The Dalai Lama happened to be present while were touring Bylakuppe. Monks were busy putting the finishing touches on the new temple and painting every other surface that needed paint.

I could tell that some of the monks were sick of the tourists and their cameras. I actually got a little bit of a sneer from this fellow. But you know, I don't blame him.

I think a lot of tourists view Tibetan Buddhism as a lot of smells and bells set in a fantasy world without really grasping what is going on at all. I cannot say I have the deepest of understandings of the religion but I could see how this could get on my nerves. I thought about this at the time, too, but this didn't stop me from taking the picture anyway. I guess that makes me a bad person...

...or maybe I am just following my path.