"Dalai Lama Pic-a chur? You how much? How much you say?" Anyone who has travelled in Tibet will have heard this constant refrain from children, accompanied by a relentless tugging on your shirt sleeve. A photograph of Tibet's spiritual leader, who has lived in exile since 1959, is a highly prized item in this part of the world, followed closely by "School pens, miss?" Any photos of the Dalai Lama are scattered on the shrines in Buddhist temples, along with rice grains and katha, or white offering scarves. These are only part of the rich panoply of offerings made by the devotees who circumambulate the shrines, strings of mala beads in their hands, counting the mantras that they murmur intensely and repeatedly.

Buddhism has been entwined with the fabric of Tibetan culture since as long ago as the seventh century. Today there are still practising Buddhists, men and women, lay and monk, despite the desecration of their temples by the Chinese occupation in the Fifties and the Cultural Revolution in the Sixties and Seventies, and intensifying imposition of Chinese culture on the area. In the wake of the invasion of Lhasa in 1959, those who fled with the Dalai Lama into exile at Dharamsala have set up communities on the Indian side of the Himalayas, in parts of Nepal and beyond.

Buddhism has its origins in the teachings of Siddharthur Gautama, who was born some 2,500 years ago, the son of Suddhodana of the Sakya clan, in Lumbini on the border of Nepal and India. Having heard that there was life beyond the confines of his luxurious palace, he went forth to seek and eventually gain 'Enlightenment' and liberation from the cyclic existence of birth, death and rebirth. After his Enlightenment he became known as Buddha, meaning 'Awakened One', and the influence of his teachings spread from India to Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia and east into Tibet, China and Japan. Within India, Buddhism was subsumed into Hinduism and then eroded by the Muslim Moguls. Since Independence, however, it has enjoyed a small but significant revival, with pockets of Buddhists notably around Bombay, in the south of the country, and in the north- eastern region near the border with Tibet. This includes Ladakh, now known as 'Little Tibet', Sikkim, and the area around Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama and his government-in-exile are based.

Today there are several schools of Buddhism. The Theravadins, who maintain traditional rules regarding discipline for monks and practitioners, based on the original teachings of Buddha, are found in parts of southern India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and Cambodia. The Mahayana, who grew up in northern India and Nepal among the lay as well as the monastic population, emphasise not only the historical teachings of Buddha but also the Buddhas of the past and future and the altruistic ideal of seeking Enlightenment for the benefit of all beings (the Bodhisattva Ideal). In the eighth century, Mahayana Buddhism was introduced into Tibet, where it developed a distinct flavour of its own with the beginning of Lamaism, in which religious teachers of high spiritual development are revered as incarnations, or tulkus, of their predecessors. It is believed that the current Dalai Lama, the fourteenth in the lineage, is the embodiment of the compassionate aspect of Enlightenment. This is symbolised in religious paintings by the Bodhisattva Avalokoteshvara, whose most common form has eleven heads and a thousand arms. A further development from the Mahayana in Tibet was the Vajrayana or Tantra, an even more devout approach (not for the faint- hearted) which introduced the possibility of reaching Enlightenment in one lifetime.

Today, Buddhism flourishes in pockets of Asia. In some countries, such as Bhutan, it is the state religion; in others it is virtually outlawed. In some places tradition allows people to be a Buddhist monk for a week, while in others sincere practitioners may not be members of a monastic order. All this may seem a little confusing to the Western traveller. Perhaps it is enough to say that even if the people around you are not wearing Buddhist robes, you may still be travelling among Buddhists.

In Tibet, Ladakh, and the Himalayan regions, the outward expression of Buddhism is found not only in the richly decorated monasteries or gompas (places of meditation) that are often wedged in impossibly inaccessible mountain tops, but also in the character of the people, both lay and monastic. It is as if all the positive emotion generated by Buddhist practice has infused its people with a remarkable cheerfulness, humour and lightness. The rugged monochrome landscape is sprinkled with the intense colours characteristic of Buddhist devotion: brightly coloured prayer flags fluttering from the golden rooftops of temples; boulders painted with Buddhist deities; the famous mantra of Avaolkiteshvara 'Om Mani Padme Hum'; and chortens, stone structures containing relics and built on a stack of geometrical shapes representing the five elements (earth, fire, water, air and ether).

Many of the gompas, are encircled by a pilgrim circuit, a narrow trail followed by devotees, who prostrate themselves repeatedly (raising their hands above their heads, and then flinging their bodies forward to the ground) until the circuit is complete. The practice of prostration is believed to engage the body, mind and powers of speech fully in the devotion of one's life to the Buddha and the ideal of Enlightenment.

On approaching a gompa, you may find built into the perimeter walls a row of prayer wheels; inside these brass and wooden barrels are scrolls inscribed with hundreds of mantras, and as they are turned (clockwise) the Dharma or Buddhist teachings and prayers are sent.

When you enter a gompa, remove your footwear and ensure that you are modestly dressed. Monks take vows of celibacy and it is deemed disrespectful to wear revealing clothing. At the entrance of larger temples, white offering scarves are on sale: these may be placed on the shrines, along with small amounts of change. The darkness of the interior of the gompa takes some adjusting to: a torch is therefore handy for close inspection of the walls, every inch of which is painted with scenes from the life of the Buddha or other Buddhist iconography, or hung with Thangkas (wall hangings depicting particular deities, mounted on silk). It is disrespectful to touch any of the Buddhist statues (rupas) or these paintings. Butter lamps are lit as prayers, and often you can approach a konyer (chaplain) and give him money to light one for you. Buddhists make their way round the shrine room in a clockwise direction, and to do otherwise is considered offensive. On leaving places of worship, Buddhists either back out or bow gently to the shrine before turning to leave; it is courteous to do the same.

You may be lucky enough to witness a puja (devotional worship), which involves the chanting of sutras or scriptures and mantras, orchestrated by the occasional ringing of bells, beating of drums, and the haunting call of strange horns fashioned from brilliantly white giant conch shells. Sit quietly at the back of the gathering while the ritual is carried out. Monks at puja ceremonies sit on the ground: take care not to step over them, or over texts or books. During the course of the ceremony offerings are made to the shrines of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, including incense, rice grains and yak butter lamps. At the end of the ceremony, a bowl of salty butter tea may be put in front of you. This is definitely an acquired taste, but it is disrespectful to show distaste; if you find it undrinkable, simply leave the bowl full without any fuss.

As a general rule, taking photographs in temples is regarded as an intrusion - the dark interior would require a flash and this interrupts the concentration of devotees. In some gompas, however, monks will allow photography, normally for a modest fee.

Taking pictures of the Dalai Lama into Tibet as gifts should be considered with caution. While they might be very much appreciated, there is no doubt that this is a politically sensitive issue. According to the Tibet Information Network, several tourists have recently experienced problems with the Chinese authorities. It is more prudent to show pictures of the Dalai Lama in your guidebook, rather than making presents of them.

One recent abhorrent development that has affronted Tibetan sensitivities is the increasing number of tourists who have shown a morbid fascination in witnessing the sky burial ritual. In a sky burial, the corpse is taken to a special site on a mountainside, where it is cut into pieces and left to be eaten by birds. Some tourists have not only photographed but also videoed this ritual, as a result of which Westerners have now been banned from such ceremonies in Lhasa. In other parts of Tibet you may still be invited, but you are strongly advised to turn down the offer as a mark of respect to the dead and their relatives.

Although Tibetan culture appears to be generally happy-go-lucky, this does not necessarily mean that anything goes. Politeness is an integral part of Tibetan culture, to the point where many Tibetans are loathe to refuse requests from travellers. If a woman in a short skirt asks the incumbent monk of a temple if she can go inside, for example, he may mutter that it is rather cold inside, indicating he feels uneasy about it, but would be unlikely to refuse her entry.

Finally, for those who want to learn more about Buddhism, there are a number of centres where travellers can not only learn about the religion and meditation, but also go on a meditation retreat. The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in Kathmandu runs meditation courses and retreats, held in Pulchowk monastery in Patan (contact PO Box 5336 Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal). The Mount Everest Centre for Buddhist Studies at the Kopan Monastery, GPO Box 817, Kathmandu, can also be of help.