ub than a Tibetan refuge. I think it's save to say that there are more travelers than Tibetan monks. We did just a little walk around the elevated area and found a beautiful small hotel with views of the fields So we booked it for the next nights. We met some school children who gave a Hindi Bollywood dance session for us, which was really cool. Otherwise we ate and at mellow places while watching the world cup. Surprisingly Tibetan monks are also a bit into football and were cheering for the USA,The monastery in McLeod Ganj - the home of the DL - is very much underwhelming. Things are mostly semi new and unbuddhist like of poor quality. The temple is not bad, but nothing out of the order. Tibetan monks verbally fought each other in the evening to practise interrogation of Chinese officials.
One day we rented a car and driver and drove to all places of interest in a radius of 70 km. We were brought to a beautiful complex to preserve Tibetan cultur
e. Monks were working on paintings for up to a have a year, paying attention to every little detail. Girls and boys were sewing pictures made out of textiles in various colors with horse hair and silk. In an other room they were making the famous Buddha statues which can be found in every decent monastery. They are made out of copper with a wooden base. They are then coated to make it look golden. And finally there was a carving workshop which had everything from small Stupas to big tables and general furniture.
Later we went to the Kamasutra university. Ironically every monk in this place is a virgin. So it's all about the theory for these guys.
Two Shiva temples on the way were accompanied with a sharp contrast of hassle to the Tibetan culture.
Then we came to two Tibetan monasteries. Both rather new. The first one even looked a bit like a hotel. The second one was more appealing. Several hundred monks live there and go to school. They will afterwards go back to where they came from and spread their knowledge.
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