Thursday, October 10, 2024
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Today we head into the countryside west of Lhasa,
with its wandering cows (KSS) |
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| A solar farm |
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Nyegon Nunnery; note that the People's Republic of China
flag flies even over a nunnery in a small village |
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Nunnery stupa/Buddhist shrine for meditation;
the shape represents Buddha sitting in
meditation; typically stupas cannot be entered |
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The spire of the stupa is the crown, and
below is the head of Buddha where
a window is usually placed; the body would
be a vase-shape and the legs are the four steps
above the base serving as his throne |
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| Local villagers come to clean the brass butter lamps |
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| Crates of small butter lamps |
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Nyedong Nunnery Assembly Hall with the rooftop
ornaments of the Dharma wheel and pair of deer,
as well as prayer wheels on each corner (KSS) |
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| Water source at the living quarters of the nuns |
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| Textile hangings in front of the doors (KSS) |
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| Must be laundry day |
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View from the nunnery over the village, where vertical
prayer flags fly over residences, never on temples |
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Awesome infrastructure with rockfall barriers,
Jinzang Expressway/G6 Beijing-Lhasa Expressway,
and the Qinghai-Tibet Railway that is the highest
railway line in the world requiring trains specially
built for high-altitude environments |
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| Lhasa River is fed by glacial melt and summer monsoons |
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| Next stop is a local yak-herder's residence |
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| Lush dahlias |
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We gathered in a spacious "reception" room
to sample Tibetan snacks, including organic potatoes
and a wheat-based bread twist |
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Local guide Yudon shows off yak cheese
(actually dri cheese!) |
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A photo, perhaps, of the Beijing-appointed
Panchen Lama (the Panchen Lama is second
only to the Dalai Lama in Tibetan Buddhism)
and a thangka of Tsongkhapa's Refuge Tree |
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| Images in the amazing meditation room of the yak herder |
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Could be a statue of Je Tsongkhapa,
founder of the Gelug order |
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White Tara statue; even in private homes,
money is left with sacred images? |
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| Seating in the meditation room |
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| More thangkas in the meditation room |
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| Pantry? |
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| Ornamented chest for bedding (KSS) |
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| This room is where visiting monks can sleep |
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This room is where the posters
from the Chinese government are hung,
of the Communist Party chairs since Mao,
and current President Xi Jinping |
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| Calves and a yak calf on the right |
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Everyone in the neighborhood has drying yak or cow
patties, apparently mixed with straw, for winter fuel |
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| Jiangling Motors Corporation/JMC truck from China |
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| Time for our picnic lunch in Tibetan tents |
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| One tent held the buffet... |
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| ...and we ate in another tent... |
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| or al fresco by the stream that crossed the road |
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| A cow with pierced ears, both for identification and decoration |
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| Aha, the cow was waiting for the food waste bucket |
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| Large piles of cow dung fuel |
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Back in Lhasa, we had some free time
and checked out the EV charging station |
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One can also rent power banks
from a vending machine |
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| This shop is celebrating its Grand Opening |
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| Fear of God Baseball sweatshirt |
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We arrived too late to visit Ramoche Temple, the original
home of Princess Wencheng's Jowo Sakyamuni and now
home of Princess Bhrikuti's Jowo Mikyö Dorje statue |
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| Yak butter for sale |
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| Shoe store |
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Our walk to Ramoche Temple was extra long as we had
to detour around the construction on Linkuo N Road,
rather than walk straight across the street |
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| View from the Snow Heaven Hotel 7th floor coffee shop |
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Dinner was on our own this evening, and we opted to
stop at a grocery store for instant noodles and drinks,
totaling the equivalent of $2.50 |
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