Our fist stop of the day was the Potala, the Dalai Lama's winter palace. It dominates the Lhasa skyline and has over 2,000 rooms (we could only see 35% of them!). After climbing the "300 steps" to the upper courtyard we entered the palace itself. Sadly photos were forbidden so again you'll have to take my word for how incredible it was! The place used to house the Tibetan government before the Chinese occupation so seeing both the political and religious areas of the palace was fascinating. The palace also contains more tombs of previous Dalai Lamas, most of them covered with between 3,000-4,000 ounces of gold and jewels!
The Potala, an amazing building!
The courtyard, the black material over the door is made of Yak's wool
After a lunch break we headed to another very special place, the Dalai Lama's summer palace compound. Alongside temples and previous summer palaces was the one built by the current Dalai Lama. He designed it himself and construction was finished in 1956. It was a beautiful building and all of it was open to visit, including his bedroom and meeting room where he would receive guests and pilgrims. Sadly he only got to enjoy this palace for 3 years before he fled to India to avoid a Chinese plot to kill him. The clock on the staircase is fixed at 9am, the time he left the palace.
Me outside the current Dalai Lama's summer palace
Taking a break on the pond in the Summer Palace compound
After the palace we had a few hours for some souvenir shopping before dinner. Sadly our tour of Tibet was at an end and we now had 2 days of solid driving back to Kathmandu!
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