The Summer Palace inside the Norbulinka Park is more a disappointment. The park is in a bad condition, not worth the name of a park. There was a sad kind of zoo inside in a very poor condition. I wonder who wants to see a lion in Tibet??? The condition of the whole thing makes you feel sad! This could only be topped by a Sea World or a Disney Land in these Himalayan Mountains.
Anyway, the building of the Summer Palace itself was in a good condition and you get the feeling that there is still somebody living inside. You can see the furniture, radio and the modern bath the Dalai Lama used in these days.
But still my expectations of a summer palace were much higher.

The Potala Palace, maybe the most famous building in Tibet, known by every tourist, is still able to keep its promise, even if you have seen all the movies and reports you wont be disappointed, because it is incredible!
The Potala dominates the city from a hill right in the center of Lhasa.It is the highest building in town and can be seen from nearly every point of the city. Despite the fact that the days are gone when religious and political decisions for Tibet were made here, it is not a dead and dusty museum. There is a vivid life inside and around the building because of the huge number of pilgrims visiting it each day (at least during my stay).
The building consists of up to 13 storeys and can be devided into the Red and the White Palace. Walk all the way through mystic dark halls filled with incense, chapels and rooms up to the roof from where you have the best view over the city!
Around the Potala, especially in the back there is a narrow pilgrimage circuit with hundreds of prayer wheels and stone carvings and paintings.

This Pilgrimage Circuit around the Jokhang Temple is crowded with praying pilgrims and full of shops with pilgrim equipment. Prayer Flags, Prayer Wheels, everything a pilgrim needs. The assortment gets completed by a huge number of food stores (fresh meat and Yak butter most of the times) and delicious streetkitchens. The heart of the Barkhor Area is the Jokhang Temple.
You cannot get enough of the vivid Tibetan life in this part of the town!

Because it is the holiest Tibetan Temple many pilgrims do their prayers inside and around this place. They circle the Temple through the surrounding alleys by touching the ground with their full bodylength all the way on their pilgrimage circuit. Very impressive! Inside the Jokhang Temple there is another pilgrimage circuit full of prayer wheels around the center hall. There are alo several storeys and you can walk up to the golden roof, from where you have a nice view over parts of the Barkhor Area all the way to the Potala Palace.

The Sera Monastery is situated just a few kilometers outside the Holy City of Lhasa, the Seat of the Gods. In past days there were more than 5.000 inhabitants which has been reduced to a few hundreds nowadays. But still the huge number of buildings and alleys give the impression of a small city.

But dont think of monasteries as stonage anymore. Ive seen monks with mobile phones and as an entrance ticket you get a CDRom, I couldnt believe it! One of the most interesting things to me were the Debating Classes,taking place everyday in Sera. A big number of monks come together and discuss their philosophical and religious standpoints. Each argument is stressed by clapping with your hands. Most of the times it is a one-on-one, sometimes there are two or even three monks discussing with only one opponent. In the end they reach a uniting conclusion.
Really fascinating!