Posted by Catherine
We were up at 5:30am this morning for an early flight to Pokhara. At the airport it seemed like everything was in chaos to us but it was obviously “situation normal” for everyone else.
The airline ticket agent informed us that our flight scheduled for 8:55 a.m. was canceled because of bad weather in Pokhara & that we were put on an earlier flight at 8:00 a.m. instead. This despite the fact that the airport in Pokhara was closed! Not sure how that was supposed to work but we nodded, smiled and decided to roll with it.
We found the gate and after a few attempts to clarify the situation, we were told the standard line – 10 more minutes to boarding. We understood why the hotel staff had said there was no point in arriving too early at the airport. The waiting area was a fascinating blend of locals, mountaineers, trekkers and assorted tourists.
Finally our flight was called at around 8:00am and we were taken by an ancient bus out to the boarding area for our Yeti Airline flight on a plane similar to the regional Dash-8’s we see in Ontario.
The flight was remarkably smooth with periodic mountain views through the clouds. It was much like a flight from London to Toronto except for the landscape below! We landed after a 25 minute flight.
The baggage claim area was like nothing we have seen before with one or two men wheeling the luggage in wagons from the plane to the baggage claim building and hefting each piece through an open window and over a small counter. Passengers pointed to their bags which were tossed in their direction.
Our bag made it! We took a taxi to the Hotel Bougainvillea and were cheerfully greeted with large cups of sweet milk tea. Miraculously they let us into our room at 9:30 a.m. which was really appreciated!
After a short rest, I attempted to cross the communication divide and figure out how to get to a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery for afternoon prayers. There are several Tibetan Refugee Settlements around Pokhara. I had read about one that was of particular interest in the Lonely Planet travel guide. Manu had told us to not rely on the book as there are frequent errors.
Fortunately there was a lovely young lady from Royal Mountain Travel here at the hotel who seemed to know what we wanted. A driver was to pick us up at 3:00 and take us to a nearby monastery but not the one from the book because it was too crowded and too far away.
Promptly at 3:00 our driver arrived in a shiny new Suzuki car. His name was Thupten Gyatso, a Nepalese man of Tibetan descent who runs a business called “Tibetan Encounters” introducing people to many aspects of Tibetan culture over a day or half day tour. Unfortunately through mis-communication he thought we only wanted to visit the monastery. We would have very happily signed up for the half day tour!
At any rate, he was a delightful guide and careful driver who took us to Tashi Palkhel Refugee Settlement area which about 10 kms from our hotel. We walked up the spotless pathway to the gates of the monastery and I was thrilled to see that we were at Jangchub Choeling Gompa, the monastery that was recommended in Lonely Planet!
There are about 150 monks living at this monastery, some as young as 6 years old and several hundred people in the community.
We arrived when the afternoon prayer service was just getting underway and Thupten assured us that we could go in and stay for as long as we wanted. We took our shoes off at the entrance & after drawing aside the red and gold curtain at the doorway, we entered the main worship area and sat down on the large carpet.
The building itself was astonishingly beautiful inside, with elaborate colourful paintings on all the walls, ceilings and pillars. Every surface was decorated in bright colours.
A huge golden Buddha at least 12 feet tall presided at the front altar, flanked by large framed photos of the Dalai Lama and other leaders. Rows and rows of smaller brass Buddha statues lined the front of the building from floor to ceiling.
Two rows of maroon robed monks faced each other seated on raised platforms with prayer books on long benches in front of them. They were mostly young men, some of whom were very sleepy. It was kind of cute to see a few of them checking their watches as the service unfolded!
There was the low rumble of chanting punctuated by the blowing of long brass horns, shorter curved horns, clanging symbols and the pounding of massive round drums suspended in ornately decorated wooden frames. This went in for some time and then there would be moments of silence.
The monks also used hand gestures, clapping and finger snapping as part of their ritual.
We moved to sit on cushions against the wall with a few dozen other Western and Asian tourists. Along the opposite wall were small boys in robes sitting at long benches writing out notes. Other young men were doing different rituals such as emptying out bowls of water and lighting incense.
We spent about 45 minutes here until the service concluded, the monks folded up their long narrow prayer books into colourful brocade cases tied up with ribbon and silently filed out.
What an astonishing experience! Unfortunately we could not take photos or videos inside and there were no postcards at the tiny shop. Words can’t adequately describe what we experienced.
Thupten drove us home expounding on the wisdom of the Dalai Lama and offering a brief Tibetan perspective on their beliefs, culture and way of life as refugees for the last 60 years.
One of the things he told us was that Tibetan refugees despite their many hardships have been able to have meaningful lives around the world through their well run monasteries, educational system and the powerful world influence of the much revered Dalai Lama.
Nothing much could top this day!
Our tour group arrived around 8:00 p.m. some of them looking a little worse for wear after their 9 hour bus ride.
We happily retrieved our remaining 2 bags from the top of the bus, had some snacks and went to bed early.
Namaste 🙏
