Tibet China Japan Jun 2026
Travel to the soul of Tibet, the power of China and the so very special cities and views of Japan
Day 1 Chengdu
May 28 โ A Night at the Opera Four weeks in the East began with a night at the opera. Well, not exactly opera. More like a combination of circus, comedy in spoken Chinese, and musical interludes that sounded like my attempts to play an out-of-tune saw. ๐ Some of the audience watched the show, others enjoyed a massage or had their ears cleaned! Some cracked sunflower seeds, while one unfortunate woman took a flying spear straight to the face when it slipped from an acrobat's hand. The performers, their faces painted in vivid colors, provided an opening note that gave little hint of the intensity we were about to experience over the following two weeks in Tibet, in the company of a talented group of photographers who made the journey all the richer. All under the wonderful guidance of Limor Zadok and the impeccable organization of Ron Oren. But it all began, after a long flight to Chengdu, with a night at the opera.
May 29 โ Lhasa
Potala Palace
A blurred figure emerges from the mist. It happens in the park at the foot of Potala Palace. We look up and see just how far we have to climb. We arrived in Lhasa yesterday. At 3,700 meters above sea level, even with the altitude medication, you can feel the thin air. (At this point, the most noticeable side effect of the pills is that sparkling water has turned bitter, and beer and Coke Zero taste considerably less appealing...) Thin air or not, we have the Potala to climb. 432 steps just to reach the palace entrance (and quite a few more inside). An interesting way to acclimatize to the altitude. ๐ The Potala, once the winter residence of the Dalai Lama before he fled the Chinese in March 1959, is considered the world's highest-altitude palace. Even before reaching the gate, we can see the pilgrims making their way up. Beyond the gate, the stream becomes a river. Groups and individuals, young and old, and countless prayer wheels of every size. We enter the palace grounds and climb. Climb and stop. A selfie here, a photograph there. A group of workers is restoring the palace using traditional construction methods involving stone, rammed earth, and wood. Photography inside the palace is forbidden. Unless you're Brad Pitt, apparently... Our local guide enthusiastically explains every Buddha statue and every alcove, seemingly unaware that we can't understand three-quarters of his English and that our eyes have long since glazed over. (There are so many Buddhas that, at some point, my brain turned into Buddha soup...) From the palace, we continued to Sera Monastery. But that's for Part Two.
Sera Monastery
In a gravel-covered courtyard at Sera Monastery, dozens of monks, some younger, some older, engage in passionate debates over the finest points of Buddhist philosophy. Profound questions are thrown into the air with great intensity, and the seated monk must respond, demonstrating and strengthening his mastery of Buddhist teachings. No new religious rulings or interpretations emerge from these debates (and probably no groundbreaking insights into the nature or existence of dark matter, either...). The learning focuses on memorization and the ability to understand the subtlest nuances of interpretation. (Sound familiar?) Under the blazing sun, along the picturesque (and remarkably well-maintained) monastery streets, tourists and locals come to absorb the sacred atmosphere and/or have their photographs taken in traditional Tibetan clothing. Some are also happy to pose for our cameras. And, of course, no visit would be complete without spinning prayer wheels and reciting sutras. We may be on the road to enlightenment, but we're definitely on our way to the Muslim Quarter and the flea market. But that's for the next chapter.
The Muslim Quarter, Flea Market, and Surrounding Streets
In the Muslim Quarter, dozens of men and women are cleaning, scrubbing, heating, and packaging Yartsa Gunbu caterpillar fungi. In Chinese, it's called Dong Chong Xia Cao โ "winter worm, summer grass." It's actually a parasitic fungus that infects a ghost moth caterpillar, kills it, and grows a stalk from its body. Tibetan medicine attributes numerous healing properties to this caterpillar-fungus combination, most of which lack solid scientific evidence. But who are we to argue with faith? High-quality specimens can fetch $10,000 per kilogram, sometimes even more. In the surrounding streets, trade is bustling. Colorful characters buy, sell, knit, bargain, or simply wander through the narrow alleys. In a tiny space amid the commotion, a woman sits quietly, absorbed in her Buddhist scriptures. The sun climbs higher, and Israel settles down for an important impromptu sidewalk debate on the edge of the sidewalk. At the Grand Mosque, a "light trap" captures those entering, while sharp-eyed viewers might spot the ghost that sneaked into one of the photographs. Spooky.