Lhasa Off The Beaten Path

There are a number of chapels in the Jokhang temple that are much less frequently visited and less crowded, and hence give the possibility to study the Jokhang architecture with somewhat more peace and quiet that one normally gets.

Among them are:

- Chapel of Tsongkapa and His Disciples, with the seated statue of Tsongkapa (founder of the Geligpa order) surrounded by his 8 disciples
- Chapel of the Buddha of Infinite Light (a bit of a hit and miss as to whether this one will be open - we got lucky)
- Chapel of the Eight Medicine Buddhas, although it has to be pointed out that the statues are not antique
- Chapel of the Seven Buddhas
- Chapel of the Nine Buddhas of Longevity
- Chapel of the Kings, featuring statues of the early-day kings, including Songtsen Gampo, Trisong Detsen, and King Ralpachen

It took me many times to get this photo as I wanted it...she was really competing for the world record of how fast you can walk with a ton of goodies on your back...which didn't help me as I was feeling the altitude and running to keep up with her didn't help matters!

I had seen these two women, mother and daughter, going around all the different rooms in the monastery and everything the mother told her daughter to pray to, she would. It just seemed so bizarre to me that you could pray to so many things or touch so many things for good luck..there is a great belief in these people. This photo was taken when I was playing with the little boy and taking photos of the dogs, hence the dog in the picture!

Why were the women laughing you ask? Well because eventhough it was the warmest day there, it suddenly began to hail! I have never been in a hail storm and have hardly ever seen it hailing before so I guess it was another experience I can take away from Tibet with me. They were hitting me hard and fast at one point and the women started laughing as I had no idea what it was at first! Great expressions!

These two children live in a village on the way back from Yamdrok Lake to Shigatse. We went into one of their houses to watch how they make incense sticks, so I took a photo of the children. We said we would send them to our tour guide in Lhasa so that when he next passed the village he could give them to the children to keep.

We were in Samye Monastery a couple of hours away from Tsetang and this lady was waiting for everyone as they went upstairs to the restaurant. I just loved these people's expressions..and they all look so old and wrinkly...maybe yak butter ISN'T the be all and end all cure!

This lively lady was just walking spinning her wheel normally and then caught sight of me taking a photo so decided she would play up a little and pose for the photo! She wanted to look at the photo once I had taken it and I thought she was going to ask for money, but she smiled and carried on with her spinning! She was fun!

This has to be one of my all time favourite photos of people in Tibet. These women were from a different sect as noted from their hairstyles...I was very excited when I saw them one day at a monastery just outside of Lhasa. The elderly lady's face is just perfect! I am so happy I was able to see this.