Lhasa, China

This morning we visited the Potala Palace, the 1000 room winter home of the Dalai Lama. Lots of steps and climbing in this palace at an altitude of 14,000 feet. Jim opted for the steep climb. I opted for the slow walker outing due to the blasted URI I’m still battling. I feel like an 80 year old with emphysema. I need an oxygen tank! I had great views of the Palace from the Poralepu Monastery across the street from the Palace where there were limited stairs to deal with. In the afternoon we visited Jokhang Temple in the Barkhor area of downtown and then the Tibet Museum and Norbulinka, the former summer residence of the Dalai Lama and a UNESCO World Heritage site. There were several families from remote areas of Tibet visiting the Jokhang Temple to worship today. They were very excited about seeing Westerners for the fist time. We posed for a lot of photo’s for them. I’ll be featured in a lot of iPhone selfies with teenagers…they loved that I’d pose with them. We’re finding it so funny that everyone here has an iPhone…even the Monks. Just goes to show Apple can get their products out anywhere! The Tibetan people are very friendly and kind. We’ve really enjoyed our interactions with them. They love it when we take time to respond to their “hello, hello” shouts to us. They also like touching or rubbing us. It’s very sweet. It is interesting to note that the “real” Dalai Lama actually resides in India. Unless he will renounce his political activities, he is not allowed to live in China or Tibet. In the evening, we enjoyed a craft market and festive Tibetan Wedding Ceremony, including folk dance performances by beautiful Tibetan girls and musicians singing songs and playing ancient instruments during dinner. Joe and Candy, fellow travelers who just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, were featured as our Wedding Couple. They were so adorable. It’s been an exhausting day, but we managed to participate in every outing. It will be nice to have a long travel day tomorrow to rest and regroup. We depart from Nepal at 7:15am and finally arrive in Agra, India around 5:30. We go through another big time jump en route to India.