Abstract= We visit Dozong G then Yerikang G before going up the valley of Kyi chu towards the N-W. In Pödö we turn towards the N-E to reach the monastery of Reting where we spend the night.
Dozong. We visit the monastery of nuns before departing. It contains some relics of clothing having belonged to Padma Sambavat. After having lunched in our room, we take to the road. The track is really terrible and painful.
On the road, we pass a rather pretty house. While crossing Yerikang, we discover its monastery on the southern side of the road. The entry is located in a street perpendicular to the main road. In the courtyard, the Dukhang is on the right and on the left were three large white chortens. It was being rebuilt and the monks were singing sutras.
Before departure, at the bus station, our guide finds a rather pretty Tibetan girl and invites her to sit beside him. She manages to do in one hour and half what would have taken 8 hours with the local trucks and under poor conditions.
Just pass Drigung the road the Kyi chu valley and Drongsar gompa could be seen half way up to the slope on our right. To go up and down we estimate would require a 3/4 hours trek which was too difficult for me hence we did not go. As detailed in my notes, we discover also two other monasteries located rather high at mid-slope on the other side of the valley. I can only take pictures. It is frustrating!
The valley of Kyi chu here is very wide but not cultivated at all.
We pass a Tibetan woman returning from the fields, smiling as always..
We arrive at the crossroads of 4 valleys at Pödö Dzong. The dzong in ruins overhangs the valley. We take a tributary on the right on route to the monastery of Reting. This was founded in 1056 by a scholar of Atisha who created the new Kadampa school. As Tsechokling gompa visited yesterday, it is one of four monasteries from where the Regents were chosen. It is located half way up the slope in a valley which broadens and faces S. A variety of spruce covers this side of the valley and is protected by a micro climate (they are much above the tree limit).
As Ganden Gompa it is facing S.
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There are several old style large chortens in front of the monastery. A third of Dukhang only is rebuilt. The other parts are being rebuilt. We can see large Buddhas with a wood structure covered with bundles of bamboo before being covered by ten to twenty centimetres of clay.
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In the front courtyard some monks are dancing, others play music intruments such as long horns and conches.
Their melodious sounds echo for a long time in the mountains. An unreal world...
Near the southern big chorten a hundred pilgrims are installing white tents and will spend the night here.
We find ourselves in a large bedroom, in the guesthouse located at the entry to the monastery. In the evening we have diner in the restaurant located in the middle of the bedrooms. A storm threatens, the temperature drops abruptly. The weather continues to worsen early in the night and melted snow falls. There is no chimney, no wood, no fire. Hence we just had to bear the temperature. We feared the snow, falling heavily through the night, would block us here. We had to miss Samteling G which was located higher in the valley.
