This was the view from breakfast.
The first monastery of the trip was Drepung. This is the monastery where the troubles started earlier in the year.
You can see in this picture, on the balcony thing, one of the solar stoves. Every monastery and many of the towns and villages had these. There is a lot of sun in Tibet, so it makes a lot of sense. They stick a kettle on the holder in the middle.
The walls were very thick, every window was painted around with black (good luck? keep away the bad spirits? I can't remember), and most window sills had pots of flowers. There were many geraniums and chrysanthemums.
This place has been here for hundreds of years, surviving plateau winters and earthquakes. It was closed down by the government from 14th March until shortly before our visit. Many of the monks were taken away on the train line (the one they just finished building?) and no one knows what has happened to them.
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