TIBET. The very word conjures up an exotic locale where the clash of government forces and local worshippers meet in an unlikely, and sometimes fatal, dance. Yet, for all the risk some might think a trip to Lhasa might entail ... for this wanderer of the world, it was perhaps the most moving of all the places I've had the good fortune of visiting. Not that there's a competition, but there is a difference. And here's why.
Incense. Everywhere. From the street corner to an open-air stall selling Yak meat. From sacred spaces within ancient temples to the weathered hands of a grandmother holding sticks of burning sandalwood praying for better days and good health.
After a two day train ride from Beijing to Lhasa, via Xian, I arrived with an altitude-induced headache (perhaps I should've started the pills a day earlier). But as soon as I settled into my room in the old Muslim quarter I begin my wandering around with camera in hand. I joined those praying as we all walked, circumambulating clockwise around the entire Jokhang Templecomplex....an act that takes all of 45 minutes at a slow pace. Since my inn was a stone's throw from this site, I would join in prayers regularly throughout my time in Lhasa.
