Day 8
Well, I finally made it to the Buddhist Temple. It was wonderful!
We went with the class after lunch and I enjoyed myself immensly. At first the temple looks like a tourist trap with shops and very new statues of Buddha. But if you go to the back of the temple, you find an ancient (over 1000 years old) temple that had stood in its place. The temple is carved into the side of a hill and it is simply beautiful. I spent the entire afternoon wandering the new and old temples and just sitting still. I saw a couple of Buddhist monks though I understand they don't come out much when there are tourists around.
Spending time in the temple greatly reenergized me and I am glad I got to spend some time alone (we were given the option to stay at the temple instead of going back and that's what I did). At one point I was able to observe some women cooking food for the monks. Right before I was leaving I saw a very old monk in an orange outfit surrounded by half a dozen monks dressed in grey outfits walking towards the living quarters of the monks. Either he is just an old and respected abbot, or he was a lamma. It was exciting nonetheless.
And now I am off to do homework!
We went with the class after lunch and I enjoyed myself immensly. At first the temple looks like a tourist trap with shops and very new statues of Buddha. But if you go to the back of the temple, you find an ancient (over 1000 years old) temple that had stood in its place. The temple is carved into the side of a hill and it is simply beautiful. I spent the entire afternoon wandering the new and old temples and just sitting still. I saw a couple of Buddhist monks though I understand they don't come out much when there are tourists around.
Spending time in the temple greatly reenergized me and I am glad I got to spend some time alone (we were given the option to stay at the temple instead of going back and that's what I did). At one point I was able to observe some women cooking food for the monks. Right before I was leaving I saw a very old monk in an orange outfit surrounded by half a dozen monks dressed in grey outfits walking towards the living quarters of the monks. Either he is just an old and respected abbot, or he was a lamma. It was exciting nonetheless.
And now I am off to do homework!