Tibet = amazing

Last week I spent some time in Tibet. I just gotta say that it was one of the most interesting, amaizing experiences of my life. Tibet's culture is facinating. We were in the capital, Lhasa, for the first few days. We visited the Potala Palace (where the Dalai Lama used to live) and a few monastaries. Lhasa is a beautiful city that has a modern twist while maintaining it's traditional roots. The women still dress in traditional cotton shirts, long skirts, and colorful aprons. The traditional Tibetan diet is pretty much made up of yak, butter, and tsampa (barley that is made into flour). Our hotel was in the old part of the city and just across the street was a huge outdoor market with tons of vendors and things to buy. All the vendors are around the main square (where the riots took place a few months ago) and a famous monastary sits at the top of the square. Buddhism is the foundation of Tibetan's lives and it is apparent by the prayer flags that are all over the country (even on the mountains) and the people who walk around with prayer wheels. We also spent most of a day at an old hermitage, where a few monks now live. It is located on a mountain (about 15,000 feet high) and the monks live in caves. It was incredible. The view of the mountains and valleys was breathtaking.
On Wednesday we headed to a city about 6 hours from Lhasa. There are mountains everywhere in Tibet so the scenery was beautiful. We stopped at this beautiful lake (called Turqouise Lake) that had the bluest water I've ever seen. We then visited a monastary. The next day we went to Shigatse, which is the second biggest city in Tibet. At the monastary there were TONS of people watching monks perform a sacred dance. Our tour guide said that the monks perform once every year and every Buddhist must see them dance in their lifetime. We were forunate to be able to see the dance.

China is AMAZING!

Hi All,
So I know that I've been here in China for a little over a month but I've just gotten around to creating a blog. I figure that it's an easy way to let everyone know what I've been up to over here. Okay, that's it for now. I'll start posting pictures and stories soon.

Love,
Anna :)