4/18 -- Monastery, Nunnery

Recognizing that we were pretty exhausted from 2 long days, Chimi flip-flopped the schedule and we left at 10am to go to the Rumtek Monastery, the largest Bhuddist monastery in Sikkim. It was established in the 1960s by a lama who escaped from Tibet and is a very popular tourist stop. The head lama gave us a tour of the temple (no pictures allowed inside) and then led us upstairs to a classroom for a lesson on meditation, complete with a practice session. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside anywhere.

Entrance to Rumtek Monastery. Note the guards.

Prayer wheels--The Tibetan influence is obvious

Entrance to the complex

Entrance to the temple--Lama, Chimi (Tour Leader),
Enup (Local Guide), and Sujay (Logistics Specialist along
because this is only the 4th time this trip has been offered).

Our group: Sharon, Shelly, Chimi, Lynn, Cynthia (front),
Lisa (back), Lily (front), Jim, Lloydene

Central atrium

Roof decorations

Finally, we had a chance to view a stupa (grave), but it was up a bunch of steps and I was surprising lethargic. I think it was a combination of dehydration and the altitude of 5200 feet, so I bailed on the last section and had a nice chat with another  lady from the group, Sharon, who was also not quite up to the extra steps.

Next on the agenda was lunch, followed by a visit to Mahatma Ghandi Way, a pedestrian shopping area in Gangtok, at a higher altitude than we had been before. It is a major city built on steep hills. Four of our group (not us) agreed to split into two teams and see how much different stuff they could buy for 200 rupees (about $3). The rest of us wandered around the mall to see if there was anything interesting to buy. There was also a lower  market, 135 steps down, which I declined to look at, given my earlier challenges.

Ghandi and the mall behind him

Sign in the mall. Apparently betel nut chewing makes this
a serious problem here.

Decorations for a Chinese restaurant

Forget the  narrow alley--look at the steep stairs.

Finally, we visited a Buddhist nunnery. There are about 25 nuns in residence, ranging in age from 7 to 91. The youngest came to them from a family who lived two days walk away. They chose this place as a refuge from family difficulties for their daughter because her 14 year-old sister is also there. We had an opportunity to ask questions, got a tour of the kitchen, and were invited to watch a service which featured chanting and tooting on several sizes of horns. After observing for about 20 minutes, we left for the hotel.

Nunnery entrance. Note the lack of security, which is more
normal than what we saw at Rumtek.

Two of the younger  nuns in their room

The worship service. The two long things are deep horns that
are played during the chanting.

The internet was finally up and we had about 20 minutes to catch up before a talk by a young woman who had written a couple books about Sikkim culture and ethnic groups.

Before dinner, we had a presentation from the two teams who had taken very different approaches to the challenge.

One of the books our presenter wrote

Shelly and Lisa decided not to spend more than 10 Rupees (15 cents) on anything and even scored some 1 Rupee items. They had an eclectic collection of more than 20 things,and we roared as they explained their finds. Lily and  Lloydene took a different approach and got enough good luck charms for each of us and our guides by using  Lily's superior bargaining skills to get them all for about half price.

After dinner, it was time for bed again. We are slowly adapting to being halfway around the world. We get to sleep at 9:30 and wake up the first time about 2:30am, then  4:30 and finally 6, although the alarm is set for 7. The real milestone for me will be when I can get to 4:30 without being awake enough to wonder about the time.