8 days in Tibet: Day 4 - A lesson in Tibetan Bhudism

We got to lie-in until 9 that day, very welcome! Our first stop was the Tashilhunpo monastery on the outskirts of town. You have to pay to take photos inside the monastery so that's why I don't have many photos of monastery visits, take it from me though the insides are pretty amazing! 

Tashilhunpo is one of the oldest and largest monasteries in Tibet. It was built in the mid 1400s by the first Dalai Lama and could house 3,000 monks. Sadly only 300 remain at the monastery following a series of restrictions placed on monk numbers following a series of protests against Chinese occupation in 2008. The Inside the monastery buildings was amazing, alongside hand-painted walls there were the tombs of past Dalai Lamas, some of them decorated in solid gold and jewels! Norbu was incredibly knowledgeable about everything, he ran us through everything from the Tibetan funeral procedure (known as "Sky Burial" as dead bodies are cut up and left on a mountainside for eagles to eat and carry their spirits to Nirvana) to Tibetan history, including how the great Tibetan king, Songsten Gampo, united Tibet under Bhudism in the early 1400s. 

Tashinlupo monastery 

After our two hour tour we drove to our overnight stop at Gyantse before visiting another monastery; Gyantse Pachu. This was much smaller than Tashinlupo and built in 1418 by the Panchen Lama (senior to the Dalai Lama in a religious sense - the Dalai Lama's role (before the Chinese occupation) is to be the political and spiritual leader of Tibet, whilst the Panchen Lama is its religious leader) and a local chieftain. Most of this monastery is still in its original construction despite parts being badly burnt during the cultural revolution (when China became communist). The most interesting part of this monastery was its collection of books and scriptures. The monastery holds nearly 1,000, all between 500 and 900 years old. But most amazing of all is that they are all written in real gold ink! Most of the books had also not been read for almost 300 years and are unlikely to ever be opened again. These were true Tibetan cultural treasures!

A shelf of some of the books inside the monastery, we all chipped in to take photos in this room 

An example of the gold writing 

Us at the monatary's Stupa 

After some photos by the monastery's impressive stupa we headed back to the hotel. That night was special for Rebecca, it was her 19th birthday! After dinner we surprised her with a huge cake at the restaurant. This day had to be one of my favourites of the the Tibet trip, I learnt loads and had great fun with everyone. Day 5 would see us arrive in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa!