The Monastery had a huge kitchen and adjacent courtyard. I don't think many tourists check it out... everyone seemed surprised to see us. Nonetheless we were happily shown around the kitchen, with it's enormous woks and burners, as well as the courtyard. These massive burners I mentioned were fueled by flames which came from a sort of furnace underneath the kitchen building. I have never seen a set up like this. The "furnace" room was amazing! There were 2 men, covered in thick sweat and soot, continually stoking and loading the furnaces with wood. I don't know where all this wood came from! It is a scarce commodity in Tibet, and I can only think they must maintain a small grove somewhere to supply their needs. Tashilunpo is a huge and very important Monastery, both historically and even today. We happened to stumble into this area during dinner prep, so everything and everybody was in full swing! The man posing with Fish was flirting with me big time, blowing me kisses and winking at me right behind Fishes back! Hilarious, but odd treatment from a Tibetan. The man stoking the fire was happy to pose for an action shot, but was adament that we take his picture with his wife as well. They were an astonishingly beautiful couple, in the midst of all that thick black smoke. With the advent of the digital camera age, many people are happy for you to take their photo, because they know they can look at it immediately on the screen. It creates many fun moments with others, and always peels of laughter when everyone crowds around to look!
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