Day 129 Thursday December 9th Dali Lama’s Monks meditate in between cell phone calls

We take a visit to the Dali Lama’s Tibetan Monastery and look at the Buddha statues. Since the monks themselves cannot accept payment people offer food and place various items at the feet of the Buddhas. Enlarge the photo to see the most popular item left (Hob Nobs). We see a Monk meditating but then his cell phone rings and he interrupts his deep meditation to take the call. Other Monks are walking around (we suppose visiting here) with their cameras. We try to learn a little more about Buddhism while we are here but it still seems obscure, more complex and less approachable than Sikhism to many of us on the tour. The tourist (squat) toilets in the Temple complex are almost too filthy to use. I am not impressed with the Temple or the presentation of its religion to the lay public at this site.
The Tibetan Museum here is worth a visit and reminds you of China’s destruction of the culture and people of Tibet.