| The Dolpo Project | ||||
Tsakang Monastery  Photograph courtesy of Dr. George B. Schaller
"Tsakang...consists of four stone structures plastered to the rock walls, like nests
of swifts. ..A tiny potato plot has been constructed on a ledge, and sliced potatoes
lie drying on a stone...The hermitage is situated so that nothing may be seen but
snow peaks rising to a shining sky...On a ledge, two bronze-skinned monks sit quietly, as if in wait. One is patching
his wool boots, the other is curing a goat hide in a yellow mix of goat brains and
rancid yak butter. Smiling, calm, they let our greetings wander; perhaps they live
here under vows of silence. The boot-mender is a clear-faced youth, little more
than twenty, while the other, curiously ageless, is a handsome cripple in strange
rags of leather. When we say goodbye, the two figures bow slightly, smile again,
and keep their silence."
Peter Matthiesen 
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