Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Today

Today, I sat on a rooftop and watched the sunrise, its array of colours were intoxicating and breathtaking to the point where I questioned my atheism.

Today, I wondered through Lhasa's streets with no direction, no purpose, I simply wandered. A old Tibetan lady smiled at me and then proceeded to point her tongue out, a sign of friendship in Tibetan culture.

Today I had a great conversation with an Oxford exchange student, discussing the meaning of travel and the sheer beauty, yet tragedy, that is Lhasa.

Today, I went and paid for my Nepal Visa. And since I was a loawai (foreigner), I was allowed to skip the line of Chinese and process my application first. It made me laugh.

Today, I got some amazing photos. With the lighting perfect and my creative eye at its fullest, I captured some majestic shots; small moments in time that will never occur again. The Potala palace was at its best.

Today I had a banana smoothie and read my book in a beautiful Tibetan restaurant. And then feel asleep for about an hour.

So often on the road, we are driven to see the sights: we have to go to this zoo or see this monastery- as somehow if we don't, we are destined not to have seen a place to its fullest. So often in life, we are always analysing the past, worrying about the future without ever experiencing the "now", and thus leaving us oblivious to our surroundings.

Today I did not see anything, I did not do anything special.

But today I lived now. And it was great.

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