On the way up we ran into a monk that Mil recognized from a previous visit. He seemed like a pleasant fellow, but I still can't get over it when a Buddhist monk whips out their cellphone - it just blows my mind.
Since this is such a holy site, there are prayer flags all over the place. As you ascend on the path there are vendors selling them so that you may hang your own. Here's an example of how many flags there are:
Mike, Mil, Renee, and I climbed to a pretty high point (although not the top) where we found the top opening to a chimney cave. It was really neat to look through the top down to the opening below, but unfortunately none of my pictures turned out. The funny thing is that Mil would like more of this sort of thing in the GAP tour, so that it would be more active. While my masculine pride would like to agree, it's a little difficult while gasping for air.
For the ride down one of the monks joined us - evidently bus service back to Lhasa is sporadic at best. The driver stopped by a stream, and he and the monk tried to wash the dust off of the bus by throwing dishes of water on it. Unfortunately the monk didn't realize that the driver left his window open, and got the driver's seat all wet.
In what's turning into a theme in Lhasa, we ended up back at the Summit Cafe after lunch. As you'd expect, it's filled with westerners and we actually struck up a conversation with a guy who's been coming to Tibet since the '80s.
It's an interesting thing about traveling - I'm grateful to see all of these places, but the more we travel the more I want to travel. I'd like to have context on these places - to see how they've changed and try to understand why.
Things that we're seeing (like glaciers, and possibly Tibetan culture) are receding, and may not last our lifetime. I can't say that it's a bad thing in all cases, but it makes me wonder what we're already too late for.
1 comment:
Buddhist monks with cell phones eh? Here in SF I saw a Franciscan monk at an ATM in a Starbucks.
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