拉萨：一公里的圆

The first thing I did in Lhasa was nothing at all.

At the airport my friend said to me: don't walk today, don't shower, drink lots of water.

I said: I'm in good shape.

She said: this has nothing to do with being in good shape.

Lhasa sits at three thousand six hundred and fifty metres.

The air here is only about two-thirds of what it is on flat ground.

On the first day, my head ached a little.

I slept in my room for a long time.

The next morning, I was much better.

We went out for a walk.

The sky was very blue and the sun was strong, but the wind was cold.

My friend said: here, the sun and the shade are two different kinds of weather.

Standing in the sun I was hot; step into the shade and I was cold.

In the morning we went to the Potala Palace.

It's built on a small hill, and the hill is called Red Hill.

The Potala is one hundred and seventeen metres tall, thirteen floors in all.

You can see it from a long way off.

I said: a building this big — when was it built?

She said: construction began in 1645.

Tibet at that time was governed by the Fifth Dalai Lama.

I said: three hundred and eighty years ago.

She said: yes.

In December 1994, it went onto the World Heritage list.

The white part and the red part were built at different times, and were used differently.

There aren't that many steps, but at this altitude you have to stop after every stretch.

I stopped three times before I got to the top.

In the afternoon, we went to the Barkhor.

The Barkhor is a road that goes around the Jokhang Temple.

The Jokhang was built in 647.

I said: 647?

She said: yes, more than a thousand three hundred years ago.

The Tibetan king at the time was called Songtsen Gampo.

The Barkhor is a circle, about one kilometre around.

People walk along this road, all in the same direction.

I asked: why does everyone go the same way?

She said: because this is kora.

People walk and recite at the same time.

Some hold something in their hand that keeps turning.

She said: that's called a prayer wheel.

And some people lie flat on the ground as they go, measuring the road with their bodies.

There are old people on the road, and young people.

Some walk it several times a day.

Some arrive at five in the morning.

We walked one circuit too.

A kilometre isn't long, but I walked slowly, and by the end I was still a bit tired.

I sat down at the side of the road to rest.

Someone in a shop nearby offered me tea.

The tea was white, a little salty, and a little oily.

I took a mouthful and thought it was strange.

But I took another mouthful.

My friend said: this is butter tea.

She said: somewhere this high and this cold, the body needs fat and salt.

Drink it for a few days and you'll like it.

She was right.

On the third day, I bought a cup myself.

There are tourists on the Barkhor, and local people.

The tourists walk fast, taking photos as they go.

Local people walk slowly, and many don't look at the shops beside them.

Two kinds of people on the same road, doing completely different things.

In the evening, we went to look at the Potala again.

The lights came on, and the white on the hill turned gold.

I thought about what my friend had said that morning.

In Lhasa, if you walk fast, your body tells you no.

A palace of a hundred and seventeen metres, a temple over thirteen hundred years old, a road of one kilometre.

This place makes everyone slow down.

When you go somewhere very high, will you rest for a day first, or go straight out to look around?