I finally left Honey Valley in the hills of Coorg on the 1st of March, though not until mid afternoon. It was hard to leave. In the early morning I took a last walk up and down the road down the valley before breakfast. I thought about taking the jeep down the valley in time for the 11 a.m bus to Madikeri, but instead spent the morning and early afternoon at the plantation. I watched coffee berry pickers just up the hill from the plantation buildings. A man and woman finished clearing berries from several bushes and I watched them pick out the leaves and then bag the berries. They stopped for the simple lunch they had brought and chewed pan (betel nut) afterward before disappearing into the coffee bushes further up the steep slope in search of other bushes to pick.
I sat for a while enjoying the views and then had lunch before taking the jeep down the valley about 2:30 to catch a bus to Madikeri that passed by just after 3. This was a very slow bus, at one point jammed with school children on their way home, with many stops. Still, I enjoyed the trip. I was now able to spot all the pepper vines growing on trees among the coffee bushes. We arrived in Madikeri just after 5 and soon caught another bus heading east to Kushalnagar, only a forty minute trip. Kushalnagar is downhill from Madikeri. It is about 3000 feet in elevation and on the Cauvery, or Kaveri, River. It is on the eastern edge of Coorg, the boundary being the river. A French guy who had also stayed at Honey Valley and I took an auto rickshaw the three miles, crossing the river, to Bylakuppe, a Tibetan settlement. There is a guesthouse just across from one of the monasteries, but foreigners are not allowed to stay there without a hard to get permit. Nonetheless, the friendly monk in charge told us to leave our bags and come back after 7, the time the police apparently stop checking, to get rooms.
We did so and walked into the Namdroling Monastery across the street. There are several temples in the large compound. Tibetan monks and lay people were circumambulating the Zangdogpalri Temple at the center of the monastery and there were Indian tourists looking around. It was getting dark as we looked around and entered two of the temples, including the Zangdogpalri. Close to 7 I discovered the huge Golden Temple was open and went into that spectacular hall before the lights went out at 7, closing time. I made my way back to the hotel and got a very nice room, with hot water, for only 350 rupees, about $6.50. We had very good Tibetan vegetarian momos (dumplings) for dinner in the friendly restaurant below the hotel. But for one other who apparently had a permit, we were the only westerners there. I spent a very comfortable and quiet night there, though I did find a tick between my toes, which I managed to remove, and then crush with great satisfaction, without leaving its head embedded in my foot. Probably a souvenir from Honey Valley.
The next morning about 7:30 I walked over to the monastery. I have read that there are 18,000 Tibetan refugees settled in Bylakuppe. Seven thousand are monks, in several monasteries. I think they have been here since the 1960's, or maybe the '70's. I asked and got both answers. In the central prayer hall, the Zangdogpalri Temple, a senior monk was lecturing to a packed crowd of red robed monks and nuns. Signs forbade entry during prayer time. In two other smaller temples nearby just a few monks were chanting, aided by drums, those long Tibetan horns, and cymbals. Again, entry was forbidden but you could watch from the doorways. I wandered around, watching and listening to the goings on. Few other people other than the monks, nuns and Tibetan lay people were around. Eventually, I made my way into the cavernous Golden Temple, almost empty except for some early arriving Indian tourists. It is a new building, finished and opened by the Dalai Lama in 2002. It is beautiful inside and out, though seeing a Tibetan temple among palm trees seems a little odd at first. Inside are spectacular paintings and three huge statues made of copper and covered with gold and jewels. The central statue, of Buddha, is 60 feet high, while the other two are 58 feet high, one of the monk who brought Buddhism to Tibet and the other of an earlier Buddha. The hall is very impressive and a strange mixture, at once very modern in construction while still very Tibetan. In front of the central statue and all the other decoration are three thrones, the largest and most ornate with a large photo of a smiling Dalai Lama on it, the next and second largest with a photo of a Tibetan monk, possibly the leader of this sect of Tibetan Buddhism, and finally a third, empty. The monk at the hotel had asked us to check out by 9, so I hurried back to the hotel and did so. As I was leaving my room just before 9, I saw the red robed nuns, with shaved heads, walking back to their nunnery a little down the road after their morning prayers and lecture at the monastery.
I had breakfast and then returned to the monastery to look around. Lots of weekend Indian tourists were arriving. I found a model of the parent monastery of this one, located in the Kham region of eastern Tibet at about 11,000 feet elevation. I checked out the three of four story buildings where the monks have their rooms. There is also a large school, called a "Junior High School." I followed a row of prayer wheels around about half of the compound and saw a row of maybe twenty large white stupas. It was all very nice, but again seemed odd with Tibetan people and building among the palm trees. Some of the monks in the heat of the day had abandoned their red shawls and wore their long red skirts with bright yellow undershirts. I went back into the spectacular Golden Temple and looked around again and then sat on a cushion on the floor. Lots of Indian tourists were coming in and out. Signs admonish "Maintain Silence," but I am afraid Indians have difficulty with that. At least there was no screaming to hear the echo, though some of the little kids were quite loud.
About 2 I had a momo lunch and then walked to the Sera Monastery maybe a mile and a half away, passing the nunnery, a Tibetan village that seemed mostly deserted, and a grove of trees filled with colorful prayer flags on the way. There wasn't much agriculture along the way, perhaps because of the drought. There are actually three monasteries in the area I walked to, two different Sera ones (Sera is a particularly important monastery just outside of Lhasa) and one other. I think there are something like six monasteries all together in the Bylakuppe area. I walked up to the huge hall of one of the two Sera monasteries and a friendly monk unlocked the big red doors, with golden fittings, and showed me around inside. Built in the 1990's, it is beautifully decorated, with elaborate paintings and wall hangings. I looked around and then sat outside on the steps with him. He told me he was from Kangpo, near Lhasa. An elderly monk joined us. They were both very friendly. Some very young monks, less than ten years old, came by, perhaps from school.
After a while I walked up through streets to the other Sera Monastery, this one much less elaborately decorated. In fact, it seemed to be under renovation. About 5 I took an auto rickshaw back to the Namdroling Monastery, but I should have stayed at Sera, as Namdroling was full of Indian tourists on that Saturday afternoon while there were none at Sera. I did look around and sit in the Golden Temple and later just opposite the Zangdogpalri Temple to watch all the monks and other Tibetans circumambulating before dark. After 7 I checked in again at the hotel and had another momo dinner before another quiet night.
I sat for a while enjoying the views and then had lunch before taking the jeep down the valley about 2:30 to catch a bus to Madikeri that passed by just after 3. This was a very slow bus, at one point jammed with school children on their way home, with many stops. Still, I enjoyed the trip. I was now able to spot all the pepper vines growing on trees among the coffee bushes. We arrived in Madikeri just after 5 and soon caught another bus heading east to Kushalnagar, only a forty minute trip. Kushalnagar is downhill from Madikeri. It is about 3000 feet in elevation and on the Cauvery, or Kaveri, River. It is on the eastern edge of Coorg, the boundary being the river. A French guy who had also stayed at Honey Valley and I took an auto rickshaw the three miles, crossing the river, to Bylakuppe, a Tibetan settlement. There is a guesthouse just across from one of the monasteries, but foreigners are not allowed to stay there without a hard to get permit. Nonetheless, the friendly monk in charge told us to leave our bags and come back after 7, the time the police apparently stop checking, to get rooms.
We did so and walked into the Namdroling Monastery across the street. There are several temples in the large compound. Tibetan monks and lay people were circumambulating the Zangdogpalri Temple at the center of the monastery and there were Indian tourists looking around. It was getting dark as we looked around and entered two of the temples, including the Zangdogpalri. Close to 7 I discovered the huge Golden Temple was open and went into that spectacular hall before the lights went out at 7, closing time. I made my way back to the hotel and got a very nice room, with hot water, for only 350 rupees, about $6.50. We had very good Tibetan vegetarian momos (dumplings) for dinner in the friendly restaurant below the hotel. But for one other who apparently had a permit, we were the only westerners there. I spent a very comfortable and quiet night there, though I did find a tick between my toes, which I managed to remove, and then crush with great satisfaction, without leaving its head embedded in my foot. Probably a souvenir from Honey Valley.
The next morning about 7:30 I walked over to the monastery. I have read that there are 18,000 Tibetan refugees settled in Bylakuppe. Seven thousand are monks, in several monasteries. I think they have been here since the 1960's, or maybe the '70's. I asked and got both answers. In the central prayer hall, the Zangdogpalri Temple, a senior monk was lecturing to a packed crowd of red robed monks and nuns. Signs forbade entry during prayer time. In two other smaller temples nearby just a few monks were chanting, aided by drums, those long Tibetan horns, and cymbals. Again, entry was forbidden but you could watch from the doorways. I wandered around, watching and listening to the goings on. Few other people other than the monks, nuns and Tibetan lay people were around. Eventually, I made my way into the cavernous Golden Temple, almost empty except for some early arriving Indian tourists. It is a new building, finished and opened by the Dalai Lama in 2002. It is beautiful inside and out, though seeing a Tibetan temple among palm trees seems a little odd at first. Inside are spectacular paintings and three huge statues made of copper and covered with gold and jewels. The central statue, of Buddha, is 60 feet high, while the other two are 58 feet high, one of the monk who brought Buddhism to Tibet and the other of an earlier Buddha. The hall is very impressive and a strange mixture, at once very modern in construction while still very Tibetan. In front of the central statue and all the other decoration are three thrones, the largest and most ornate with a large photo of a smiling Dalai Lama on it, the next and second largest with a photo of a Tibetan monk, possibly the leader of this sect of Tibetan Buddhism, and finally a third, empty. The monk at the hotel had asked us to check out by 9, so I hurried back to the hotel and did so. As I was leaving my room just before 9, I saw the red robed nuns, with shaved heads, walking back to their nunnery a little down the road after their morning prayers and lecture at the monastery.
I had breakfast and then returned to the monastery to look around. Lots of weekend Indian tourists were arriving. I found a model of the parent monastery of this one, located in the Kham region of eastern Tibet at about 11,000 feet elevation. I checked out the three of four story buildings where the monks have their rooms. There is also a large school, called a "Junior High School." I followed a row of prayer wheels around about half of the compound and saw a row of maybe twenty large white stupas. It was all very nice, but again seemed odd with Tibetan people and building among the palm trees. Some of the monks in the heat of the day had abandoned their red shawls and wore their long red skirts with bright yellow undershirts. I went back into the spectacular Golden Temple and looked around again and then sat on a cushion on the floor. Lots of Indian tourists were coming in and out. Signs admonish "Maintain Silence," but I am afraid Indians have difficulty with that. At least there was no screaming to hear the echo, though some of the little kids were quite loud.
About 2 I had a momo lunch and then walked to the Sera Monastery maybe a mile and a half away, passing the nunnery, a Tibetan village that seemed mostly deserted, and a grove of trees filled with colorful prayer flags on the way. There wasn't much agriculture along the way, perhaps because of the drought. There are actually three monasteries in the area I walked to, two different Sera ones (Sera is a particularly important monastery just outside of Lhasa) and one other. I think there are something like six monasteries all together in the Bylakuppe area. I walked up to the huge hall of one of the two Sera monasteries and a friendly monk unlocked the big red doors, with golden fittings, and showed me around inside. Built in the 1990's, it is beautifully decorated, with elaborate paintings and wall hangings. I looked around and then sat outside on the steps with him. He told me he was from Kangpo, near Lhasa. An elderly monk joined us. They were both very friendly. Some very young monks, less than ten years old, came by, perhaps from school.
After a while I walked up through streets to the other Sera Monastery, this one much less elaborately decorated. In fact, it seemed to be under renovation. About 5 I took an auto rickshaw back to the Namdroling Monastery, but I should have stayed at Sera, as Namdroling was full of Indian tourists on that Saturday afternoon while there were none at Sera. I did look around and sit in the Golden Temple and later just opposite the Zangdogpalri Temple to watch all the monks and other Tibetans circumambulating before dark. After 7 I checked in again at the hotel and had another momo dinner before another quiet night.
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