Cheek by jowl with the pilgrims are the shoppers, for Barkhor is also the commercial centre of Lhasa. Shops and pushcarts line the avenue. Allow yourself to be swept along by the pilgrims and the shoppers. You'll be fascinated by the women in particular. Sometimes the plaits are coiled around the top of the head, and studded with jewels, mostly of turquoise.
Lively eyes dance in faces darkened by the sun and cheeks made rosy by the wind.
Glittering white smiles break through as their eyes meet yours. The wares in the shops are a mixed bag. Traditional artifacts like jewels, knives, prayer wheels, boots, coats, bakus and striped aprons are placed along with plastic flyswatters, buckets, and Raymonds suiting from India. Indian film songs blare from ghetto-blasters in a few shops. Posters of Madhuri Dikshit decorate a shop window, and Sunil Shetty graces the back of a parked bus.