The morning rain cast an eerie and mystery atmosphere in the air. But this never dampened the mood of worshippers going to Potala Palace. Mostly made up of elderly, worshippers were walking towards Potala Palace from all corners of Lhasa. Even though we had no idea how to get to Potala Palace from our hotel, it wasn’t hard to find out the direction. Simply follow the locals with prayer wheels in their hands. It was like following the current of a river.
However, we regretted following these people. It is their tradition to walk around the palace in a clockwise manner. As such, we took a longer route to the entrance of the palace. Along the main road facing the front of the palace, devoted worshippers prostrated in prayers, even though the ground was wet. These worshippers were mainly elderly, and their devotion sort of created a sacred aura around the place. I wonder where are the young people in this city? Have they abandoned this tradition completely?
Potala Palace was situated on a hill and inevitably we had to climb that hill in order to enter the once politically significant landmark. Climbing in Tibet is never an easy chore. We were slightly breathless by the time we reached the entrance. Frankly speaking, I was disappointed when we entered the palace. The palace was just a magnificent empty shell in my eyes. Not that there was nothing inside the Palace. It was just that the inside was very rundown and poorly maintained. The scriptures, statues and ornaments undoubtedly are invaluable. But the manner in which they showcased these treasures was unimaginably amateur. I cannot believe that the 100rmb entrance we paid (which was the highest fee we had to pay so far for a place of interest) can only produce such mediocre standard of tourist attraction.
The rooms that were available for visiting were all similar. Each room had a tomb and seat of a particular Dalai Lama, some scriptures and statues. There were hardly any descriptions, only boards with dry information on the pillars. Compared to the palaces and castles I visited in Europe, this Potala was nothing but more than an exhibition site.
We were soon overwhelmed by boredom and left the place. My advice is that this place is not worth visiting. But I know no matter what, people would still go there. On the way we met one of the cyclists whom we acquainted in 染乌镇. This is one thing I like about traveling, esp. backpacking. Coincidences occur more frequently abroad as proven also during my stay in France.
As I mentioned before, Lhasa is filled with beggars of all ages. We encountered a child (can’t tell if it was a girl or boy), around age 6. He had long uncut hair and like other Tibetan kids, had a muddy face. The moment he saw the group of us, he ran towards me and tried to pull my hand, asking for $. We walked as fast as possible trying to shake off his pursue. The boy gave up eventually and went on to pester other passersby. I turned around and looked at the boy as I was curious how other people would react. They gave him some money and the next thing I saw was the boy running towards two women sitting on the street. He passed the money to them and ran off to pester more people. The two women counted the money with grins on their faces.
True enough, the beggars were very irritating but we can’t really blame the children. What about the 2 adults? Can we blame them? Who are we to say that the two women were being selfish by turning the child into a money-begging machine? I was deeply disturbed by the sight and was in a pensive mood for the rest of the day.
We went around looking for bookstores hoping to get some books on Tibet. JH bought a travelogue while I grabbed a book called 西藏生死之书, The Tibetan Book of Life and Death. It is not entirely a religious book. I have read it before 2 years ago and find it interesting when it talks about Death as something inevitable and natural. Something we shouldn’t make a big fuss about – provided that we are spiritually prepared. I guess it is one of those kinds of book whereby I have to re-read several times to fully understand.
We spent our last night in Tibet chatting in the hotel and watching 超级女生. This 16 days of traveling experience on jeep is something that would stay with me for a long time. Tomorrow we will fly back to Chengdu; back to civilization.
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