We met Jocelyn (our guide) at 0930 in the hotel lobby so that we were able to get to the Potala Palace ticket office in time for our 1020 appointment. If we missed the appointment, we wouldn’t be allowed into the Palace. Another odd rule at the Potala Palace is that no liquids can be carried into the building, and all bags are scanned on the way in. Very much like airport security.
The Palace is a very imposing building, with it’s brilliant white parliament buildings, and the deep red religious buildings that once housed the Dalai Lama and his advisors. Due to the altitude, the hike upto the ticket office was a lot more difficult than it should have been. Once we had the tickets and we were inside, we were able to buy water, which was very much needed at that point.
Inside the Potala Palace we were not allowed to take any pictures, and we had a fixed time limit of 1 hour, which is apparently very strictly controlled. Within the Palace there were endless rooms for every different function, and within these there were endless statues of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Protector Deities, Dalai Lamas and Kings. There were also the remains of all the Dalai Lamas since the fifth, but excluding the sixth Dalai Lama as he died while travelling somewhere. An incredible tour that we both would recommend to anyone that has even a vague interest in the Tibetan Buddhist faith, and even those that don’t. We managed to get to the exit with just 2 minutes to spare.
In the afternoon, we were taken to the Sera Monastery. This was different to the itinerary we had, but this was due to the fact Jocelyn thought we would be interested in seeing the monks debating. The Sera Monastery is a working monastery currently housing about 800 monks, so we were able to see more while there. After visiting the Buddhist College and the Assembly hall, we headed to the debating field to watch the monks debate. This is a very different concept to debating in the Western world. The debate is actually a form of verbal test for the monks where a standing monk asks the seated monks questions to test their knowledge of the scriptures and philosophy.