The Potala Carpet Factory. Saturday 8th Sept.

Saturday 8th September. (Photos on this post are by Kathy Feiler)

The Potala Carpet Factory is named after the famous Palace, but in fact isn't in the same area. We took a short detour from our scheduled activities to visit this fascinating establishment and watched the young carpet weavers as they created their latest masterpieces. Their hands worked in a blur as the threaded the wool and tied the knots that form the intricate patterns in the carpet.

Every so often they would break into spontaneous song. It was up-beat and optimistic in tempo and the harmonies filled the factory as they worked at a breakneck pace.

The next room was the showroom, the walls and floor resplendent with every size and design of carpet that you could imagine. No photos were allowed, although they did allow a purchaser to photograph their own carpet before it was packed up for shipment, so that it could be identified should it go astray. Several of the group lashed our and made acquisitions with which to adorn their homes.

The best carpets are made of sheep's wool. Yak wool is harder and less pliable. Some carpets were made of a blend of both types and others were pure yak or sheep wool.

First day in Lhasa. 8th September.

Saturday 8th September.

Our hotel was luxurious and comfortable. After breakfast we were picked up for the first day's activities. Driving in Lhasa is a memorable experience, to put it mildly. No one speeds, but rules seem to be optional. Officially, traffic drives on the right hand side of the road but at times it can be difficult to tell. The modus operandi is a fascinating game of chicken in slow motion.

But it all seems to work as we haven't seen a single collision so far!

Our first port of call was a nunnery, located in a back alley and not normally on the tourist track. This place was built about 1400 years ago and has operated continuously since then. We were given a short history of the place and a background on some of the Buddhist traditions before moving to another section to watch nuns making prayer rolls.

Within the courtyard and outside on the narrow lane way, small children played music and sang to entice a tip from visitors. They were quite assertive and their mother wasn't far away to collect the booty.

Vendors of fruit and vegetables plied their wares from carts mounted on 3-wheel cycles, but were moved on by police, who fined some of them on the spot. The police used an autocratic, bullying manner towards these people who seem to have become third-class citizens in their own country. A country that was stolen from them almost 60 years ago with the brutal invasion that cost Tibet over 1 million lives.

We had lunch at an ornately decorated restaurant flanked by a courtyard with tables where visitors could enjoy a beer while checking their emails via a wireless hot spot. We ate inside and enjoyed a sumptuous Indian buffet.

Our next destination was the Potala Palace, the former headquarters of the Dali Lama. This was both the political and religious centre of power during Tibet's long history, stretching back over 1400 years. The Potala is an imposing sight, perched high on a hill, dominating the surrounding town of Lhasa. It is now the hottest tourist destination in Tibet, with thousands of visitors and pilgrims vying for the opportunity to join a guided tour of some of the 1,000 rooms in the palace.
There are 380 steps to negotiate on the way up to the entrance and some of us resembled gasping goldfish by the time we reached the top, as we were still acclimatising to the thin Tibetan air. The view from the top was worth the effort. Once inside, we were told that photos were not allowed.

The red section was built in the 8th century. 1,000 years later the Palace was expanded with the addition of the white section. Due to the high demand for tour tickets, the government has put a 1 hour time limit on all tours. If the guide does not exit with his group within the hour, his tour company will be denied access on the following day.

As we walked through the ancient rooms, constructed from wood and painted with intricate patterns and decorations, I tried to imagine the place back when it's corridors and rooms were bustling with monks going about their daily life, praying, chanting, working and carrying on the affairs of state. We saw the Dali Lama's throne and the room where he meditated.

We then moved on to look upon the tombs of some of the previous Dali Lamas. Many of these tombs were made of solid gold, the largest being that of the 5th Dali Lama which weighed in at 3,721 kg of pure gold. To think that this is guarded by a video system and a few snoozing guards! I couldn't help making a comparison to the security of Fort Knox.

We departed the Potala at about 5 pm.

Beijing to Lhasa Train

Wednesday 5th September & Thursday 6th September
We settled down into our bunks, 6 to each compartment. The booking was for the Soft Sleeper carriage but were bumped off at the last minute and were put on the hard sleepers. Oh well! At least we were on the train and they refunded the difference. Our carriage was number 1.

Lights went out at 10pm, shortly after departure. We rumbled out into the night.

The next day we roared through the Chinese countryside, occasionally passing small villages and large industrial cities. There were vegetable farms, workers, and parents picking their kids up from school on push bikes. The whole countryside was a patchwork of colour.

The restaurant on the train was in carriage No. 7. The food wasn't bad and you could sit in comfort at the table and gaze out at the countryside. Food was also available from trolleys that were wheeled through the train. Fruit, soups, noodles and snacks as well as a range of drinks.

We chatted to a range of interesting people from many backgrounds. Sharing a compartment with a couple of our group were a couple from the NSW North Coast. Marcia and Laurie from Port Macquarie!

On the second night we went to bed after gazing out on green farmlands. The next morning was completely different. During the night, at Golmud, another engine was hooked on and we started the climb into the mountains. By daybreak we were on the Tibetan plateau; flat grazing lands covered in green and flanked by snow capped mountains. The sounds from the cabins were "ooohhh" and "ahhhh" as the adventurers awoke to the beautiful sights.

All through the second day we climbed higher into the mountains. Altitude sickness started to take its toll on 4 or 5 of the group, with headaches and nausea. The oxygen facilities on the train helped and were most welcome, as we had to climb to about 4,700 metres before descending to Lhasa which is 3,700 metres above sea level.

In Lhasa we arrived at 8pm and were met by our guide, Chimpell and the driver, Lobsang. Jill Connellan was also at the station to meet us and joins us for the Tibet leg of the journey.

Leaving Beijing. 5th September

Wednesday 5th September
Tonight we are off to Tibet on the train. But first we had a couple of nice outings.

We saw an acrobatics show in the afternoon which was quite fantastic. These kids are from the country with little education and quite young. By the age of 22 they are facing retirement from the show with little employment opportunity in the real world. A very few lucky ones may be chosen for shows such as Cirque du Soleil

Afterwards we ate at a very nice Chinese restaurant. Just imagine the most sumptuous Chinese banquet that you are likely to find in Australia. Add a free glass of beer on arrival and then imagine paying just AU$5 per head for the lot! And the staff wouldn't accept a tip.

After dinner we headed for the Beijing Railway Station. This was BIG. Thousands of people milling around waiting for the time to enter the waiting room for their train. We got our call and herded into a large room with about 1,000 other people, all bound for the Lhasa train. Then after a short wait, we filed past the ticket inspector and down onto the platform. Frank, our guide for the past 5 days was there to help and he waved us goodbye as the train pulled out.

Last day inBeijing... Shop till we drop!!!

Wednesday 5th September

Today is our last day in Beijing. We started by watching thousands of people doing Tai Chi in the park near the Temple of Heaven. Some dancing, others using badminton bats and balls, others with swords and all to music. We joined in the dancing.

Next we visited the Temple of Heaven, constructed in 1420 by the Ming Dynasty. Here, the Emperor would go 3 times per year to ask the gods for a good harvest. On each occasion he stayed for a ceremony which lasted 4 days, ending with a massive sacrifice of thousands of chickens, pigs and cattle which were later burned as an offering to the gods.

Our next stop was the Pearl Markets where many of us bought new spectacles. They have a machine that you look into and it quickly measures your eye geometry. After choosing the frames and doing some hard bargaining, the deal is done. Two hours later the spectacles are ready. During that time we shopped for clothes, iPods, jewelry and watches.

This evening, after dinner at a Mongolian restaurant, we go the the railway station to catch the 9:30 pm sleeper to Lhasa in Tibet. We have just been told that our soft sleeper bunks, (4 to a cabin) were not available and we have to settle for hard sleeper (6 to a cabin) with a refund of the difference. Sometimes when travelling in this part of the world, things don't always go as planned, but at least we are ON the train.

As there is no Internet connection on the train, our next blog will be in a couple of days when we reach Lhasa.