The Roof of the World

I arrived in Lhasa, Tibet, along with 8 others for a bike ride from Lhasa to Kathmandu, in the late afternoon of October 10th. The  airport was surprisingly modern and orderly, especially compared to Kathmandu (pictured below--9 riders and 9 bikes trying to get checked in on an Air China flight). Lhasa makes one catch one's breath--figuratively and quite literally. I could feel the effects of the "thin" air of the high altitude within 10-15 minutes. (What have I done? I wondered.) But the fantastic beauty of the place, which I can't even really describe, made me forget, for a while at least, the shortness of breath and my slight disorientation. The sky here is intensely blue, the mountains intensely close, the sun intense--of course, with so little in the way of atmosphere! And our directive to combat the altitude illness (Lhasa is at 12,000 feet, we'll ride upwards towards 17,000--what was I thinking? I wondered) was to drink 5 liters of water per day. This is a daunting task even for me, a pretty heavy water drinker. It also means a lot of trips to the toilet, and the toilets in Tibet are an adventure in themselves. 

But they also come with some spectacular view, as the one below in the Potala Palace.

Of course the Palace itself was a wonder--also not describable or particularly capturable in photos.

It was also a humbling 1088 steps to the top, which felt like much more and had me (and the others except for our Tibetan guide) quite winded. Again, I found myself worrying, what was I thinking? This was just a short walk, though steep as you can see. But the absolute wonder of the edifice and the spirit of the place was captivating. 

Did I mention my fellow bike riders (7 men, 1 other woman) appear ALL to have significant touring experience? What was I thinking? For a moment upon arriving I felt excited. Now mostly I just feel terrified. Was it a dream I had last night that I couldn't breath or did I really wake up not being able to breathe? This will give me a great opportunity to face the demands (demons?) of my ego and the practice of eternal patience. And acceptance

But I first need to put together the bike--probably tomorrow morning (though a couple of folks have put theirs together already). I'm a little stressed (a lot actually) because the bottom of the box was open when I picked it up in Mumbai (it was upside down at the Oversize Luggage Claim area). It looked okay, but since I didn't pack it (I left it to the professionals for the very reason of safe transit), I don't know what may have been on the bottom that fell out. Hopefully nothing that can't be replaced in Lhasa. What happened in Mumbai next is a story for another blog. Today I'm really more interested relating the great experience of the Potala Palace and the Sera Monastary, the latter of which incluided the famous activity of debating Monks (all monks in Tibet appreat to be, well, Tibetan monks) which took place, not surpisingly, in the Debate Court.

The one standing asks a question of the sitting one (What is the meaning of emptiness?, for example) and the sitting one responds. They debate. Lots of yelling and hand slapping, but lots of smiling and laughing, too. It's quite fascinating, and apparently quite an old tradition.

It was humbling, intriguing, and inspiring to be in the Portala Palace and the Sera Monastary. But that discussion, on the apparent state of Tibetan Buddhism in China (just my observations), in another post, perhaps. Let's just say that when we were getting our debriefing on going to TIbet, in addition to being advised to drink 5 liters of water per day, we were also told to leave any photos of the Dalai Lama, and our "Free Tibet" t-shirts, or any other item like that, behind. 

October 11th, 2014

Namaste.