Debating monks and armed police vehicles 12/28
We met X at 10 this morning. We headed for Phaphongkha monastery first. It was outside the city, up one of the mountains. Very peaceful being away from all the people and congestion. We saw more Buddhas and protectors. The major building was bombed down from 5 stories to 2 during the "cultural revolution". Along a couple of the valleys were hundreds of prayer flags. Some of the rocks had paintings of icons. We were lucky to be blessed by a monk who hit a big warm rock on our backs twice. X translated a conversation we had w an elder monk. He asked where we were from, the temperature there, and asked if we would take him w us. Awww! If I could fit you in our backpacks I would.
On the car ride way back to Lhasa we saw at least 30 fucking new armored police vehicles (army/riot style) cruising the streets, maybe going back to the police station. It's was nuts. What the hell is all that needed for besides making statements. Is all that needed for the unarmed protests or monks setting themselves on fire? Need to keep the people in check somehow.
In the distance we could see the gated area of the sky burials. This is one (and the most popular) of the ways Tibetans bury their dead. The friends of the dead person take the body, chop it up, and place it near a stupa at the sky burial so the vultures can eat it. Bones and everything. There were no cultures today (Monday), no "burials" on Sunday. In the valley you could see all the apartments the Chinese are building and the factories where agricultural fields one were. So sad. 
For lunch we headed toward the Sera monastery and stopped in a small Tibetan restaurant. X and the driver got french fries w spices for us the share. Then we had sweet milk tea and yak dumpling soup (light on the yak). Yum!! I can keep drinking this tea. No more yak butter tea for me.
The Sera monastery is where children go to get blessed. We saw 3 mandalas monks made of colored sand. The details on them were unbelievable that they came from tapping sticks. Here we were able to say a prayer while a monk placed a stick on our head connected to the heart of the Compassion Buddha. We saw the protector of the wooden sculpture we bought in Nepal, Vajra Pani. The dude that sold it to us said it was Shiva. Doesn't matter. Vajra Pani is pretty cool.
The highlight was seeing the monks debate in the courtyard. 6 days a week they debate from 3-6. One monk stands and the other sits. The standing monk does this move where he slaps his hands, pulls his prayer beads across his body, and stomps on the ground to send the messages to hell and awaken the thousands of spirits. Some monks had fun, some were very serious. Arguing monks isn't something you see everyday.
Back walking the streets which are a shitshow of shops. Music blaring, jackets and shoes, over and over again. Tons of people pushing and crowding, no idea what they could be buying. We are at a fast food place called Dicos, tastes worse than McDonalds. Tomorrow we are outta here. I'm looking forward to it. China has destroyed Lhasa.