Thuptencholing Monastery

After breakfast we started off to the monastery. It was a lovely 2.5 km hike up and it was a beautiful, sunny day.

Once at the monastery, we were welcomed by a monk and shown two of the places where they meditate. In each of these rooms the walls are painted with very detailed artwork and there are long pads on the floor on which the monks sit. A monk in the second room did a blessing for us and put a loop of red string around our necks.

After viewing these rooms, we were offered tea. We went down to a little room beside the kitchen and joined three older monks who were having tea. Through our guide we learned a bit about them and about the monastery. Before the airport in Lukla was built 25 years ago, the way to Everest Base Camp was through Junbesi and they used to get many visitors. Now almost no one comes.

We shared our cookies with our hosts and drank delicious sweet, milky tea. It was a lovely, lovely experience. As we were leaving one of the female monks asked me to take her picture. I showed it to her and she a friend had a good giggle about it.

There is a picture below of the kitchen where they cook food for the 400 monks that live there. Ladies reading this, never complain about your kitchens!! The cooking here is done with wood, it's not vented properly so it's very smokey and everything is black!Read more