Our trip to the Potala :)

Yet another scenic view of the Potala...and the fabulous Tibetan sky :)


We had to book our ticket a day in advance and then arrive a half hour before the time specified on the ticket (why they don't mark the ticket a half hour earlier and tell us to come on time I don't know :). When we had booked our ticket we were asked for our passports - that was the first time we have ever had to produce passports to enter a tourist sight! When we showed up to go in the next day we couldn't get in through the door without again showing our passports and then we were sent to the x-ray machine to have our bags scanned. This was all very strange for a tourist sight, we usually only have the bags x-rayed at the train station. There was no queue, it was just us.

Once you get in the gate you are in the Shol Village at the base of the Potala. This used to be a pretty dodgy section of town - it's where the red light district was. Now it's newly restored showing...not very much. The sign says that there are cultural restorations and administrative buildings but it's pretty dead and the one building we tried to go into was in the final stages of construction and didn't contain any of the items that the sign said it contained.

We navigated ourselves using these helpful signs :)


The view of the Potala from the village...


As we walked through the Shol Village to get to the stairs....


Then it was up up up with the occasional bench to rest your tired lungs (definitely necessary at this altitude :)





Here we are on our way up (you can tell the lack of oxygen is affecting our brains - we were (well A was :) very silly!



There are no photos allowed inside the palace, not even from the roof outside, so you guys will have to make do with only exterior shots, sorry. The inside was amazing - so much gold!!!! (If you want more info and links to pictures, go to the bottom of the post - am I good to you guys, or what? :) We went through these doors and then put the cameras away...

Door edging, Tibetan style :)


The main door...


The drum at the top of the stairs as we entered the courtyard.


Here are some Potala Views (the best ones, just for you :)





This is the People's Park from the Potala (we already gave you the Potala from People's Park :). In the foreground is the Shol Village....with the strangely uniform rooftops. I would like to know what it looked like when it was still a village...


There were quite a lot of workers moving around while we were there, carrying heavy loads up and down the stairs.




When we exited the palace we got the cameras out again - here is the door as you exit :)


This is me sitting outside the back gate surveying the scene for our ride the next day :)


This is the backside of the Potala...


Burial Stupa information
Buddha Statue infor
Portrait of the Qing Emperor








Now, it't time to say how weird it was. A combination temple and museum. The place is empty except for tourists and security people. The monks that work there (some seemed like security - they were in the rooms making sure that the tourists behaved - e.g. gave the appropriate respect to the Buddhas) are not allowed to wear their monks robes, they wear regular Tibetan clothing. But they do chant their mantras and you can tell they are monks. The security people were both in uniform and in street clothes...but you could tell they were security (and they were not Tibetans). Much of the place is not open to visitors, but the main temples and halls are as are the rooms where the burial stupas are and the residence rooms of the current Dalai Lama...he left behind his alarm clock (understandably, it's huge :). We had mixed feelings as we left. We much preferred the Jhokang and we want to go back...but we have seen enough of the Potala.