Tibet - part I

I've arrived in Tibet.

A holy site that many Buddhists dream about visiting, a city that for centuries was closed to outsiders, and a location so high up into the Himalayan mountains that it's referred to as the roof of the world.

In Tibet, I'm standing in Lhasa, the capital city. My housemate Natalie booked this trip for herself months ago, and at the last minute I decided to take some holiday and join her. It was tough to get everything sorted in time, but we're finally here, in Tibet!

Monks

A Tibetan Monk.

This one is from the Sera Monastery, part of the Dalai Lama's school of Buddhism

With deep red flowing robes, short or shaven hair, with prayer beads in their hands, they look like you'd expect Monks to look.

25 monks, sitting on white stones, surrounded by many large green trees that provide shade to the monks and tourists alike, we are all sitting in this small courtyard within the Sera monastery, waiting for the debating to begin.

There's a lot that Western education could learn from these Tibetan monks. Many of these monks spend their lifetime to achieve enlightenment and debating is one of the methods of learning to help them fully understand the reasoning behind the text that they're studying. It's a much deeper and interactive level of learning. The process is designed to ensure their study isn't just theoretical and memorise/regurgitate, but is really understood and encourages retentive learning. One book I read says that there is a saying "Are you learning in your books or in your head?"

However there were a few suprises. The monks push each other a little, sometimes knocking the other onto the ground, while they emphasis their points by clapping loudly. I imagined Buddhist monks to be peaceful, not playfighting, detaing, smiling and laughing. It made them seem strangely normal, and I respect them even more for this. However if you contrast this to their leader the Dalai Lama (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama), I wonder what would happen if he behaved like this in front of the world's leaders and the UN?! Would anything change? Probably not.

It was also suprising to see monks with Nike sandals, silver watches and mobile phones.

However these monks really do seem to lve simple lives. Whle wandering through a sunny inner courtyard surrounded by the monk's living quarters, we found that their bedrooms are no more than 6 foot by 8 foot. Half of the room is taken up by a roll mat/mattress, with the other half containing a chair and desk, full of books and papers for theri Buddhist studies. Also we saw 3 monks hand washing their feet and clothes in buckets with cold water from an outside tap. So if anyone ever tells you Tibetan monks are spoilt and rich, then while it's possible that some are, the majority liver very simple, but meaningful lives.

Altitude

At over 3,500m above sea level, Lhasa (the capital) is high up. With less air and a lower oxygen level if makes breathing difficult and thins the blood. You end up breathing more often and much deeper to compensate for this, and we're both a little tired from the lower oxygen getting to our system.

Additionally, you end up drinking much more water (4-6 litres per day) and pee even more often than usual, and you have to be careful about the sun, because although it isn't that hot (low 20s celcius), we're closer to the sun with less atmosphere to protect us so it's much easier to burn.

With 36 hours gone in the capital of Tibet so far, it is an amazingly beautiful and peaceful city. If you learn a little of the language :) then the locals are really kind and friendlty. I have another 7 days left to travel in Lhasa and around Tibet, and I already love it here.

From Tibet with Love...