Staying at Drepung Loseling Monastery

I was very pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the monastery yesterday and saw where I'd be staying. We are staying in the "guest house", a small building very close to the main prayer hall. The accommodations are very "Western Style", and they left us many supplies. Not only did they provide 2 travel adapters, but a large selection of toiletries and laundry supplies. I could have packed much less! My room has two single beds, which have a lacy-style mosquito netting. Each room has its own bathroom and air conditioning. There is even hot water!

In the center of the guest house (which has about 6 rooms) is a open courtyard.  It is lovely, but was home to a very loud bird early in the morning.  I had gotten up to make sure the bird wasn't in my room!  There is a small kitchen area, with beverages and snacks.  For meals, we go to the main prayer hall where they have a buffet for us.  Dinner last night was good - the food seemed like Indian cuisine.  Breakfast was a bit more eclectic - eggs scrambled with vegetables, cereal, and chocolate cake.  The cake itself wasn't very sweet, but the monks definitely served us chocolate cake for breakfast.

So far I haven't seen very much of the monastery, except for our guest house and the dining area.  There have been some exciting wildlife sightings - there was a small lizard in my room, a number of cows outside of the guesthouse, and a few (seemingly) stray dogs.  While I did see two monkeys on the drive here (oh my goodness no one told me there would be monkeys!) I don't think I will see any here at the monastery.