Tidrum Nunnery

From Lhasa, a four hour trip by public/pilgrim bus gets you to Tidrum Nunnery. Tidrum and Drigung Til Monastery are only about 12 miles from each other, so we planned to combine those visits, spending a few days at each place. Tidrum was our first stop, because that is where the bus took us first. With it's medicinal hotsprings it has a sweet location in a narrow gorge at the confluence of two rivers. The hotsprings were our main draw to this place. This small nunnery has strong connections with Yeshe Tsogyel, the wife of King Trisong Detsen, one of the most venerated figures from Tibetan Buddhist history. The head nun, or Kandro-la, the resident spiritual leader of the nunnery, is considered a reincarnation of Yeshe Tsogyel. The hotsprings are delightful, and were a highlight of our time in Tibet! There were 2 main pools, seperated by sex. They are natural pools, not lined with concrete, and the water is quite hot! Some of my favorite Tibetan moments were spent in the pool here. The whole nunnery was literally full of people on the day we arrrived, which happened to be a Saturday. We were the only foreigners... everyone else was Tibetan! We were lucky to find a spot to sleep for that night. The Kandro-la herself offered us a spot in a room next to hers! I was excited to take a dip in the pools, but did not know what to expect. I put on my swimsuit and headed down the trail. When I turned the corner to enter the pool area this is the sight I met: about 15-20 women, ranging in age from less than a year to 80 years old, all in various stages of dressing/undressing to bathe. No one else was wearing a swim suit. Some women were swimming or floating around the pool, some were sitting still meditating or chanting softly, others were actively bathing, scrubbing bodies and sudsing hair. The pool was lined with large rocks, and there were several in the middle of the pool also. These were used as cool out spots, and people took turns sitting on them, with their bodies half in and half out of the hot hot water. The water was so hot there were bubbles coming up from the bottom at the hottest point in the pool! Boiling!?! When I entered the area, all eyes turned onto me, as the foreigner and new comer. Several women came over immediately, smiling and talking sweetly to me. They offered to help me figure out the way things went around there, helped me undress, stash my clothes and towel in the right spot, and then showed me into the pool. People were very relaxed and languid and smiley. Most ladies when they saw me enter the pool swam over to say hello. Some older ladies got the idea to come help me bathe and before I knew it, I had 3 elderly ladies ladeling hot water over my shoulders and scrubbing my back. They were smiling and laughing as if they were caring for a baby. I could tell they were curious about what was underneath my bathing suit, but they would have to wait until my second visit to the pools before I decided to give in and go without. The whole experience left me feelilng like a part of a big family. I felt loved and cared for and excepted by these ladies. A circle of women is always a beautiful thing, but throw in a hot spring, a holy site, a beautiful natural setting and Tibetan warmth and you get pure magic! I was told that the men's pool could have used a little more magic, but even though the hygiene level was low on that side of the wall, the water felt just as healing. I recall one moment in particular... it is late at night and dark, the tub is full with about 10 women soaking, meditating and chanting quietly to themselves. Suddenly from the men's pool a low murmur begins to materialize through the mist, which gets louder and louder, until it becomes a full on chant. A group of 4 high monks, visiting from Lhasa, had entered the pool, and their chanting continued for the rest of the evening. Seeing these beautiful, timeless Tibetan faces swirling through the thick steam coming off the water, surrounded by the mesmerizing chanting and crystal clear night sky, and enveloped in the strong, warm healing waters, it was difficult to remember where I was in time. Was it present day 2006? It would have been just as easy to believe it was a thousand years in the past. We had such a fantastic time here at Tidrum that we wound up staying for 4 days. When they say medicinal water, it is quite true. Team hollar felt the effects after every bath. You come out of the pool with a feeling of euphoria and well-being, soft skin, and if you stay in for too long, a little faint even. I'm not sure which elements are present in the water, but it would be interesting to find out...