The beauty of Tibet

Tibet is very beautiful. It’s everything I imagined it to be. Flying over the Himalayas was amazing! It felt like we were flying right above them and if we went any lower, we would hit them and crash. But it was a very clear day, so you could see the beauty of this region. You could almost reach out and touch the peaks covered in snow. Tibet is nestled right in the heart of the Himalayas and is surrounded by these majestic mountains from every side. It is known as the highest region on Earth and often referred as the “Roof of the World.” It’s fall here, so you also see the leaves changing colors and there are lots of rivers. It’s quite beautiful. It is so different from China. Not only is the architecture very different and much more interesting and unique, but it’s also very clean with beautiful temples and monasteries build on top of the mountains. People here also have a very distinctive look. They look more Mongolian and not Chinese at all. Even the Tibetan Buddhism is different. They way they pray is very unique. They slide their whole body face down on the ground. Usually they bring their own sheet or mat to do it on (although I’ve seen some that lie face down directly on the ground) and they use what looks like wooden rollers to help them go up and down since they do this anywhere from 200-300 times while chanting. It’s very interesting to watch. Being here really does feel very spiritual. The sad part is that everywhere you go, you see armed soldiers. Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, is crawling with them, especially monasteries and temples. I was told by my tour guide that many of them wear civilian clothing, so you have to be very careful what you say in public places. Yesterday I visited the square that was completely destroyed on March 14th during the riots and where over 100 people died. It’s completely rebuild and you would never know anything happened here. Many monks are still in prison and some monasteries are still closed to the public. There are two that I wanted to visit, but will not be able to. They only recently opened Tibet for tourism (after the Olympics) and I had to go through the Tibetan travel agency to get my permit to come here. You cannot get it using any foreign travel agencies or tour companies. If I was them, I would want to be independent from China as well, especially since they were independent until 1959. Their leader, Dalai Lama, has been in exile since 1959 and most likely will never be able to return here.