Photos

A stupa at the Ivolginski Datsan south of Ulan Ude. As you can see at the previous postings, this is one of the only two Russian Buddhist places in this whole big country. The Mongolian border is not far away and the place absolutely worth a visit. There are certain areas on the site which people are asked not to photograph but none of the monks paid attention to us taking photos. Inside the buildings (some of them can be visited) visitors are asked to walk only clockwise (as on the whole area) along the outer wall of the house. The monks are generally friendly and happy to inform visitors about their rituals and Buddhism as such but speak only Russian, so you either bring a translator or try to pick out the infos from their rapid speach ;).