China! Day 16 part a

Potala Palace! The moment we all have been anticipating and acclimating ourselves to this 12,000 feet altitude to ascend our way to the top of the palace. Turned out to be easier than our fears but not necessarily a piece of cake. We were excited when we got to the top of the exterior ramps...oh wait...there's more! Holy cats nearly 360 more stairs inside the palace to climb. Sucking air to beat the band, we made it! It was worth the effort. Unfortunately no interior photos allowed, take away only visual memories. If there was not 1 Buddha statue, there were 10,000 and ancient Buddhist scripture scrolls. Fascinating. Built in the 642, over 1300 years ago on the highest hill in Lhasa. Fun facts about the Potala palace, first is was a residence of 10 Dalai Lamas over 317 years. Until the peaceful revolution (China take over) in 1959 when the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India. There are two palaces, White and Red. The White Palace functioned as the offices of the Tibetan government. The Red Palace was the home and house of prayer for the Dalai Lama dedicated to the study & advancement of Buddhism. There are 8 stupas housing the mummies of bodies of Dalai Lamas 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th. The stupas are over the top gold gilded and gem stone encrusted. Especially the 5th Dalai Lama's stupa. It is 48'8" high and overlaid with 8,200 # of gold along with more than 18,000 jewels for decoration, unbelievable. Lastly every year the White Palace is repainted, with milk! A mixture of milk, sugar, honey, and some herbs mixed with white lime is applied every fall. Interesting tradition....

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