Morning Walk

I skipped breakfast yesterday morning to explore the area around the Sherabling Monastery.  The grounds are composed of three different regions:  the main monastery, the guesthouse, and classrooms/dining hall/temple. 

My walk started by heading north out of the guesthouse.  I noticed a terraced area below the guest house with flower beds and a greenhouse.  In fact, the greenhouse was a Tibetan Medicinal Plant garden.  As I opened the gate into the garden, a man said "Hello," and asked if I liked plants.  I said I was very interested in plants and the garden.  He motioned to me to follow him through the garden and he led me to the greenhouse.

The man had the keys to the greenhouse and let me in.  Inside the greenhouse were rows of plants in pots; a few of the plants were labeled with the scientific names and common names, but most were not identified.  As I looked at the plants, the man fed a few rabbits and birds in the greenhouse.  After 15 minutes, I thanked the man and strolled through the outside garden.

When I left the garden, I walked up to the main monastery grounds.  As I rounded the top of the hill, I saw a basketball court -- the hoop even had a net!  During my trip to India last year, the monks and I played a game of basketball, so all I needed now, was a ball and we would be in business again.  So far, no ball.

On the way through the forest from the basketball court, I came upon a large, male macaque (monkey) in my path.  He did not seem interested in me, but I stopped and let him go on his way before continuing my walk.  I circled around the guesthouse and up past a collection of stupas before returning to my room for a cup of coffee before classes began for the day.