Our last full day in Lhasa and I'm getting use to the altitude. Or it could be the 'EPO' I'm taking for altitude sickness and the extra oxygen boost needed in the mountains. Of course, I have no idea if it's EPO since Mat and I went to a pharmacy and showed a red pill packaging to the pharmacist and she said "ok" and gave us a bottle of blue & white pills (Mat got his red pills in Beijing and claims they're EPO). I was told to take 2 pills three times a day; but not knowing what the pills can do, I'm only taking them twice a day for a week. Better be safe than sorry, right?
We rode our bikes to Sera Monastery, our last monastery visit in Lhasa (trust me, there'll more on the way to Everest). It was founded in 1419 by Jamchen Choje Shakya Yesh, who was a disciple of Tsongkhapa. The Monastery is the second largest monastery in Tibet, including an Assembly hall, three colleges and 33 houses. At its peak, over 5000 monks resided in Sera Monastery, but the population has now been reduced by 90%. Unfortunately, we missed the monks debating in the debating courtyard, since they do not debate on weekends. One of the most impressive views in the Monastery is a small building to the side that holds a sand mandala -- very impressive.
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