Visiting the meditation caves of Tso Pema

Several days past our time in Rewalsar/Tso Pema I am finally putting some words together to attempt to describe a most extraordinary place and experience.
-Kelly

Tso Pema is Lotus Lake, located in a small town called Rewalsar. Each morning and afternoon, residents and visitors walk mindfully around the lake three times as an intentional positive action for the sake of all sentient beings in the context of a Tibetan Buddhist practice called Kora. Men, women of all ages, walking at various paces participate in this twice daily ritual, some in quiet contemplation, others chatting, still others stopping to feed the hungry carp and birds of the lake. The lake sits in a valley and high upon the mountain ridge are centuries old caves in which monks and nuns reside in hermitage meditating. We were able to visit these caves. As I sat in the first, larger cave, I watched devout Tibetans enter carrying shining white scarves to toss up and onto the altar. Plates rest on the altar decorated with mala beads, rupee notes, coins and other devotional objects. We sit on cushions provided by a young nun, or ani. It is easy to meditate here and we sit for several minutes together as a group. Eventually we leave the caves and walk out onto the sunny terrace, reclaiming our shoes and gratefully receiving a warm cup of chai from one of the nuns.

Unmentioned so far, but unforgettable is the hike from the Lotus Lake up to the meditation caves. The hike was steady and steep upon paved and natural rock steps leading from valley to ridge crossing two roads along the way. Buses, and small taxis concurrently ferrying people up and down who choose not to walk. The beginning of the walk led to the gigantic hillside temple statue of Guru Padmasambava. We stopped to take in this intricately and brightly painted stupa briefly, but long enough to peel off many of the irrelevant layers that we wore. From here steps led through dwellings with families out doing wash calling to one another, etc. Many children were on their way down the path hopping like billy goats from rock to rock on their way to school in town. Many carried tiffins or what looked like large milk pails possibly carrying curds (yogurt) to share. All were bright eyed and we happily exchanged "namaste" and "hello", some children greeting us quickly and moving past, others with a giggle, a few with lingering eyes. The climb rewarded us with a mountain view I have never imagined: layers upon layers of ridges and behind them the faint suggestion of farther northern peaks of the Himalayans. What to any reasonable human eye looked to be a bank of clouds forming the horizon was nothing less than a higher yet ridge of the earth's precipice! As mist rolled in, the valley basin became a bowl of clouds when stirred slowly would fold soft peaks lifting people and prayers up and over.