Bootstrappin’

Today my friend Tee and I were walking along the shore of Namtso Lake here in Tibet, and we were approached by these two young “monks.” They were boys, around 12 or 13 years old, adorned in red Tibetan Buddhist robes, but there was something off and un-monklike about them. Maybe it was the fact that their robes were dirty and unkempt, that they had regular clothes on underneath, or that they were running around like undisciplined schoolboys. Or maybe it was that they started BEGGING US FOR MONEY (rather than “blessing” us) as soon as we approached, and when we turned them down, the little rascals grabbed on to our legs and held tight so that we couldn’t walk any further (I guess until we paid them some “ransom” to free ourselves). Not very typical monks, eh?

Something should have tipped me off right from the start. Wait, let’s take a closer look at that photo…

Is that a…. PLAYBOY BUNNY ON HIS SLEEVE?

You, Mr. “Monk” are a charlatan!

We eventually shook the two kids off our ankles, and told them we were onto them. It was pretty funny. They were silly kids and we joked around with them for a while…and eventually gave them some cookies. I guess they earned it!