Lhasa

So we started in Lhasa, where we spent 3 days acclimatizing. Being a rather un-outdoorsy person, this is the highest I've ever been (thus far) for an extended period at least. And I'm glad to report that I was fine. No AMS. Woo hoo!

Lhasa looked like any Chinese city to me. Except for the enhanced security. There were guards and security posts everywhere.

Easily the grandest structure in Lhasa (& an architectural marvel in the world), the immense 13-storey high Potala Palace in its current form was built by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1645 (the Red and White Palaces were added subsequently). It had been the residence of Dalai Lamas till the 14th century. Today, it is the site for state ceremonies and school for religious education. The palace also contains tombs of numerous Dalai Lamas and is the pilgrimage destination for many believers.

Yak butter candles instead of incense.

Pilgrims doing the kora (pilgrimage route). It's not obvious from the photo, but the pathway was thick with pilgrims.

The other well-known monastery that we visited is Drepung. Unfortunately, the place was under construction, so there was nothing picture-worthy. This is the entrance of the main hall. Aren't the colors brilliant? The interior was too dark for decent photos...well for a simple camera and its unsophisticated user.

The view from the top. The monastery was built on hill.

Mani stones and other offerings are all over the pilgrim route. The more prayer flags (& offerings) there are, the holier is the site.

Ok, I forgot which monastery we were at. But this was the only sky burial site we saw. In a sky burial, the body is first stripped of its flesh (the natural way). Then the bones are chopped up with sledgehammers (see them on the right hand side) and mixed with tsampa (barley flour with yak butter - staple in Tibetan diet) before being fed to the vultures. As anyone can imagine, this quite a sight to swallow...ok, that isn't the best word in this context. But you get what I mean. We didn't see a ceremony, but it appears that there were bits remaining...
That's a yak. The yak is very much part of the Tibetan lifestyle. Well, there's probably little choice given the high altitude and harsh climate. It provides milk, butter, meat, leather, yak hair etc. so one encounters yak-something everywhere. Yak horns are used as offerings too.