miscellaneous rambling

Sakya requires a special permit. Once you make it to the town, you need to apply for ANOTHER permit to the holy temple, which is the head of the Sakya Order.
It took us two days to get here, because our bus broke down the first day, and we were stranded for 6 hours on the roadside.
The second day we ran the bus into a ditch and the PLA soldiers had to "liberate" us after being stuck for two hours.
The drive was SIX hours each way. That is, 12 hours!! and we were only allowed in the temple for about an hour. The holiest artifacts were sealed off as well as the famous Manadala wall murals. We needed another permit from Beijing that would allow us to see these rooms, and no matter how we begged, and pleaded, we were stuck. All in all, it was alot of effort to see the temple. The easiest way to discern those belonging to the Sakya order is the grey,white and red stripes painted on buildings. They represent the trinity of the Bodhisattvas.