Perspectives: Tibetan monastery

My plane was to leave early that afternoon -- I had taken a bus up onto the Tibetan plateau from Lijiang -- and then it snowed that morning.  I had visited this monastery up on the hill the day before, and thought, "Here's my chance for some very special photos."  I wish the resolution were a wee bit clearer.  Up the hill I raced before the clouds blew away: there's the spot, with horses in the fields below the monastery.  A once-in-a-lifetime shot.

The town (at my back as I take this picture) is Zhongdian, in Yunnan Province.  It's largely Tibetan, but looks typically Chinese, unlike this monastery.  I drank Tibetan tea here for the first and hopefully last time -- foul stuff -- and also got some pictures of young monks in red having a snowball fight.  Kids are kids, everywhere.  I also tried yak meat in Zhongdian, with an American who lived here, before heading across the high plateau and down into the Salween River canyon, a few days before.