This morning we woke up at 5am to walk to the temple.
We began the day by kneeling to pay our respects to the passing monks - one of which unexpectedly patted each of our heads with his prayer beads in blessing as he passed.
Then we entered the temple and sat on straw mats to listen to the very atmospheric chanting of the monks.
After about 15 minutes we were excused and lead around back to some steps that seemed to disapear into a hole beneath the temple.
In an orderly line we took to the stairs following instructions to keep our right hand on the wall and try to find the door handle. It is said whoever is able to locate the handle in the pitch black by touch alone will find their way to Nivarna.
Well it took a little while (and it really was pitch black down there!) but we finally found the handle.
We were then told to 'hold it open' for the person behind us. This was a little lost in translation. We were supposed to guide the person following us to the handle so they could obtain Nirvana, however several of us took this as literal and there were several minutes of a few of us blindly groping around in the dark looking for a door that didn't exist - all the while being very confused about it!
After we eventually found our way out we were greeted by a guide who gave us some information on the temple grounds before we headed off to see the Snow Monkeys.
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