The next morning we got up long before sunrise to photograph the pilgrims on Barkhor Square in the cold. After breakfast we went on a day trip out of Lhasa to the Tsurphu Temple, about an hour's drive away and beautifully set in the mountains. Tsurphu lies at around 4,300 metres, some 70 kilometres from Lhasa, and is the traditional seat of the Karmapas; the monastery was founded in 1159 by the first Karmapa.
Around the Tsurphu Temple
As expected, the temple was impressive but not very big, so we explored the surroundings as well. By early afternoon we were back in Lhasa and did a few more rounds on Barkhor Square. Afterwards, in a side street, we found a restaurant that became our regular haunt from then on: the yak steaks there were a dream, only the somewhat bland beer was a little disappointing.
Beneath the street lamp the pilgrims remain silhouettes on the Barkhor.Long shadows of the pilgrims fall across the paving on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Striped apron before the incense burner, a pilgrim on the Barkhor in Lhasa.A dense crowd seen from behind on the square of the Barkhor in Lhasa.Two people are seated on the broad stone paving of the Barkhor in Lhasa.Bowls in hand: three people sit together on the Barkhor paving in Lhasa.In a doorway sits a person in a pale hat, on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Among the goods, a trader sits in a doorway on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Goods and a dense crowd at a stall on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Stick in hand and against the light, a person crosses the Barkhor paving in Lhasa.Three people on a wooden bench in front of the white wall on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Hat and stick, a person comes across the square on the Barkhor in Lhasa.People behind a barrier, jugs and boxes in front of them, on the Barkhor in Lhasa.At the carved door a person crouches on the stone, on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Passers-by walk past a person lying in front of the shop doors on the Barkhor in Lhasa.A man with a prayer wheel and a woman in a jacket on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Women sit on a bench in front of a shop on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Pale scarf over the shoulder, a man walks the paving on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Hat and stick, a woman walks towards the camera on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Prostration on the paving of the Barkhor in Lhasa, passers-by walking beside it.A large bundle on the back, a person at a wooden door on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Stacked sacks and scales in an open shop against a stone wall in Lhasa.In front of the red building at Tsurphu, a woman carries a child on her back.A monk stands in the courtyard at Tsurphu, red and yellow buildings before the mountain.Headscarf and a sheet of paper: a woman reads at Tsurphu Monastery.Red façade, a black portal and round ornaments at Tsurphu Monastery.A pale green drum hangs in a colourful room of Tsurphu Monastery.Through the doorway, coloured cloths hang, and a red blanket lies beyond at Tsurphu.Red pleated fabric lies on a patterned blanket in Tsurphu Monastery.A black and gold prayer wheel on the stone wall of Tsurphu Monastery.Against the red wall of Tsurphu Monastery, a black yak is lying down.Red arrow and Tibetan writing on white plaster at Tsurphu Monastery.Two people walk down a whitewashed lane at Tsurphu Monastery.Small white stupas line a stone wall by the rock at Tsurphu Monastery.A colourfully framed window in the white wall of Tsurphu Monastery.Sofas, wooden floor and yellow curtains in a living room at Tsurphu Monastery.Colourful carpets and long benches fill a hall in Tsurphu Monastery.The red buildings of Tsurphu Monastery stand close against the rocky slope.Blue and striped fabric hangs from the eaves of Tsurphu Monastery.A bowl with dark remains sits on pale rock at Tsurphu Monastery.White house with a colourful door on the slope, the buildings of Tsurphu behind.Hat and prayer wheel, a man in the crowd on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Prayer wheel in hand, a man stands in the middle of the crowd on the Barkhor in Lhasa.A large prayer wheel in front of a white building on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Out-of-focus foreground, a handcart of goods in a lane in Lhasa behind it.Cap, a strap across the chest and a thin stick, a person on the Barkhor in Lhasa.A small prayer wheel in the crowd, a pilgrim on the Barkhor in Lhasa.From behind: braids and a pendant on the back, on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Hands hold prayer beads against a pale coat on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Seated with a hat and a hand prayer wheel on the Barkhor paving in Lhasa.Hat and prayer beads, a man stands in the crowd on the Barkhor in Lhasa.A braid and a striped skirt by a pale wall on the Barkhor in Lhasa.People stand under a canopy in front of a white building on the Barkhor in Lhasa.Gilded finials on a temple roof in Lhasa, the mast in front out of focus.Bags beside a vehicle, a group stands on the Barkhor in Lhasa.A full prostration on the stone slabs of the Barkhor in Lhasa.
