April 28, 2007
Rest Day in Lhasa: Barkhor Kora
We start our first restday by getting our laundry done. Large items are done for free by the hotel, but for some reason they do not do underwear, socks and other small stuff. So Rachel washes all of that in our bathtub and we string up a line across our room.
After the domestic tasks are done, we walk back to Barkor Square and walk the Kora around the Jokhang monastery. We buy a yak bell to hang on the kitchen door at home and shop for a prayer wheel. The one kilometer walk, clockwise is lined with small stalls from which vendors try to sell stuff, mostly to tourists, the pilgrims walk their rounds in a brisk pace.
We spend more time at the Spin Cafe, to pick up the new journal that Bob sent to us in Dali and John Yang forwarded to us here. We have kept our journal in a notebook that is starting to fall apart, so now we can transfer our Eastern Tibet notes to the paper journal.
It is recommended to go to the Potala ticket office the day before your visit to pick up a voucher for a ticket the next day. Because the number of visitors is limited it is often not possible to buy same day tickets. We find the ticket office we discover we need ID to get the vouchers and those are with the rest of our valuables in the hotel safe deposit box. So we take a bicycle rickshaw back to the hotel to get our passports. We return and get our vouchers.
Another fine dinner at the Yak Restaurant of a Yak steak for Patrick and a pizza for Rachel.
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