Seeking ShangriLa :: Photos :: Tibet

Lhasa, after the wild hinterlands of Kham and Amdo, was a little tame. Tourists fished for souveneirs in a sea of hammered bronze figurines and talismans (ironically, much is mass-produced in Nepal). T-shirts of the "Yak Yak Yak - Tibet" variety were in abundance. The Chinese demonstrated their cultural superiority by wearing much newly-purchased GoreTex and carrying cameras the size of small artillery pieces.

In many ways, the city was sad -- a beating Tibetan heart transplanted into a Chinese body -- everywhere the very purposeful colonization policy instituted by the Chinese Communist Party in the 60s. But the spirit, the peace I felt on the streets of Lhasa late at night circling Jokhang Temple at in the old city center -- it still holds its own in the world..
(Pics also from Ganden monastery just a 40km bike ride away! Go Felipe!)

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