Samye Ling Monastery was the first Tibetan centre in the West, and is set beside the river Esk.
Unlike last year’s visit we had superb sunshine which set off the colourful buildings, statues and gardens.
The main temple was opened in 1988 and is magnificent, given that all the work is done by volunteers, many of whom we could see managing the cafes, shop and gardens.
We were privileged to be able to listen in to the afternoon meditation, which is the “noisy” one, with much chanting, banging of drums and clashes of cymbals. We were given and excellent lunch in the large noisy dining toom – the custard was pronounced excellent by one of our expert members.
Stephen should be thanked for driving a somewhat recalcitrant minibus through the winding roads up to Eskdalemiur and giving us a chance to take in the wonderful scenery.