Kila Goempang Nunnery

Located on a cliff some 3,500 metres above sea level outside Paro town in Bhutan, the Kila Goenpa Nunnery is home to 35 nuns who live in self-imposed isolation. Life in the nunnery is centred on the study of Buddha Dharma where nuns spend their day alternating between prayer, self-study and meditation. They rarely interact with people outside the community and are separated from others by a steep two-hour hike up from the main road.

Photographed in April 2009.