RETING MONASTARY

On the somewhat improved road to Reting Monastery, east of Lhasa. the valleys went on forever and only the occasional farm complex dotted the valley

Chinese government village below Reting. The valleys were wide with green pastures. The hike up to the nunnery was a big physical pump considering we were at about 16,000 feet. We met the Rinpoche priest/Panchen Lama down there in the village for a blessing and proceeded to get thrown out of town by the Chinese authorities that afternoon

George and Jameson getting set up in what was one of our usual group rooms...a cot, a thin pad, and small table and a window. This was a remote monastery  (but the Dalai Lamas favorite) but for all the "peaceful Buddhist monk" talk we heard in the states we watched a big group of young and old monks get in a fistfight with rocks at the temple

Hiking up to the Samtenling Nunnery through twisted stunted pinon pines and fluttering curtains of prayer flags. 

Its a very fragile and precarious existence in the nunnery, far above the Reting Monastery 

   

The path to the nunnery . George is walking next to the main temple and meditative cave. The nuns apartments are stone and slate and stacked up the slope

A young monk that was the lead cook and kept the yak butter tea hot for us. Dinners were minimal and consisted mainly of vegetables and occasionally yak of other questionable meats. Kitchen were Spartan and most of the drinks transported in thermos jugs around the compound

A teapot of hot yak butter tea resting on a window ledge overlooking the patio. We were offered so much tea it came out of our ears. It was considered rude to drink less than 3 cups your host offers

The main group prayer and eating halls built into the mountain sides.

George and the "official" greeter up in the blue sky

Two gentle soft spoken nuns that kept up the temple and arranged the pads and blankets. Definitely no building codes in alpine Tibet. One met us at the dining hall and invited us in for the one of the most beautiful lunch rooms in the world

One of the bright energetic nuns cleaning out the community dinner bowls. Unlike other monasteries we went to the nuns were skittering around laughing at their tasks

The older nuns were in charge of maintaining the prayer wheels and main temples. Because of the harsh weather the wheels were covered in a thick pleated cloth.

The hike back to Reting Monastery wove through forests of pines with curtains of  prayer flags draped across and above the trail. A cool breeze rose from the valley.

A the end of the trail to Reting is a large chorten that a small family had decided to have lunch on. Small calves grazed on the short grasses of the upper valley. 

A portion of the family relaxing before hiking up to see a sister that had taken vows as a nun up at the Samtenling Nunnery. We exchanged food and had a short visit with each other where we communicated via bad sketches and hand-signals