Now that I've had my political rant, let me tell you what I've been up to.
Neither words nor pictures can express how awsome Tibet is because it is also a place of smells and sounds. Today was my last day in Lhasa, so I took the most sacred of holy walks, that being around the Jokhang Temple in the middle of the Tibetan town. It was a rainy morning, cold, so at 8am I was the only westerner with a flock of Tibetan pilgrams, equipped with their prayer wheels and hot flasks of yak wax to keep the candles burning. It was so smoky in the Jokhang that it was sometimes difficult to breathe, but listening to a fold of monks chanting the morning mantras, and lining up with the locals to pay my respects to the main buddha - Suryamuni - made up for the lack of air.
Yesterday I went to the beautiful Potala Palace, home of my main man the Dalai Lama. It was wonderful to be there just knowing the age of the place and that it is so special to Tibetans. Unfortunately you have to look past the terrible propaganda of how the Chinese liberated Tibetans from slavery blah blah, plus the very annoying Chinese tour groups that screech over the silence, to enjoy the place. I don't mean to be racist but again, they shouldn't be here. And it's ironic that these people are so enjoying a place that they have tried to tear down, enjoying the home of someone they won't recognise.
So my internet time is up - I'll leave it at that. I'm off to sacred Mt Kailash (7000m +) for 12 days tomorrow, then to Kathmandu. Here we come Nepal!
Quit work, come to beautiful Tibet.
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