bless the surrounding countryside also each type of flags has a different purpose carries different image and different prayers.

Prayer flags found between Lhasa and shigatse

The traditional five colors represent the five Buddha families and five elements
Blue (symbolizing sky/space) Akshobhya Buddha and space.
White (symbolizing water ) Ratna Sambhava Buddha and water.
Red (symbolizing fire) Amitabha Buddha and fire
Green (symbolizing air/wind) Amoghasiddhi Buddha and air
Yellow (symbolizing earth) Vairocana Buddha and eart



There are two kinds of prayer flags:
horizontal ones, called lung ta (meaning "Wind Horse") in Tibetan,
the vertical Darchor. "Dar" translates as "to increase life, fortune, health and wealth", "Cho" translates as "all sentient beings".

Lung Ta (horizontal) prayer flags are of square or rectangular shape and are connected along their top edges to a long string or thread. They are commonly hung on a diagonal line from high to low between two objects in high places such as the tops of temples, monasteries, stupas or mountain passes.

Darchor (vertical) prayer flags are usually large single rectangles attached to poles along their vertical edge. Darchor are commonly planted in the ground, mountains, cairns or on rooftops and are iconographically and symbolically related to the Dhvaja.

Lung Ta / Wind Horse flags are the most common prayer flag in Tibet and The prayer is written in Tibetan and always express positive intentions for the happiness, enlightenment and protection of all beings.

Timing of Hanging , Taking Down , and other things about Flag Prayers
1. Flags should be hung in the correct sequence,: blue, white, red, green, yellow from left to right or from bottom to top.)
2. Old prayer flags are replaced with new ones annually during the Tibetan New Year Old prayer flags should be burned not thrown in a rubbish bin. . .
3. For the best effect they are hung on an auspicious day or at an auspicious moment, such as early on a windy morning , windy days, especially on a Friday. Try to avoid hanging new flags on Tuesdays and Saturdays
4. They should not be placed on the ground or used in clothing..
5.. Please don't place them on the ground or use them in clothing.
6. never associate them with intoxicants such as tobacco or alcohol.

As a Tibetans believe that hanging flags in high places the wind moves the flags, will carry the blessings , happiness , long life , prosperity.

I love these flags since I was saw for the first time in the Shangri La journey, they are so lovely to display and i hang them around my house to show that I am support for the Tibetan people, and bring peace to my home.

Day 11 - beijing -

crazyyyyyyyyyyyy

I am in Beijing and It raining in Beijing - I was sitting with Ge for lunch – its Korean bbq – in the xiong jia resto – still our fav resto in Beijing .

I heard It is 5 degree C. is Not too bad for Beijing. It is not as cold as in Shigatse or lhasa . Yesterday, I was still in Lhasa , at around 10 degree C, and the day before yesterday, I was at a cold place of minus 0 degree C.
and I am so lucky that I don’t feel uncomfortable.

bangun nya siang benerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr jam 10 lewat gitu...

beres beres jadi nya jam 11 lewat gitu.

hal yang pertama makan siangggggggggggggggggggggggggg

kita pilih xiong jia...... our fav...korean BBQ

nyam nyam

ini tuh makan lahap banget.. sampe lupa foto foto sebelum makan.. ritual wajib kita.. hahahaha

dudul

lumayan suasananya rintik rintik ujan gitu deuuuuuuuuuuuuu romantis deh kalo sama co masing masing hahahaha.

sambil makan tuh kita coba kontek temen temen yang laen , tapi karna pada libur panjang semuanya lagi jalan jalan keluar bj , jadi yang bisa di hubungi cuma si shan kou li nan , nama jepangnya lupaa...

ketemu sama dia janjian di wu dao kou , tapi karna dia agak lama kita ke wnet dulu mau beli tiket ke shanghai , trus dari shanghai ke hongkong , tapi ga tau ke napa dari shanghai ke hong kong tuh lagi ga ada tiket , adanya dari bj ke shanghai doang.. laaaaaaaa ga bisa ... ntar g tidur dimana? soalnya si lin itu uda ada tiket shanghai - hk ,
HUH ga jadi ke shanghai , jadinya langsung ke hong kong aja , tgl 8 oct sore

akhirnya kita ketemu ama shan kou li nan , ternyata dia bawa dd cewenya.. cute banget namanya nana
nana itu dewasa loh , baru beberapa jam aja ngob sama dia , dewasa banget jadi kaget sama kita kita yang masih cekikikan kaya gini .

ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh kita jalan jalan gitu ke mall baru , di samping subway nya wudao kou ada mall baru , lumayan gede la...
dari sana di ajak makan lagiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii , gileeeeeeeeeeeee kirain makan apaan ga tau nya makan india lagi.. tuh si ganges masih berdiri restonya.
yummy..yummy....
lumayan laper lagi seh.. sebenernya mau makan sushi issin tapi bukanya jam 5 , jadi deh jalan kaki dari wudakou ke arah tsinghua ximen.

ujan rintik rintik gitu , ga gitu dingin seh.. maklum masih oct awal , sampe di resto nya dulu yang perna g makan sama ecua pelayan nya masih sama ihihihihihihihi
kita pesen banyakkkkkkkkkkkkkk banget...


kekeyangan deh... jalan kaki kita dari resto ke tsinghua.. motong jalan gitu.. fresh.. ga ujan lagi , trus sepiiiiiiiiiiii tuh tsinghua , maklum lagi pada liburan.
ada kali kita jalan 1,5 jam
ternyata si nana tuh skul di tsinghua juga trus tinggal di gedung no 20, gedung yang dulu g tinggal .... tapi beda lantai deh...
pertama tama kita ga bole masuk, penjaganya lebih ketat skrang.. ga kaya dulu bisa slonong boy.....

trus penjaganya lebih pinter jaganya di depan lift ahahhahaha dulu kan duduk manis di lobby jadi orang masuk kemana aje ga di tanya tanya, skrang di tanya tanya sampe nunjukin passport segala...
untung si nana bilang ini temen dia ,kalo ga kita di suruh nunggu di luar.

nah.. ini kamar dia.. rapi ya.. wangi pula.. trus barang barangnya ikea semua.. hahahaha dia bilang belanja belanja sama koko nya

its tsinghua dorm , building 20 room no 911...

at reka's house

pulang dari sana uda jam 10 malem deh
nguantukkkkkkkkkkk tapi sempet foto foto lagi

Day 10 - last day

day 10

Today we ready fly to Beijing from lhasa airport.
At lhasa Airport, I found things so small , small airport , small book store and small resto. Dramatically but still so mysterious.

On Flight
I always slept on the flight - feel so good because of my travel pillow – nice excuse ya…… actually I always easily fall asleep hahahaha
The flight was pleasant from lhasa to Beijing.

When was my last time in Beijing?
Its Feb 15 2007 from Beijing back to Jakarta , WOW . It is incredible that I didn't set my foot in Beijing for about one and half year. It was a long time ago. in 2008 I am back again , I have a lot of friends in Beijing, but I don't know they can meet for reunion or not coz may be they go out for vacation but I try to contact with them and make a reunion.

Stepping out of the airport, we began to decided how we should go to downtown. Taxi station is on the left hand and the airport bus stop is on the right.

OUR CHOICE : RIGHT
Our destination is Zhong Guan Chun terminal , it’s the near to tsing hua univ and wu dao kou area , and we take a bus from there to reka’s house.

Why we choose the airport bus ?
1. its cheap … only RMB 16 and we don’t have many luggage
2. To avoid MR Un-Fortune taxy driver , coz its already 8.30 pm and we don’t want he take us round and around also pretend he don’t know wu dao kou area.
3. The bus large with large seat and it is also fast.
4. Maybe outside still traffic jam

Beijing changed a lot, I would say I am so impressed by Beijing again after last visit about one and half year ago. The roads are better, new subway – yeah… and cheap ticket too - , new building to shopping and also new metro from airport to everywhere

It takes about 45 minutes to get reka’s house

Arriving at reka’s house , it is already 9:30 PM we sleeping in reka’s house for few days . I am feeling good and starving too. We meet we balaz , he from hungary same with reka. So if they talk with their language I feel they argue each other…hahahaha but its not.

Oh… thanks to reka for feed us with BBQ street… yummy… I still cant believe I try food street again and also reka said we must run away if police come because if forbidden to sell the food in the street… GOSH…I am tired , starving and I must run too ? but thanks to God no police patrol in this area.

We eat , eat and eat that night .i don’t realize it 1:30 AM now. I think it is the time to go to bed .

day 10

ini adalah hari terakhir gitu di lhasa

ga kerasa , hari ini free day. di jemput buat ke airport sekitar jam 11 siang.
semalem itu giliran lin yang tepar , tidur mulu sampe pagi.
akhirnya pagi ini kita seger buger deh.... pagi nya kita pengen coba sarapan di hotel tapi karena kita ke ruang makannya udah sekitar jam 8 an gitu , ga dapet makanan lagi , cuma minum aer hanget ..tapi itu kayanya aer panas deh buat minum vitamin.

jalan jalan ke bakhor lagi , beli singing bowl,prayer flags, gantungan kunci mini , dll

abis itu buru buru balik ke hotel , siap siap .

dari jam 11 kita ke airport lama seh jalanannya.... sekitar 1 jam an , cerahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh banget tapi kita sedih, waktu kita nyampe pengennya cepet cepet ke beijing , giliran beberapa jam lagi ke beijing malah pengen lebih lama lagi di sini


nahhhhhhhhhhhhh pas nyampe di bandara , uda pada ngantriiiiiiiiiii karna bandaranya tuh kecil banget , kita nganti bersama teriknya matahari , HUH
panas boooo

trus bt nya lagi jam flight nya kita tuh di ganti jadi jam 4 sore , bt kan mustinya jam 2 an gitu.
tau gitu kan kita masih punya banyak waktu jalan jalan

ya udah . di bandara kita makan siang.. seperti biasa mie lagi ..... ngob - ngob ga jelas... jelas seh obrolannya misalnya , yg harus kita lakukan waktu di beijing....
1. makan di issin
2. makan di resto korea bbq yang katanya lin lin mirip sama bbq nya di phil
3. makan di resto korea bbq xiong jia
4.makan di tonkatsu
5.ke wudaokou clothes market
6. ke yong an li , mau beli dompet dll trusssssssss g pengen beli dompet itu seharga 30rmb , biarin di buka harga 300 rmb , harus dapet 30 rmb hahahaha
7. liat liat park olympic
8. jalan jalan di tsing hua uni..,,,
9. beli dvd bajakan harganya sekitar 8 atau 7 rmb
10 ke houhai , bei hai , dll

kita naek pesawat tuh jam 3 an , stop over di chong qing gitu dah jam 6 sore.
nyampe di airport beijing dah jam 9 an malem , tunggu bagasi lamaaaaaaaaaaaaa bener

akhirnya kita masih ada bus airport yang ke zhong guan cun juga , lumayan la... harganya masih rmb 16

dari zhong guang cun tuh dah deket sama tsinghua , deket juga sama tempat reka dari sana kita baru naek taxy . hemat hahahah karna duitnya buat makan ama jalan jalan deh.

dari bandara ke zhong guan cun tuh jauh banget... 1 jam lebih deh lewatin olympic park juga , dari sana ke tempat reka deket udah malem jadi ga macet cuma sekita 15rmb ,

akhirnyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ketemua juga rumah reka , itu dah jam 11 lewat deh..capeeeeeeeeeeeeee banget ternyata di sana tuh ada temen dia juga namanya balaz orang hungaria juga

dulu tuh orang ga aneh seperti skrang , tapi ga tau deh cuma g yang ngerasa apa lin ngerasa juga

menjelang tengah malem reka traktir kita yang rou chuanrrrrrrrrrrrrr semacem sate gitu isi nya bisa sayap ayam , roti mantou , jamur , selada , daging sapi , ayam , kambing , hati dll deh dibakar semua pake bumbu bumbu yang beijing banget...ahhahahaah kita seh bilangnya gitu bumbu beijing

kenyanggggggggggggggggggggggggggg soalnya di traktir.. jadi makan sepuasnya... hhahaha ngobrol kita.. g sampe ga nyangka bisa balik ke beijing lagi , makan mulu kerjaannya..

abis itu kita pulang.. capeeeeeeeeeee tidur , kita di kasih tempat tidurnya si reka , sebenernya tidur di sofa seh gpp , abis uda hemat hotel hahahaha selama temen nawarin tidur di tempat dia ya.. kita ayo aja..

Day 9

0ct 2 2008
day 9 - somewhere out there

Day 8 - shigatse - Birthday Girl

1 Oct 2008

today , wednesday its a special day coz its Geraldine birthday also China celebrated National Day too but not like in Beijing or any city in China so crowded, rush , people everywhere , in here i feel no body care about 1st oct.


the birthday Girl

Anyway we are ready for our next journey. We are in Shigatse city, its about 250 km southwest of lhasa. Shigatse is the second largest city of Tibet.In shigatse have many monastery , the famous is tashilhunpo monastery. We arrived at Tashilhunpo Monastery around 7.30 am and I saw before The monastery open many people pray in front of the monastery.



Shigatse’s main attraction is tashilhunpo monastery, the seat of the Panchen lama. Built in 1447 by a nephew of Tsongkhapa , the monastery once house over 4000 monks , but there are now only 600.


Apart from a giant stute of Jampa (Maitreya) Buddha (nearly 27 m high) in the temple of the Maitreya , the monastery is also famed for its Grand Hall , which houses the opulent tomb (containing 85 kg of gold and masses of jewels) of the fourth Panchen Lama.




It was pretty unbelievable seeing this huge sculpture inside the chapel built for it.


The one thing I noticed with every house no matter how small or old it was was that they all had colors. Whether it was around the door trim or along the roof line every home was painted with blue, red, yellow, and green. I thought that was incredible.

Later we drove along the Lhasa River which flows through the river valley. The river was huge and eventually turned into the Brahmaputra River that flows all the way down to India. The way the Ganges mountains reflected on the river like a mirror was awesome. In places it was as still as glass and in others it rocked like the ocean. We drive back to Lhasa. We arrived at lhasa around 4 pm , and we planning visit norbulingka ( 罗布林卡国家公园）– jewel park – its was Dalai lama’s summer palace since the 7th dalai lama from the 1780s up until thePRC takeover in the late 1950s. Actually norbulingka its not in our schedule but we still have time to visit the park and we pay ticket for RMB 70 / person because we are foreigner but only RMB 2 for Tibetans . Its was quite a different experience visiting Norbulingka compared with the Potala Palace. the park is crowded with picnickers, traditional Tibetan opera performances are also held there EVEN they bring a TENT !!! maybe to enjoying the height of autumn weather I think The gardens are a favourite picnic spot in Lhasa and that time the Sho Dun festival or Yoghurt Festival but we didn’t find yoghurt shop inside hahahahaha only the colourfull flags written yoghurt festival. Walking along the road in the palace, we were amazed with the park. The park so big with several palace inside , and the weather not too hot with the chilly wind blowing, with a lot of flowers , grass . there also ZOO , yes.. inside the park there is a zoo , but the condition very bad. I think that’s a worst zoo I ever visit in china.

Day 7 - Shigatse - A Wonder In The Mountains

30 Sept 2008 - 3900m

On Tuesday , I got up around 7.00 and we left the hotel at 9 am to began the 7 hours drive from lhasa to shigatse so We will spend most of our day driving. About one and a half hours outside of Lhasa The Yarlung River.

Autumn in Tibet

Its On the old road between gyantse and lhasa , dazzling yamdrok tso lake ( 4488 m ) can be seen from the summit of the Kamba – La pass.

Yamdrok tso lake It's one of the holiest lakes in Tibet, The lake lies several hundred metres below the road and in clear weather is a fabulous shade of deep turquoise. The lake is incredibly blue and massive, making it seem like a caribbean patch of water and for several minutes I was thinking about jumping in it. Then I got out of the jeep to take a picture and realised how frigging cold it was outside.

The scenery is just spectacular. Pictures or words will never do it justice. Green mountains, rocky mountains in the distance covered with snow, fast flowing large rivers. As we climbed up the mountains a certain beloved aunt came to mind as we wound back and forth in a zig zag pattern for at least an hour.

Along the journey There many police controls around Gyantse , we must stop several times to do the paper work. We headed onto to Gyantse after 4 hours on the car , stopping for lunch along the way in a little town. We choose restaurant of Zhuang Yuan , Mr Zhuang Yuang and his wife are very keen to please. We tried they sweet and sour chicken. Delicious. After lunch we drove some more and stopped to look at a glacier at the top of a mountain. The scenery is just spectacular , pictures or words will never do it justice.

All these mountains are spectacular natural views ideal for sightseeing, exploring and conducting scientific investigations.

Where the sun hit the water it looked like turquoise with diamonds sparkling on top. With the water below, the snow covered mountains looked even brighter in the background.

along the road we could see herds of sheep, donkeys, cows, and yaks। Wild dogs also ran around freely. The donkeys and sheep hung the closest to the roads while the yak stayed secluded in the fields.

A Tibetan traffic jam!!!!

We arrived in Shigatse around 4:00 pm and our guide drop us to our hotel , given the key , we resting for a while. Around 7 pm we go out from the hotel , we found a local Tibetan restaurant to get our dinner. We meet with Tibetan children, they come with their parents to dinner but they playing downstair with us hahahahaha.

We ask them to write their name in Tibetan words,

ask them to sing Tibetan song but they don’t do it , also we playing puzzle with them.

Ge , with the girl and they Nacha Puzzle

Day 6 - Lhasa "Journey To The West"

Sept 28 2008
Lhasa - Elevation 3700m

On Monday morning we met our guide down in the lobby at 8 at the lobby , our first stop for in Lhasa – the heart and soul of Tibet - is the famous Polata palace –the winter palace of the Dalai Lama a vast white and ochre fortress soaring over one of the world’s highest cities-. We walked from our hotel to Potala Palace. It little bit col and rainy this morning but the atmosphere around Potala Palace is indescribable.

Potala Palace , It’s the centerpiece of Lhasa and also all over Tibet, Tibetans –tibet people- come inside the Potala for prayer or round the pilgrims every day.
Having been here less than 24 hours and now we must climbed all of the steps to the top , Its kill us !!!!.

I Saw so many many many many stairs along the wall to reach the mail building at the top. Its so tired , but slowly finally we reached the top
The views from the top of the palace are also spectacular as you can see all of Lhasa below with the snow capped mountains in the background.
The view from midway up the steps

Our last picture , before line up to enter the Potala Palace
After seeing many , many , many , many and many rooms to the palace and Photography is not allowed inside the chapels , we walked down from the back of the Palace.

All of the doors in the palaces have this kind of braided handle. The five colors are to represent the five elements.
Its 11 am when we finished our Potala tour , I didn’t expected my stomach began to hurt and I know I cant enjoy the journey anymore because its getting worse and worse. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Go down from Potala , we met again our guide.

We promptly stopped for lunch around Barkhor area called MAKYEAME – means beautifull woman in Tibetan language- the foods not really good , but from upstairs we can saw area around Barkhor . We ordered soups , momo (dumplings filled with vegetables or yak met) , thukpa – noodles with meat –, cha ngamo -sweet milky tea- and some India food. We there until 2 pm and thanks to God my stomach not really hurt anymore and the mlky tea was so GOOD.

Views from second floor Makyeame
Our stop is the Barkhor , is essentially a kora –pilgrim circuit- that proceeds clock wise around the periphery of the Jokhang Temple.


All along the the pilgrim circuit are shops, stalls , tea houses and hawkes. They selling so many variety , prayer flags , tibet singing bowls, Tibetan boots , nepales biscuit , yak butter , juniper incense, turquoise jewelry and prayer wheels.
There were monks , women , children sitting in the streets with beats in their hand and start to praying , and many people give them money too. It’s a very common way of praying.
The golden – roofed Jokhang Temple is 1300 years old and is TIBET’S HOLIEST SHRINE. I saw in front of the temple there were dozens of Tibetans prostrating. They had pads underneath them and they would bend to their knees, stretch out on their stomach, come back to knees, stand up with their hands together, reach their hands to the sky, and then repeat it over and over again.
Like inside the potala place no photography allowed ,Inside the temple was lit by candles, was very cozy and warm.


I feel power and spirituality from the prayes surrounding the temple. we are lines to enter each room , They praying with many ways , some of them were holding prayer wheels chanting and repeat om mani padme hum, the other people they carried yak butter to pour into the candle holders or just bring small money 1 mao to put in in the stupa. So I can saw so many money from other country , I saw money from Indonesia too.

We returned to the Hotel around 3 pm , and the rest of the day was spent in bed with watching Korean love movie as ussual a love triangle hahahaha and I trying to find way to make my stomach feel better. After slept for 2 hours, 6.30 pm we go out in the street and take some photos in front of Potala Palace AGAIN until 8 pm.

Second day in Lhasa so impressing , It’s even more impressive than it looks in pictures.