The Enchanted Forest

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On the way out of Tengboche, we made a steep climb up another series of stone steps. Soon after, we passed through one of the most beautiful, idyllic forests I’ve ever seen. We called this the “Enchanted Forest” because it looked like something out of a fairy tale. With the flowers blooming on the rhododendron trees and the little stone houses by the river, it looks like Hobbiton. Pink, yellow and white rhododendrons were blooming in full force. Willowy trees and rocks with soft green moss lined the path. The only sounds were the rushing river and the breeze through the trees. What an amazing, peaceful place. Tolkien would be proud.

In Deboche village, we looked for a teahouse so we could stop and have a drink by the river. Instead of finding a teahouse, we stumbled upon a Buddhist nunnery, which is part of the Tengboche monastery. Since the nunnery is more remote and harder to find, it receives fewer visitors and less funding than the monastery. The nunnery is much smaller than the monastery and is not as well-maintained. There are only about 9 nuns there, most of whom are quite old. Due to the lack of facilities at Deboche, many of the younger nuns have gone to study in India.

An elderly nun opened the shrine room for us. We also saw the kitchen, which was very basic, with a few blackened pots and a wood-burning stove. There are some beautiful murals, though the paintings are not quite as elaborate as the monastery. There are also some nice carved prayer stones around the nunnery and Deboche village.

After we looked around, the nun invited us to have tea in the courtyard. While we sat on a rug eating trail mix and chocolate and drinking tea (with me trying not to put my still yak poo covered boots on the rug), we watched an elderly man hand carving Tibetan prayer stones in the courtyard. It was extraordinary to watch this man work. First he looked at a line of text written in Tibetan on a piece of paper next to him. Then he would smooth the stone with water and etch the letters into the stone with a small hammer and chisel. It was a very detailed process, but he worked rather quickly. He has been doing this for many years and has created many of the beautiful prayer stones you see in the nunnery and lining the paths of Deboche village. We asked him where he gets the stones that he uses for his work, and he said that he picks them up in the local forests and around the village.

I feel very fortunate to have such an experience. Not many people visit this nunnery, which is a shame because it has the most beautiful setting. Even fewer people get to see a traditional craftsman in action or have tea with a Buddhist nun. However, it also makes me a bit sad to think of this place. The nuns obviously live in more poverty than the monks, and the monastery seems to be flourishing while the nunnery is struggling to survive. I wonder how long the nunnery and this traditional life can endure in this increasingly modern world that is slowly transforming even isolated places in the Himalayas. What happens after the elderly craftsman and nuns die? Will the work they dedicated their entire lives to be left to decay and disappear forever, or will someone else continue what they have done? Since this place may be gone in a few years, I feel even luckier to have seen it while it still exists.

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Photos

Carving prayer stones at the nunnery
We watched this man hand carving prayer stones for the longest time. It was amazing to see how quickly he worked on such fine details.