Tibet > The worship of Buddha

Today is a free day — and also our last day in Lhasa. We sleep in and then go for breakfast. Practically the entire group has chosen to eat around half past nine. After sending a short message home via the internet, we head into the Muslim quarter. We stroll past the souvenir stalls (or at least what passes for souvenirs), stepping in and out of little shops. Many of the stalls, especially those around Barkhor Square, sell the same trinkets. At one stand, we spot the DVD that was playing on the bus. We bargain over the price and manage to get it for a little less than half the original offer (probably still too much…). Let’s just hope it works in Europe — and that it’s in English. We also go looking for a prayer wheel. We had seen a beautiful one in the shop of our previous hotel. We walk back there, but the shop is closed.

Tibet - A monk in Ramoche Monastery

It might open later today, though that’s uncertain. As we walk back, we find a small stand just around the corner selling similar prayer wheels. After some negotiating, we agree on a price of 100 yuan (about 10 euros) and buy two of them. On Barkhor Square, we buy a necklace and, a little further on, two T-shirts. Around a quarter to two, we find a phone shop to call the Netherlands — it’s then 7:45 in the morning back home. Afterward, we grab fries and a sandwich at Dunya, a restaurant run by a Dutchman. Later in the afternoon, we walk to the Ramoche Monastery. Gonbo had told us about this monastery, tucked away in a residential neighborhood. According to the Lonely Planet, it’s closed in the afternoons, but we’re able to buy tickets without any issue. Inside, the door to the main temple is locked, and several monks are waiting impatiently outside. Exactly at three o’clock, the door opens, and they gesture for us to enter as well. The door closes behind us. Inside, it’s dark, and we follow the monks to the Buddha statue at the back of the temple. The statue is under restoration, and they are reapplying gold leaf. The monks perform a ceremony to worship the Buddha, though we don’t fully understand what is happening. With some effort, we find our way back to the door and step outside again.