China - Lhasa - Potala Palace

Saturday, 27 April 2019

After a day and a half of acclimatization to the high altitude, today we went to Lhasa's premier landmarks, starting with the Potala Palace. The palace is the Dalai Lama's official residence, but since he is in exile in India, it is now treated as a museum (and a UNESCO World Heritage site).

The Potala Palace sits on a hill and physically dominates Lhasa. We could see it from our hotel's terrace.

It's even more impressive at night.

It takes a panorama to get the whole structure in view.

Front view of the palace.

The "we were here" photo before starting the ascent of about 600 stairs (over 350 ft) to the top.

A row of prayer wheels at the entrance to the palace compound.

The beginning of the stairs.

As you climb you get great views of Lhasa. This is the "Monument to the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" directly across the street from the Potala Palace. As you might expect, Tibetans, have a different opinion of their "liberation".

In the distance, massive new housing blocks are being constructed.

And there's a nice view down the valley.

Once you reach the beginning of the palace interior, photography is not allowed, and visitors have only 50 minutes to see the palace. There are repercussions for the tour guides if they take too long.

The walk back down on the back side of the palace.

Back at ground level there are occasional niches in the walls dedicated to various Buddhist deities where worshippers can leave offerings and burn incense and light butter candles.