A few miles north of the Kremlin we found this 1960's greco-roman "Monument to the People". It was fairly impressive and very out of place! After the fall of communism it was transformed into a shopping mall and every corner of the 80 or so buildings are filled with everything from color TV's to lava lamps. Check out the golden fountain.
	Scenery typical of that found in Western China near the China-Kyrgyzstan border. In Kashgar we were only 60 miles from a 7000+ meter peak, but never saw it through all the smog and dust. Camels, however, we saw a-plenty!
	Near the center of China (not Tibet) we spent some time in the ethnically Tibetan town of Xiahe. It was home to the 6th largest Tibetan monestary in the world, over 1400 monks. On our last day we were fortunate to observe an event similar to the one pictured here. It seemed as though the whole town turned out for the ceremony, along with pilgrims from other villages!
	While in Xiahe, we were led on a guided tour through some of the temples and schools on the monestary grounds. Seats for hundreds of monks are found inside the main temple where the monks would pray, chant and eat. Besides daylight streaming through the main doors, the only light was from the multiple yak-butter candles that burned in front of a score of Buddhas. Looking at this picture one really needs to imagine the sweetly rancid smell of yak butter to get the best effect. The friendliness of the monks when we would meet them on the streets was in sharp contrast to the dark, even ominous, vibes we felt inside the temples.
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