Detail on the Roof of a Building in Songzanlin Temple 松赞林寺
There didn’t seem to be much to explore on top of the Songzanlin Temple. It gave me this impression that the place being touched up, which I heard was for an upcoming festival. It was going to be a big day for the temple so it would be good to look its best. Suddenly, the almost four hundred year old temple doesn’t look its age at all. No matter, it was still a nice place to explore. The main halls of the lamasery were all under construction which meant that it would be easier to get in. I don’t know if it was possible to get it if it was active but at least I got the chance to go in. I didn’t manage to see large Buddha statues here which was a big strange, maybe they were out being fixed up.
Mountains at the Background at Songzanlin Temple 松赞林寺
With nothing more to do, I head back down the temple. I actually like this temple as it gives me the chance to experience a bit of what Shangrila stands for and it wasn’t touristy at all. Although I needed to pay for that ride from the ticket center to the temple itself, which I thought was a bit unnecessary since it would have been pleasant to walk to the temple. I try to see if I can do it the other way around. In the meantime, I remember seeing a lake at the entrance of the temple. I was hoping that there would be great photo opportunities here. It isn’t very often that a Chinese tourist site is not overflowing with people, so I needed to make the most out of this.
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