Saturday
We left the house at 6:00am this morning and arrived in Lhasa at 3:00 this afternoon. As soon as we got off the plane we could tell a difference in the altitude. Just walking up the ramp took a lot of energy. Lhasa sits in the high dessert at 11,482 feet above sea level. We just came from sea level. Give me my oxygen!!! We were greeted at the airport by our driver and guide and then drove 1.5 hours to our hotel. The hotel is very nice and there is a very diverse hotel staff….Chinese, Tibetan, and Indian. (Note: the border from India to Tibet was opened about one year ago for business people.)
Hotel lobby
ork in the hotel
We went outside the hotel for dinner…Tim and I had yak barley soup, yak dumplings, naan (flat bread) and Abi had pizza. We thought the soup was going to have barley in it….but it turns out they grind up barley to make flour and add that to the soup. It was not my favorite but the yak meat was good. Barley flour is one of the major farm crops for this region of Tibet.
Dinner....yak dumplings, naan (flat bread) barley flour soup
Abi's dinner...thank goodness for cheese pizza After dinner we walked through a market that surrounds the Jokhang temple. We saw many many many people walking around the temple with prayer wheels and praying in front of the temple. Praying is a very physical activity here. They start in a standing position, then kneel, then lay flat with their faces to the ground and then stretch their arms out in front of them and then raise their hands over their heads. Then they stand up and repeat this as many times as they can. I was impressed with the faithfulness of the people. Many people visit the temple two or three times a day…..they walk around the outside of the temple carrying prayer wheels, prayer beads, and chanting as they walk. We were fascinated by the people.
The Market
More of the market
Market street
Beautiful windows in the market area
First impressions of Tibet
Slightly depressing…Is this Tibet or China? There are a lot of political and cultural issues involving Tibet and China. Tibet is one of five autonomous regions of China. I can see that their values and cultures clash in many ways. There is also a clash of….”to develop or not to develop” and environmental issues that are causing a lot of tension.
High altitude sickness
We were told that we needed to take it easy the first two days of our trip so we could acclimate to the high altitude. We are all experiencing some of the symptoms. What are symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS)?....headache, dizziness, lethargy, loss of appetite, nausea, breathlessness and irritability. (Remind me again why I wanted to come here?)What helps AMS? Drink lots of water, keep activities to a minimum, eat light – high-carbohydrate foods for energy, avoid alcohol and sedatives, and try to rest.
Sunday
Our headaches continue and Abi has a very bad sore throat. The dryness in the air is very noticeable. My mouth and nose were very dry when I woke up this morning. (Tim has had several nose bleeds.) We had buffet breakfast with Advil this morning.
We visited the Jokhang Temple Monastery this morning and then climbed to the top of the Potala Palace. The Palace was the winter palace of the Dalai Lama and the central administration of Tibet until the invasion of China (1959) when the Dalai Lama fled to India disguised as a farmer. The Palace was built in the 7th century and symbolizes Tibetan Buddhism. The Palace is built on the side of a mountain and it took us great effort to climb the 347 steps. We were all wheezing for air as we climbed to the top.
A nun in the temple lighting and taking care of thousands of butter lamps. The pilgrims burn yak butter lamps to pay homage to Buddha. Some of them bring their own yak butter with them from their farms.
Pilgrims praying in front of the temple...the smoke is from incenses that are burning in big clay things that look like ovens
Pilgrims walking around the temple....they always walk in a clockwise direction. They chant and spin prayer wheels as they walk.
Beautiful columns inside the temple
Tim and Deb inside the Jokhang monastery
There are several common Tibetan symbols that appear on the walls of every temple and monastery. There eight sacred Emblems of Buddhism...we found them everywhere.....these were in the temple. 
Umbrella....It is the token of royalty and symbolizes the protection of the Dharma (faith)
Golden fish.....As water allows fish to swim freely, so Buddhist belief emancipates the soul. They symbolize spiritual liberation.
Vase...It is used as a storage urn or a scared receptacle and thus symbolizes hidden treasures.
Lotus flower....as the flower rises from muddy roots, so Nirvana arses from this shabby world and symbolizes purity.
Conch shell...Used in Buddhist worship as a trumpet or offertory vessel it symbolizes the spoken word.
Endless Knot....An auspicious geometric diagram; it symbolizes the unity of all things and the illusory character of time.
Banner of Victory...A unique Buddhist object, the cylindrical layered banner symbolizes victory over ignorance and death.
Dharma wheels....Represents the unity of all things and symbolized Sakyamuni (the future Buddha) himself
The rams are a symbol of Buddha
The private home of the Brahma Lama (1st in charge under the Dalai Lama) when he visits Lhasa. The Brahma Lama currently lives in Beijing.
More Pilgrims
Monks residence on the second floor. The opening in the floor (on the right) holds hundreds of prayer wheels.
The walls (brown curtains) in the temple are make out of yak hair. Yak hair is water proof and stands up the to harsh weather in Tibet.
View of the Potala Palace from the temple
Potala Palace....this was the administrative building for the Tibet government while under the direction of the Dalai Lama...this was before 1959. It is going to soon be turned into a museum.
Abi and I on our hike to the top of the Palace
Pilgrims outside the Palace 
Prayer wheels at the Palace
Abi turning the prayer wheels....they must be turned in a clockwise direction.
What I have learned
Buddhism is a very complicated religion and there are many Gods to worship. And there are many many statues of these Gods in the Monasteries. The Potala Palace has tens of thousands of Buddhist statues.
We had yak again for lunch and ate dinner in a restaurant over looking the marketplace. We watched several vendors take down their yarn shops and watched the people in the square. We continue to see pilgrims everywhere. The pilgrims come from miles outside of Lhasa. They come to the temple by foot. They make their way by taking one step, kneeling, lying flat, and sliding forward on their hands. Then they stand up and do it again. They have small wooden blocks on their hands to protect their skin from the road. Again I am impressed by their faith. Our guide said that if he did not have time to make a trip like this to the temple he could give money to one of the pilgrims and it would be the same as if he had taken the trip himself. Hmmmmm…
Yak butter for sale in the market 
Tea for sale...
Barley and other grains in many different stages
Veggies in the market
More tea
and more tea....
Children at the market
Tim and Abi at dinner overlooking the market place.
Monday
The head aches continue but we are doing much better. We drove 2 hours up a switch back hill today to reach the Ganden Monastery. This Monastery is 14,763 feet above sea level. We toured the Monastery and then hiked around the back side of the hill. It was beautiful and the hike was a great change from looking at Buddha statues. The weather was perfect and we saw more pilgrims walking around the “holy hill” praying and giving offerings to the Gods. One of the pilgrims was singing as he walked. It was wonderful to sit on the hill and hear his music. At the top of the hill is a sky burial. When someone dies the body is kept at the home for three days. Then the body is given to the “professional” to be taken to the sky burial. The body is “disassembled” (this is the niceness way I could think to describe this) and placed in the sky burial as an offering to the birds. The bones are mashed and offered first and then the rest of the body is offered. The family can not go to the sky burial because if they cry, their tears will mean bad luck in the afterlife.
Scenery on the way to the monastery...the trees are starting to change color and they were beautiful with the mountains in the background.
More beautiful scenery
Farmers home
On our way back to the city we saw many villages harvesting and thrashing barley. We stopped at one village to take pictures of the people thrashing the barley. This was a very labor intensive process....
The dust in this picture is caused by the thrashing.....
These ladies were baging the barley after it was seperated
This person is carring the barley stocks from the field to where they are thrashing
We continued our trip around a large mountain...at this point we could see the Ganden Monastery at the top of the "holy mountiain". There was a protest at this monastery about two months ago and several monks were killed. Before we reached the buildings we passed an army camp. We were told that the soilders were dressed in civilian clothes so they would not "stand out" for the tourists. We were asked not to photograph the army camp.
Monastery buildings....all built into the side of the mountain. There is a very large government building under construction right next to this monastery. The monastery is out in the middle of nowhere....It seems like an odd place for a government facility.
Door into the living area of the monks
The gray line is the road that leads to the monastery....Yikes!!!
More monestery buildings
Prayer flags at the top of the trail...they were beautiful against the blue sky
Abi in front of the prayer flags....you walk through these flags to get to the trail.
This is what you see as soon as you go through the flags....it was amazing 
Trail to the sky burial....this is a very "holy" place...
Abi and I on the trail
More trail
more prayer flags
Abi and Deb on the trail
Tim and Deb on the trail....in the background you can see the valley floor
Pilgrams on the trail
A monk at the edge of the mountain
Another monk walking the trail on the "holy" mountain
The valley
Abi.....hiking queen
Abi listening to the music from the nomad and enjoying the view from the mountain
Tim and Deb on the trail
carvings in the stones
More stone carvings
Pilgrams returning to the monastery after their journey around the mountain
Back to the monastery and back down the switch back "hill".
We stopped beside a small creek to have lunch. Our lunch was a “boxed lunch” and we were all wondering what it might be. It turned out to be very good. ”.
We each had a chicken leg, a piece of fried bread with meat and onions cooked inside it, a hard boiled egg, a cooked potato, 3 small tomatoes, a piece of naan, a banana, an apple, and a cookie thing make out of yak cheese. It was way more food than any of us could possible eat but we enjoy the interesting food and the bananas and apples were “just right We were very surprised and greatful that our box lunch was so good.
Lunch visitors
Yak-ity-yak...don't talk back!
When we got back to Lhasa we went to a rug factory. It was very small but offered both yak rugs and lambs wool rugs. Their prices were very good so I am thinking about “procuring” one (or three :) ). Shipping costs to Shanghai is very inexpensive and only takes 10 days for delivery if the rug is already made.
Rug factory.....the weavers were....out to lunch...
This paper has the design printed on it for the weavers
We were very tired when we got back to our hotel and were ready for a rest and shower before going to dinner. We got to our room and our key would not open the door. The electronic key worked but the door still would not open. After a series of conversations, and many people trying the door, we had 7 people standing around trying to figure out how to open the door. At one point they were going to climb through the window of the room beside ours. We figured it was going to take a while to get this problem fixed so we went for a massage.
The massage was less then relaxing….between laughing because it tickled and crying because it hurt....I was happy to have it over. They got our room open just in time for us to go to dinner. No shower….just comb the hair and put on some lip gloss.
The three of us in the hotel lobby waiting for our guide...
Decorations in the hotel...
Dinner was a buffet for the tourists. The food was fair and the beer was warm. We sampled Tibetan drinks….barley beer and butter tea. Barley beer tastes like lemon aid….that was a surprise. Butter tea tastes like hot water with yak butter melted in it. Not my favorite. After dinner we watched a dance demonstration representing several different villages in Tibet. We were happy to get back to the hotel….it had been a long day and we were very tired. But….guess what???....our door would not open again!!!!! AAARRRGGGG!!!! After several more conversations they got our door open (about 45 minutes later) and we went to bed.
Abi and Tim at dinner 
Tibetan dancers
Is the room spinning???? I know I did not drink that much beer! The dancers were on the move around the dinning room.
Abi's dinner plate....rice, rice, and more rice...
Tuesday
Today was a very long day…. We left our hotel at 8:30am this morning and we have been driving all day. We are supposed to visit two cities in addition to Lhasa. We were supposed to leave Lhasa today and drive over two mountain passes to the first city, Gyantse. However, one of the roads over the mountain passes was closed so we had to go a different route. We did not understand how long the “different route” was going to be. So….we went up a mountain on a very narrow switchback road and then we came back down the same mountain on the same narrow road (I am not sure if it was worse going up or coming down). Then we drove past the second city we will visit and finally arrived at Gyantse at 6:30 this evening. Tomorrow we will travel back the same route we came…oh goodie!!! We are so happy to be at our hotel tonight…well…we are happy to be out of the car…the hotel is a little questionable.
As we were leaving Lhasa our driver told us we were going to have a lucky day. Why? Because a truck just passed us going the opposite direction carrying a body for the sky burial. Yikes!!! A special flag is placed on the "transport vehicle" identifying it. Okay....we can us all the luck we can got as we travel through Tibet.
Scenery along the road to the lake
dessert flowers
high dessert flowers
The mountain pass was very beautiful. When we reached the top of the mountain we could see 360 degrees and at the bottom of the mountain was an incredibly beautiful lake. Our guide told us that it is a salt lake. He also said that people say you can touch the sky when you reach the top of this mountain. Tibet is known as the “Roof of the World”. I think it is true….the altitude was 16,250 feet ASL. Just for a frame of reference for those of you that live in the Pacific Northwest….Mt. Hood is about 11,000 feet ASL. The air was very thin….and we could see much taller mountains all around us. WOW!!!!
The Spofford's touch the sky!!!
Abi and Deb goofing around.....Yipee!! We reached the top of the world and we can touch the sky!!
On the way down the mountain we stopped at a farm house to take some pictures of the fields. The family invited us into their home and offered for us to take pictures of them for a small “donation”. We visited with them for a while and took some pictures…..it was very very interesting. 
Eldest son of the family
Eldest son's wife
Grandma
She was soooooo cute
Tea pot heating area
yak cheese drying in the sun
Patio????
We drove and drove and drove and finally we arrived at our hotel. Tim and I went for a short walk around “the hood”. It looked just like the streets of Shanghai…..Our guide said tomorrow we will see a real Tibetan village….I hope so after this very long day of driving.
We followed the river most of the day....we stopped for lunch and sat on a small cliff over looking the river.
Tim and Abi eating lunch...on the opposite side of this road was another rock cliff going up the mountain. At the top of the cliff was another village. This village "specialized" in growing peaches. We sampled some and they were delicious. They were only the size of apricots but they were wonderful
About the roads….I was very nervous today as we were driving. The style of driving in Tibet is the same as in China…..no real rules…this means no rules about passing on corners or even passing while two other cars are passing each other….it is true…at one point there was a tractor, a large dump truck, and us…..all traveling in one direction on a two lane highway. There have been so many traffic accidents that the Chinese government has placed check points along the road to enforce speed control. ….every car must register at every check point. If you arrive at the next check point sooner than you should…..you have to go back to the previous check point. This seems like a good plan, but what we saw was that, if the drivers arrive earlier than they should just pull over to the side of the road until the appropriate time as elapsed. Knowing that speed control is an issue was very unnerving but they also had very graphic pictures at each check point of accidents that have happened on that section of road. As we got farther away from Lhasa the roads got worse….large chunks of asphalt had been cut out of the road. There were no warnings or cones to mark the holes so our driver had to watch for the holes and swerve around them.
My embarrassing moment for the week (at least I hope it is the only one)
Lets talk toilets….When you get outside of any major city in China, and often even in the cites, public toilets are ….well…just really nasty. Abi and I call them “squatty potties”…and some flush but most do not, they are just trenches. Some have walls and doors and some do not. If you do not know what a “squatty potty” is….it is a hole in the floor. Now hold that thought…. There are no public toilets where we traveled today. Okay…that’s fine….I have been backpacking before….no problem….I know how to hide behind a bush and take care of business. Apparently bushes are not required in China/Tibet because we saw a tour bus pulled over on the side of the road and everyone was “taking care of business” right in the open. Well…..I want a bush!!! We were going over a lot of bumps and I was starting to think about bushes. However….the road we traveled today was mostly a cliff to the river on one side and a cliff to the sky on the other side. We stopped a couple of times but ….there were no bushes….we have a male driver and guide and there were other cars on the road. By this point however…. I would have been fine with a little bit of tall grass or a big rock…no such luck. We reached our next check point and guess what…at public WC (Toilet). I know it is going to be nasty but I really need to go. With tissues in hand and 1 yuan to pay the “toll keeper” I head into the WC. Relief is at hand….hold your nose and do your business. The WC was a cement box (without a door) with a trench running through the middle of it. It had three “stalls” with walls that came about 6 inches above my knees. Only high enough to hide behind while in the “squatting” position. Lucky for me no one else was in the WC at that time. I am trying not to breathe and get my business done. I look up and see that a Chinese tour bus is sitting outside the WC and they can see straight into where I am. I have two choices….crawl out of the short “stall” and try to pull my pants up while hugging the front wall to the WC or stand up and give everyone a show…and of course…they were watching. Give me a break!! A few swear words popped into my head….Okay…if they are going to watch…I will just give them a show. I stood up, pulled up my pants, and stepped out of the stall to the front wall of the WC. They can no longer see me. As I am still holding my breath and planning my next move I realize that my pants are wet. I am not kidding….my handy wipes leaked in my back pocket so now it looks like I peed on my pants. Just Great!!! I am now the Westerner who gave a show to the tour bus AND can’t use a squatty potty without peeing on her pants. I am not leaving the WC until the bus leaves. I am holding my breath…hugging the front wall of the WC…waiting for the bus to leave….Finally…God has mercy…the bus leaves and I have a clear shot back to our van. I step out of the WC, take a big breath of fresh air and walk as fast as I can to our van. As I am half way to our van I notice that the bus is still in the parking lot waiting to enter the highway. Now everyone on the bus can see the wet spot on my pants as I walk to our van. More swear words pop into my head. God has mercy but I think he also has a warped sense of humor. Next time I am going on the side of the road…bushes or not…I mean what could be the worst that could happen???....a tour bus drives by????
Our hotel in Gyantse
The room had a lot of character....that's about all I can say about the hotel..
Wednesday
None of us slept very well last night. I think we are all suffering from the dryness of this area especially during harvest season…sore throats and stuffy noses. Breakfast was a buffet of semi-nasty foods…Abi ate peanuts and cold French fries. The tea was good and we had many cups…watch out bushes!!! We toured Gyantse…saw another Monastery (this one was very impressive because it was the original…built in the 1400s and was not destroyed by the Chinese because they used it for a storage facility. Then we walked through the Tibetan village. It was really fun to see and the lifestyle of the Tibetan people. They are very very hard workers.
Then we drove another 2 hours back to Xigatse….checked into our new hotel (which is very decent) and went to lunch. We met another couple from Shanghai and had a nice visit with them. After lunch….guess what????....we visited another Monastery. This one was special because it has the largest Buda in all of Tibet….I think it was three floors tall. Parts of this Monastery were also original from the 1400’s.
Then shopping in the “Tibetan Market” which looked just like the markets in Shanghai…very disappointing. Abi had fun buying more beads.
We are back at the hotel for a couple hours before dinner. Tim is reading his book and Abi found an Internet café in the hotel.
We have lots of pictures to upload to the blog but I think it will be too slow to do that from here. Stay tuned….
Some interesting things about Tibetan culture….While we were driving yesterday we asked about the typical Tibetan family and village culture. Here are some interesting cultural things…Most Tibetans are either nomads or farmers. They work very hard and are very happy people. They are Buddhist and are very faithful and live for the afterlife not this life. Each village has a headman that reports to the regional government official. The father is the head of the household but the mother is also respected. The father and mother choose the spouse for their children. The children do not date or have boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. They just get married. The girl is usually 15 and the boy is usually 18. It is the responsibility of the father to provide a dowry for all his daughters. If he has many daughters he will be very poor. Since China has taken control of the country they are only allowed to have two children. If the family has many sons (current days this would be two at most) they share one wife. Yikes!!! When she gets pregnant the child will call only the oldest son “father”. If the family has girls they can choose to keep the daughters for farm workers or pay another family to take her as a wife. If she marries to another village she will leave her village and usually return only one time per year. Wow!!! The girls are educated until they can read and write and then they stop going to school so they can do chores for the family. They must wear long skirts, long sleeved shirts, and button up collars. (We were told that wearing shorts was not acceptable in Tibet….our guide also told us that short sleeves are also considered pretty “racy”) I am very happy I was not born a Tibetan girl. Their lives are very hard and they have no say in what happens to them. Some families are starting to change this by letting the children leave the farm/nomad life and go to the cities. The families fear that the children will never come back to the village.
Well off to another hard twin bed for the night… Next update will include pictures but will probably be from Shanghai.
Pango Chorten (oversized chorten of 100,000 images) This building has 72 chapels....each is a small room with a buddha statue or painting of a statue. The pilgrams go to each chapel to pray.
Prayer wheels
The doors into the chapels were very ....short!!
head knockers for the Spoffords
Artwork in the chapel
We climbed to the top of the Chorten on very narrow steep stairs and then steep ladders
View of the fortress from the top of the chorten.....see the fort on the top of the mountain
Farm land in the valley
The face of the Chorten
Monks home
hundreds of prayer wheels
Old gate in the town
Tibetan village street
Farm home....notice the round decorations on the walls......they are cow pies. The farmers collect them and dry them on their walls. They are used to insulate their homes and as fire "wood".
Fancy door
Beautiful windows
Milking the cow
Darling little girl we met in the village
More cute kids
Kids playing together
Another cutie peeking out the door
Abi and Tim in the village
Watering the flowers in the window box
Fortress walls
Water mill......used to grind the barley into flour 
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