Like the village, the temple too, is surrounded by a gate. These gates don't appear to be intended to keep people out, but more to mark the boundary and frame a space. While we have seen the doors closed on temple buildings, we have never been barred by doors from entering temple grounds.

We happened to arrive at the same time that the monks were arriving for prayer. They were not all filing directly into the temple, but clustered in small groups like kids at recess, delaying their return to school. For many boys, the monastery is their school; the government hasn't built a lot of public schools because the population density is so low, and kids couldn't make a daily trip to distant, centralized school. Boys can board at a monastery, as well as learn to read and write. One difference is that, in the monestary they learn Tibetan; in the government school they learn Chinese.

The monks seemed as happy to see us as we were to see them. There was a little bit of zoo voyeurism on both sides. We have read that monks are sometimes forbidden to interact with lay people, especially women. This may be true for older, more dedicated monks, but we have never known a young monk to show any reluctantance. These young men posed eagerly for pictures, and did not hesitate to ask us about our travels and our time in China.

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