Ene 31 2011 Himalayan bike or how to dilute the self-esteem in a nanosecond

• Barkhor Square

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Plaza-del-Barkhor.jpg

  We met him by chance on the streets of Lhasa hours before heading to Everest Base Camp. There Richard, Vitoria firefighter traveling alone. Going to make our own path, the 1.100 kilometers from the capital of Tibet in Kathmandu, but cycling. Way, be diverted to greet some friends to Sishapagma. Today I go to sleep feeling very small. Some people have a cataplines as eight thousand.

• Wheel of Fortune Jokhang

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Rueda-de-la-fortuna-Jokhang.jpg

  We met him by chance on the streets of Lhasa hours before heading to Everest Base Camp. There Richard, Vitoria firefighter traveling alone. Going to make our own path, the 1.100 kilometers from the capital of Tibet in Kathmandu, but cycling. Way, be diverted to greet some friends to Sishapagma. Today I go to sleep feeling very small. Some people have a cataplines as eight thousand.

• Jokhang Headlines

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Jokhang-portada.jpg

  We met him by chance on the streets of Lhasa hours before heading to Everest Base Camp. There Richard, Vitoria firefighter traveling alone. Going to make our own path, the 1.100 kilometers from the capital of Tibet in Kathmandu, but cycling. Way, be diverted to greet some friends to Sishapagma. Today I go to sleep feeling very small. Some people have a cataplines as eight thousand.

• Jokhang giant grinder

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Molinillo-gigante-jokhang.jpg

  We met him by chance on the streets of Lhasa hours before heading to Everest Base Camp. There Richard, Vitoria firefighter traveling alone. Going to make our own path, the 1.100 kilometers from the capital of Tibet in Kathmandu, but cycling. Way, be diverted to greet some friends to Sishapagma. Today I go to sleep feeling very small. Some people have a cataplines as eight thousand.

We met him by chance on the streets of Lhasa hours before heading to Everest Base Camp. There Richard, Vitoria firefighter traveling alone. Going to make our own path, the 1.100 kilometers from the capital of Tibet in Kathmandu, but cycling. Way, be diverted to greet some friends to Sishapagma. Today I go to sleep feeling very small. Some people have a cataplines as eight thousand.

The zipizape organized by the Chinese government in Lhasa continues to live intense moments. The Potala is still closed and now, but to INRI, They have hung two ghastly giant ribbons on it as if it were a monumental cake from which Mao himself would come back to life as a "pop-up". The adjacent streets are closed to traffic (still a relative concept in Lhasa) and you have to move on foot. Well, that, let's try a second time to enter the Jokhang, crowded with pilgrims who prostrate themselves again and again at their doorsteps. Around, punctuated by roadside stands where you can buy the best souvenirs of the city (prayer flags, scrolls with prayers in Tibetan, grinders, Buddhist rosaries, to choose), monks stretched his hand for alms while your partner speaks on the phone. It's a photo escapes, as so, but given the choice between looking at reality and see it through a goal I've always preferred the first. The second option is can be obsessive, to the point that a bad frame or a blurred picture can sour a day trip. Toll Too.

Inside the Barkhor breathe the same oppressive atmosphere in other places of worship of Tibetan Buddhism: the gloom pervaded the "perfume" a rancid yak butter, animal heights that could compete with pork in profitability per square centimeter: We use all. The faithful walk one by one the narrow chapels, where the visitor becomes aware that, despite his respect and sympathy for Tibetan culture, only a foreign body. The mission is, therefore, Disturb as little as possible, but the effort is almost always empty.

Monks extend his hand for alms while his companion talking on the phone.

Here is also counting tickets monks squatting. In a room, many are watching on TV the Chinese president's speech to commemorate the anniversary of the incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic. Yes, the spiritual center of Tibetan Buddhism there are televisions and mobile. Globalization also seeps into the cracks of faith.

A conversation with a neighbor whose name I prefer to skip Lhasa. He was eight years studying in India through a Chinese government scholarship. Now, would like to leave with his family to India, "Eldorado" for many Tibetans. But it is a decision that depends on it. Beijing denied permission because the communist regime has to return on their investment in education. Is condemned to continue living in Lhasa, in a housing official with a salary of 800 yuan per month (under 90 EUR).

Back at the hotel, I'm still surprised by the courage of the "ironman" on wheels, one of those games capable of diluting your adventurous self-esteem diminished in a nanosecond.