The Sacred Sites of the Dalai Lama, A Pilgrimage to The Oracle Lake

This is a record of a pilgrimage made to some of the sites associated with the various Dalai Lamas over the centuries in Tibet.

The journey is made by the Atlanta-based musician Steve Dancz, and the trip is led by Glenn Mullin, whose pilgrimages have been featured on this site before.

They begin by flying into Kathmandu and picking up one of their guides, Khenpo Tashi, and acclimatising to the high altitudes before continuing the journey to Lhasa, which is where the trip proper begins.

They travel round the main sites in Lhasa itself, with the expert guidance of Glenn, who has been leading pilgrimages to Tibet for around 20 years.

Their ultimate destination, should it work out, is the Oracle Lake around a thousand kilometres away, so at every stop and shrine they pray and ask for blessings for the success of their trip.

Along the way they visit some of the most famous sites in Tibet, like the Drepung Monastery, the seat of the Nechung Oracle, Drak Yerpa Caves, Guru Rinpoche cave, Samye monastery, Ani Sankhu nunnery and others.

The film is made with a hand-held camera, and is not always as professional as one might want, but it is also a record of one man's experience and dream pilgrimage, which he has finally managed to achieve, and that adds some charm to the film.

Along the way we also learn something about the history of Tibet, the association of the Dalai Lamas with various holy centres, and the culture and life of the people.