Not that kind of Pilgrim

There are very few other western tourists here, as only fools like us decide to go to Tibet in December. However, there are many religious pilgrims who have made their way to Lhasa to visit the palaces and temples, bringing with them vats of melted yak butter, which they pour into containers inside holding wicks to create candles. Some carry prayer beads and prayer wheels, which they spin, chanting, while they circle the temples and palaces in a clockwise manner (clockwise for Buddhists, counter clockwise for the Bon, Tibet's native religion). The particularly devout prostrate themselves (see photo for people in various stages of laying down before the temple) before the temple OR if you are really intense, you make the pilgrimage from your village by taking 3 steps, prostrating, (and slidng some extra feet with knee pads, a long apron, and wooden pads on your hands for protection) and then continuing on in this manner til you get where you're going. We saw a fair number of people doing this yesterday. They looked really really tired.