Touring and photographing inside a rural Buddhist monastery high in the mountains of Tibet is a privilege rarely given to outsiders. I was on a three-week photographic tour of China, Tibet, and Nepal with National Geographic. We were allowed many such privileges on this extraordinary tour.
These young men were in training to become fully ordained Buddhist monks. They were unaccustomed to visitors, and some may have never seen Americans. Although we were not allowed to converse with them, they were warm and friendly and just as curious about us as we were about them.