Day 7 - Deprung and Sera Monasteries

I have been trying to learn a few phrases in Tibetan. Hello, good-bye, and thank you are the only ones I will really memorize. I have a phrase book for anything else. I use these phrases at the restaurants and monasteries. I noticed that they would giggle every time I used a Tibetan phrase. Maybe it’s my accent?!?

We got an earlier start today. We left at 10:00 for Deprung monastery. It is second only to the Potala in importance. Before the Potala was built, the Dollie (Dalai) Lama used to live here. The sect of Buddhism that the Dalai Lama belongs to was started here. At one time there were more than 10,000 monks living here. Now there is less than a thousand. This was the first monastery that we could take picture (for a price). I paid 20 yuan and thought it was for all of the chapels. It was just for the one we were in. Each chapel had a charge. I paid in two other chapels because they were just too beautiful not to photograph. In the first chapel I got our first picture of a monk. Our guide asked if we could take his picture. When we were finished touring the chapels, we went to the great assembly hall. Outside there was a monk debating in front of a group of monks. We got some good pictures and video. The monk that was debating was making kung-fu moves and clapping his hands when he finished making his point. Our guide Ten Zin video taped this for us. He has taken a liking to that video camera and enjoys taking our pictures for us. The only thing I worry about is that he moves the camera quite quickly.

Deprung Monastery 

Monk at Deprung Monastery 

Debating Monk at Deprung 

We were taken back to the hotel to get some rest. Kim was having a hard time towards the end of the tour. She wanted to get some rest. We were not going to be picked up until 3:00, so we had some time to kill. Kim took a nap and I went out to explore. One of my tour books had a walking tour leading into the Muslim Quarter. There is a small Muslim community in Lhasa and I wanted to see it. I toured a small monastery and saw some streets that were not on the tourist map. It was cool to see where and how they lived. When I got to their markets, there was a huge contrast between the traditional products, meat and produce, and shops with CD’s, DVD’s, and electronic appliances. These stores or booths would be right next to each other. I wonder how all of this technology has changed their lives. It was strange to see an old woman in traditional clothing using a cell phone. I stopped and watched a group of people working construction on a new building. There was very little equipment. All of the earth moving and construction was done by hand.

We were taken to Sera monastery next. It is the monastery next in line in importance after Deprung. The highlight of the tour was the large courtyard where most of the monks were debating. Unlike Deprung where there was one monk debating, there were dozens debating. They were using the same kung-fu moves. It felt a little surreal looking at these monks debating without paying attention to the dozens of tourists photographing and watching them. Ten Zin asked us if we wanted a photograph with a monk. It turns out that his brother is a monk at this monastery. However, he was not at the assembly hall today. I think it would have been cool to get a picture with him.

Sera Monastery 

Debating Monks at Sera 

Kim wasn’t feeling good, so she came back and took a nap. I worked on yesterday’s blog. We were scheduled for a dinner show with traditional Tibetan dancing. When I gotKim up to get ready, she vomited. Somehow I always thought it would be me by the porcelain throne after a long evening of drinking. We rescheduled the dinner for tomorrow night. It took a lot of work, but I got her to drink some more water and eat a power bar. We went for a little walk and she seemed to be a little better. She is sleeping again.

Tomorrow we will be driving over some high mountain passes. Several people offered their advice as to how to help Kim over her altitude sickness, including one of the Americans that is a doctor. We will be traveling with a couple bottles of oxygen tomorrow just in case.