- The common people don't bury or cremate their dead. They leave them out for the birds, the vultures.
- A custom when someone dies is to paint a white ladder on a mountainside for their spirit to rise to the heavens.
- The Guylipa (sp?) sect of the Buddhist religion is popular and monks can be identified by their yellow hats.
- Tibetan people are most often named after a famous buddha or high lama.
- In the monasteries the monks hold debate sessions where they discuss their ideas on the various teachings of buddha. If a monk slaps his other hand in a violent motion using his whole body this means he disagrees and has his own idea to say.
- When young children under ten or non Buddhists visit the temples, because they are not knowledgable, they receive a special blessing of a mark of black ghee across their noses.
- We recieved a silk scarf as a welcome gift when we arrived at the airport. This is a customary greeting for everyone.
- Tutuchanay (sp?)= Thank you
- On traditional Tibetan houses and buildings the windows are framed by a thick black paint which is said to help retain the heat for the house.
- The women wear these lovely stripy woven aprons over their long black skirts and braid coloured threads into their hair plaits.
- The traditional offering fruit is the peach.
- Symbols include the 'infinity' geometric design to represent a joining together of peace and harmony. The wheel of life with its six human phases, heaven gods to hell. The yinyang for protection and the reversed swastika as a sign of the Buddhist religion.
