Visiting temples

Today was the monastery visit day, but not only. April
is supposed to be the driest month of the year in
Lhasa but it started to snow in the morning. So we
visited the Potala under the snow, then moved to the
Drepung Monastery where we met again the group of
French we met yesterday in the Jokhang. We finished
the day with the visit of a third monastery: The Sera.


The Potala palace after the snow


Drepung, back alley under the snow


Snowball battle at the Drepung


We ate at the restaurant situated inside Drepung, the dumplings were quite good but the kitchen was not for the faint of heart.


Sera monastery


Inside Sera

One thing strikes the visitor, these monasteries are
gigantic and did hold thousands of monks, but nowadays
they are almost empty (but not deserted). Drepung used
to have 10000 monks and now only has 700. It is
supposed to be related to the Chinese occupation as
since the Dalai Lama left no monks can be ordered.
The rich interiors of the chapels contrast with the
simplicity of the monks housing (and the extreme
poverty of the rest of the population). At the feet of
each statue lay a few bills result of a donation, and
as there are thousand of these statues, you are under
the impression that the chapels grounds are really
covered with donations.