One day that Drepung did not feel eerie for lack of souls was the day of the Shodon festival, when the monks unfurl this huge silk image of the Buddha on the hillside next to the monastery. By 8am the whole of Lhasa was there or trying to get there by means of anything with wheels. We walked for miles with thousands of people trying to squash onto the few outbound busses. The Tibetans believe that the Chinese purposefully make transportation scarce for the big festival days at the monasteries, to discourage, unsuccessfully, attendance.