First Day in Lhasa

Published on July 8, 2007 in Tibet

We awoke early in the morning to the loud sound of cars – but easily ignored them to get a few more minutes of sleep. At 9:00am we went to breakfast around the corner from the hotel – a pseudo-Chinese breakfast place. Next we wandered to the Potala Palace to stand in line and buy our tickets. The sun was blaringly intense; any minute without sunscreen would be one minute towards a burn. After a few minutes of waiting Mei and Kwon returned from buying train tickets. The line was massive, it stretched down a wall and out into the open. Luckily we were able to find shade.

After buying tickets we walked all the way to the bus station and inquired bus tickets to Shigatse, a small city West of Lhasa. We were told to simply buy the next day.

Near the bus station is a Muslim lunch place, where I had some spicy beef noodles for a mere 75c. If you are under 18, maybe don't read this part. After lunch I needed to utilize a restroom, however the restaurant didn't have one. I walked out the restaurant and around the corner, through a little store, up two flights of stairs, and finally into a hallway. In the hallway was the bathroom. The toilets were simple a long trough that you straddled. No water, no door. I hath overcome one of my traveling limits.

After the bathroom we wandered across the street to the Tibet History Museum. The museum was overall decent, however the Chinese-influenced propaganda was almost offensive. Things seemed to be accurate until near the cultural revolution, and then information was highly skewed. What is a good example? There was a framed letter to the DL from Mao. Below the letter, which was dated just before the Red Guard marched into Tibet, it said: “here is evidence that Mao cared deeply about the well-being of the Tibetan People and their culture,” or something like that.

The museum exists through a huge shopping area allowing you to purchase replicas of what was just seen, but after getting un-lost we entered the warm Tibet sun.

We took the bus back to our hotel and wandered through the market nearby. The square is quite impressive, although you could almost feel the dreary history on the bricks. Police were everywhere.

Our late dinner was had across the street at a little hole-in-the-wall eatery – well, it was an on-street vendor. Over the next few days we ate from this lady over and over. While the cleanliness could be questioned, the food was spectacular. So, what was it? The lady took a flat piece of circle bread and spread a bunch of chili sauce over it. She then took this watery cheese and placed it on top, then dropped a tad bit of sugar on top. Yum.

By 18:00 we sat in our room chatting, left to eat some food at a local Tibetan restaurant , then came back and chatted some more. To help us adjust to the altitude we quickly fell asleep.

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