A yurt -- and all the peace you can muster

No Wi-Fi. No television. No cellphone reception. But that's what you pay for at the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center and its 108 wooded acres just south of Indiana University in Bloomington. Not that you pay much. Renting one of the four yurts in these woods costs $65 per night.

Thubten Jigme Norbu, an Indiana University professor emeritus better known as the Dalai Lama's older brother, started the center in 1979 not only to preserve Tibetan and Mongolian cultures, but to "promote interfaith peace and harmony," according to the center.

What you won't get during your stay: what's mentioned above. Or soap in the bathroom.

What you do get: an eight-sided, one-room yurt (plus bathroom) that's nothing fancy but clean enough to walk across barefoot. You get a kitchenette, twin futons raised a couple of inches off the floor, a skylight and a small deck facing the woods. And, oh yes, inner peace.

The Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center will probably be the first time for most travelers to check into an accommodation in your socks. The office where travelers are directed is inside the temple, which means you don't want to commit the no-no of walking in with shoes on. The yurts, simple huts at the edge of a dense gathering of trees, serve as lodging.

Of course, the place to find peace, as well as stimulate the harmony within, is in the quiet of nature. Although this place isn't quite in the middle of nowhere -- single-family homes surround the property -- amid the thick trees and classic Buddhist architecture, things still feel quiet and removed. If that's not enough to feel a world away from the chain hotels of downtown Bloomington, three maroon-robed Buddhist monks live on the property.

In the quiet and stillness, you slowly come to expect more of yourself -- more thought, more reflection, more deliberation. It slows you to the point that when finding a daddy long legs scurrying away for dear life on your yurt's lime-green wall, you shrug and go about your business. All creatures have their place.

In the morning, after a quick breakfast, the temple's regulars welcome visitors into their sanctuary of maroon pillows on a carpeted floor with a photo of the Dalai Lama at the front of the room. For half an hour, everyone prayed. Eyes closed and legs folded, you may find that you can center yourself amid the gentle, rhythmic tones.

The monks, unfortunately, were away for the Mongolian New Year, so a Bloomington rabbi stood in as guest speaker. He talked for an hour on the value of compassion. When finished, several Buddhists noted that the religions share some identical concepts.

You'll want to head out on the center's several miles of walking trails that lead up gentle inclines and get that clean Indiana air into your lungs.

Yurts at the Buddhist Cultural Center are available for $65 per night, $375 per week or $650 per month. The low price and pastoral setting mean cabins book early for the height of the area's fall color season. It also would be a fine alternative to the in-town hotels when traveling to Bloomington for an Indiana University football or basketball game.

The yurts have kitchens, microwave ovens included, so bring food. If you'd prefer to eat well in town, try Farm (100 E. Kirkwood Ave.; 1-812-323-0002; www.farm-bloomington.com) or Roots on the Square (124 N. Walnut St.; 1-812-336-7668) for well-prepared food that was grown and raised in Indiana, with vegetarian options. There's also Snow Lion (113 S. Grant St.; 1-812-336-0835), a Tibetan restaurant started by the Dalai Lama's brother, which gets mixed reviews from locals.