It seemed to her too that even their immobile Tibetan faces were quite different, having the sweet melancholy that comes from long solitary meditations and the gentle smiles of men who are at peace.
Their voices were low and musical and in their welcome and the blessing that they greeted Alec and Vivian with she heard the famous ‘Aum mani padme aum’– Hail to the Jewel in the Locust – It was the sacred Buddhist mantra repeated by men, monks, praying wheels and sacred stones all over Asia.
The Monastery gates were thrown open in welcome and Vivian and Alec dismounted and were led forward into the building itself. They went down long passages hollowed out of the rock, hundreds of doors opening onto them that seemed to Vivian like a rabbit warren.
Stone steps led off in different directions
