There’s something that happens to you when you visit a holy place—to your body and your mind. It leaves an imprint. Not only a karmic one, but a physical one too. I feel it the moment my eyes open. A lightness in my body and mind, an agility in my limbs that I’ve never had before—and it’s not only the good night of sleep that’s brought it on.
While most pilgrims stayed to spend the night at the lake, we went back to the comfort of the inn.
“There’ll be plenty of nights without a roof ahead,” Dendup said, when I asked him why. “Too many nights under the open sky is a punishment on the body.”
And while I would have loved to have spent more time at the lake, I’m grateful now—the warmth of the hearth this early morning is a pleasant welcome.
My companions are already up as I wake betwe
