Woke up bright and early to wait 4 hours (ugh) for the share jeep to fill up so we could see Rumtek, a large and very famous Buddhist monastery close to Gangtok. Very nice interior on the prayer hall, plus a center for Buddhist study behind it. The center showed significant structural damage from the quake: large cracks on interior beams. I was pleased to see a number of passive solar water heaters. This might be something to implement in the future in our favorite village in Sainji, Uttarakhand.
Waiting for our taxi ride back, a cat mewed incessantly until I fed it the rest of my spicy hot Indian Cheeto-like snack. Turns out Indian cats are much more hearty than their American counterparts.
After we returned by taxi, Aaron and I hiked up to the ridge park to see the ancient monastery near the royal palace. Incredible interior paintings of Buddhist gurus and deities, the best we have seen in India. We met a couple German volunteers repairing cracks on the murals caused by the earthquake. Seems like a cool job, plus it gives them incredible bragging rights. No pictures inside, or I'd show the intricacy of the artwork and the painstaking efforts of the restoration work.
Dinner was fancy at Snow Lion in Hotel Tibet (i.e. HH the Dalai Lama stays here). Excellent food and service for $8. It was a nice change from momo (tibetan dumplings), thukpa (tibetan soup), chow mein, and fried rice.
Rumtek Monastery, near Gangtok
One of the three solar water heaters on the roof at Rumtek.
Waiting for our taxi ride back, a cat mewed incessantly until I fed it the rest of my spicy hot Indian Cheeto-like snack. Turns out Indian cats are much more hearty than their American counterparts.
After we returned by taxi, Aaron and I hiked up to the ridge park to see the ancient monastery near the royal palace. Incredible interior paintings of Buddhist gurus and deities, the best we have seen in India. We met a couple German volunteers repairing cracks on the murals caused by the earthquake. Seems like a cool job, plus it gives them incredible bragging rights. No pictures inside, or I'd show the intricacy of the artwork and the painstaking efforts of the restoration work.
Royal Chapel and Monastery, Sikkim
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