Oct 15, 2014, Wednesday - Lhasa

Today is the long awaited tour of Potala Palace.  There were hundreds (or maybe thousands) of pilgrims circling the palace (always clockwise) for good luck and good health. 

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There were lots and lots of stairs but well worth it to see the inside.  At that altitude the stairs were exhausting. 

The palace has 1000 rooms; we maybe saw 50 of them.  Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside any of the rooms so had to content ourselves with pictures of the exterior.  However, the exterior was pretty amazing.

After lunch we went to the Jokhang Temple very near our hotel.  It was build in 647 AD. 

It appears that there are thousands of Buddhas in Buddhism and we met most of them today.  Our guide, Yishi, studied Buddhism for 20 years and is on a first name basis with all of the Buddhas.  We walked clockwise around the Jokhang Temple but not Potala.  The Bharkhar bazaar that used to surround the Jokhang temple is no more.  There are now shops.  Not the same feeling as a bazaar.

From the roof of the temple you could see Potala through the smoke from the incense ovens in the square below.

Potala Palace from Jokhlang Temple