quimbyd

"Life is what happens, not what happens to you."

Steph Nelson

Female

Seattle, Washington, USA

About quimbyd

Member since 25th Jul 07

Activity : photos (2) forum (0) guide (0) blog (6) diary (0) trips (1)

Latest Blog Entry

The Tibetan Plateau, Lhasa, Giantse and Shigatse

Posted by quimbyd | 24th August 2007

I've landed in Shigatse, China (really, it's Tibet).

It has been a whirlwind these past two weeks, with little access to internet or so many sights to see that I've just been on traveller's sightseeing overload. Ugggh. If I see one more monastery...sadly, will be seeing another tomorrow morning. It's like art museums or churches when you're travelling. After awhile, they all start to look the same.

Just got here after spending 4 nights in Lhasa, Tibet. I was actually pretty shocked at how westernized it was considering it wasn't even open to the world 100 years ago. This was the one place where I was truly saddened by the suffocation of the Tibetan culture by the Chinese. Even the great monuments like the Potala Palace (where the Dalai Lama would live if he was in Tibet), modern buildings were built right on top of it. And to have monks actually say to you that in a perfect world they would prefer not to have tourists enter their sanctuary, but they have to because of the Chines

Continued | Going to Meet the Buddha