Religious devotion of Tibetans

On arrival at the train station in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, we were almost immediately whisked into the police station - with no words spoken and having had our passports and permits taken from us. However, the (first of many) checks passed quickly and without issue, and we soon found our tour guide, Sunam, waiting for us. Whilst we're not the type of people who usually go on tours, it's the only option for westerners in Tibet, and did mean we didn't need to worry about organising anything for the next week.
The next morning we met the rest of our group of 12 - an eclectic mix of nationalities (Thai, Mexican, Indian, Columbian, Dutch, Hungarian born American and a German/American) and a diverse range of ages (from c.25 to c.65). Despite the differences, the group gelled well and proved to be really fun - a big relief. Sunam also turned out to be an excellent guide - relaxed, hugely knowledgeable, excellent English and great fun.
Our first couple of days were spent exploring Lhasa (at 3650m we needed to acclimatise here before going higher) and in particular its monasteries, temples and palaces. Apparently these are totally different things - although to our uneducated eyes there were many similarities. That said, the four main attractions we visited each gave us a different insight into Tibetan Budhism.
The Drepung monastery was our first stop and enabled us to learn about some of the basics of Budhism and its history in Tibet. The afternoon took us to probably the most iconic sight - the Potala palace - the official residence of the Dalai Lama before he fled to India:

The next morning we visited Jokhang Temple in the centre of the old town - the highlight for us as it was an important day (Friday) during a big festival (moon horse), meaning the temple was jam-packed with locals coming with pay their respects to the Budha - with the sounds, smells and general hustle and bustle creating an amazing atmosphere.

And this was followed in the afternoon by a visit to Sera monastery, where we got to watch the monks debating philosophy very enthusiastically:

Whilst each of these were interesting in their own right, what was perhaps most fascinating was the religious devolution of the Tibetan people. As well as queuing for hours to get into the Jokhang temple, we saw thousands of them walking the koras (pilgrim circuits) around the temples (even in the heat of the midday sun), with the most devoted prostrating themselves all the way around:

On a slightly sourer note, the Chinese military were ever-present around the city - with lots of check points, a heavy general presence and plain clothed officers on the rooftops surrounding the main attractions.

However this didn't stop the city from buzzing - with the charm of the Tibetan people, the fresh air (a big contrast to most of our last 6 weeks in China) and tasty food (now more curry than Chinese) all contributing to a fun couple of days.