Stupas

 

We see these mini stupas everywhere.  When a relative dies, 108 of these are made with the ashes.  The higher they put them, the quicker the departed will reach the next incarnation.

Crazy tourists

 

Crazy tourist admiring prayer flags hung on bridges.  Colored flags are for good fortune, white flags honor a departed relative.

Punakha and Drive to Paro

After breakfast, we drove along a scenic valley to the Punakha Dzong Fortress. It was the second dzong built by the founder of Bhutan back in the 16th century, and one of the most impressive in Bhutan. One of the buildings houses a relic of the Buddha,a piece of backbone of the ancient founder. At the temple, we were able to sit in while the monks were chanting.

Ten of the thirteen of us were dropped at the river Mo Chu for our rafting trip. As we drove along the river, it seemed pretty tame, so we decided to decline the optional wet weather gear and just go with life jackets and helmets. Turned out to be a bad move. It was only a class one or two river, but we still all got soaked. But we laughed all the way down. It was great fun. We're hoping to find another rafting trip in Nepal. When we met up with our van at the end of the ride, we had to have our bags unloaded so we could all change. We couldn't very well ride the four hours back to Paro soaking wet.

 

The ride back to Paro seemed shorter than going (maybe it seemed that way because I was able to doze off a bit), and Augie went with the truck that was carrying our bags so he could pick up another geocache. We reached our hotel, the Khangku Resort, around 6:00 pm. Our rooms are huge and have a spectacular view of the airport.

 

Tomorrow we get to visit the highlight of Bhutan, the Tiger's Nest. If you've ever seen pictures of Bhutan, this is probably what you've seen.

On the road to Punakha

After breakfast, we headed off to Punakha, the former winter capital of Bhutan. On the way out of town, we stopped to visit the fortress, now government buildings and home of the king and queen.

We also happened upon an archery tournament, which was interesting to see. Archery is the national sport. The target was so far away, it was impossible to see if they were hitting their mark, but every time someone did well, the team would get together to perform a little song and dance of celebration

 

As we finally left Thimphu behind, we began our long journey through the picturesque villages and terraced fields, stupas and rows of prayer flags, thick evergreen forests, and the windiest roads this side of Hana. Rhonda swears they were much scarier than Hana. The road could barely fit two cars, and there were no guard rails to prevent us from slipping over the side and over the several 500 foot or more drop.

 

We made a stop along the way at Dochula Pass, which is at 10,000 ft elevation. There were over one hundred stupas rising up into the clouds, and from the top we had stunning views of the valleys below and the snow capped Himalayas in the distance. We couldn't wander around all of the grounds because the police were guarding some of the areas as they were expecting the arrival of the king. We were hoping he would show up while we were there because we have heard he's very friendly, but we had to move along.

 

We stopped for lunch just a short distance down the hill.

 

Just before reaching our resort, we stopped for a short walk (a mile and a half) up a hillside to a monastery. We walked through a village that appeared to pay homage to phallic symbols. Craft shops and houses displayed penises at every turn. Apparently, this monastery was built by the Devine Madman, whose name was Drukpa Kunley. Every child in Bhutan knows the stories of his eccentric life, some of them are painted on the walls of the entrance to the temple. The penis symbol is not considered indecent in Bhutan. When a new house is blessed, a carved wooden penis is hung at each corner to keep away evil spirits.

 

A short fifteen minutes drive and we arrived at our resort for the night, the Punatsangchu Cottages, located along a lovely river. Last night we learned about rafting adventures available here, so eight of our group have decided to deviate from the itinerary tomorrow and give the river a try.

The "Old" king and his four wives

As you travel through Bhutan, there are pictures of the King, and previous kings everywhere.  This is the "old" king, father of the present king with his four wives.  They are all sisters.

 

He is in retirement, leaving his son to run the country.

 

 

Kids of Bhutan

A few of the children we've run across in our travels around Bhutan.  They're curious about us, since we're different, and until recently, they have not seen many foreigners.

Day 2 in Bhutan = flexibility

Since most of our group was "stupid tired" from the night before and days of minimal sleep....everyone was hungry for a leisurely breakfast this morning.

We were expecting to do a pretty vigorous 90 minute hike up to Tango Goemba Monastery, but after our tour guide assessed our group of 14 passengers, 1 who never showed so now we are 13 with limited mobility for several....he decided to alter our day and exclude another HIKE to see another MONASTERY. I'm not sure if it was the canes or the back braces sported by a few in our group or just the tired looks on some of the faces, but what ever it was brought on a new and varied itinerary for today.

Instead we started out our day with some of the activities that we actually on yesterdays itinerary. First stop to the Buddha Dordenma Project which means Bhutan will have the the largest and tallest statue of Lord Buddha. They hope the 169ft bronze Buddha will become the eight wonder of the world. Eventually it will contain over 100,000 eight-inch and 25,000 twelve-inch smaller statues of copper, guild-guilded gold and other materials. The back hillside will be a complete mandala representing the Buddha field or Pureland.

Then off to the National Textile Academy to see the young students learning techniques of fabric design, textiles, and museum studies. Another quick stop to visit National Institute for Arts and Crafts that offers a six year course on Bhutan's traditional arts that includes painting, wood carving, embroidery and statue making. Judging by the scenery, the Stuppas, the Monasteries....these are all important cultural treasures that need to be preserved.

Next was a visit to the local vegetable and fruit market and across the river a very colorful wooden bridge loaded with the colorful prayer flags to the craft market and center. Mo and Augie found a few treasures and purchased more T-Shirts for the World Famous Quilt....project and a hat for Augie that sported the National Motto on the brim....."Gross National Happiness". We saw lots of different rice products at the market and probably this is where they purchased our morning cereal that we ate for breakfast.

One of our last stops before lunch was a 10 minute trek up to Bhutan Takin Preserve. The Takins is the national animal of Bhutan which is believed to only exist in Bhutan. It is believed to be a bit of a mythical creature created by the "mad Buddha" and looks like a cross between a goat and a moose. Back to center of town for a buffet of Bhutanese food, odd mixes of minced beef, cabbage, chili and cheese dishes....enough to get full.

Lunch was followed by a quick visit to Folk Heritage Museum- a three storied rammed mud and timber building which is a replica of a century old traditional farmhouse. This is much like the hillside country dwellers of today. Simple, practical, and several signs of viral living. Some of our group opted to remain in town to shop and check out local culture and some went back to hotel Migmar to catch up on loss sleep. I think the altitude has zapped some of energy, others just run short on sightseeing. Only Piero Salussolia who joined us today of our group actually hired a car and driver to complete the originally planed hike to visit Tango Goemba Monastery.

Tonight we will meet up at 6 PM to head off to a culture dinner show which is a new addition to our original itinerary plan. Go with the flow as they say in Bhutan....do you really think you can be a Buddhist? Flexibility is always a good attribute for traveling with a group.

Mary Ann Mari

Paro to Thimphu

I ran out of time on my post about landing in Paro.  We were greeted by our guide and met some of our fellow travelers for the first time.  In Hawaii, you are "lei-ed" when greeted, in Bhutan, you are "scarf-ed".  We were directed to our air-conditioned van (air conditioned here means open all the windows) and left Paro and drove straight to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan.

Thimphu is the only capital city in the world without a traffic signal.  There is building going on everywhere.  This is a growing country.  They didn't even have TV until 1999.  The technology is so new that it is the best we've found in just about any country we've traveled to.

Our first stop on the road to Thimphu was a visit to the 13th century temple of Tamchog Lakhang, which can be reached by a short walk across a river over a bridge that is over 600 years old.  The original iron bracing is still there, but the bamboo has been replaced with chicken wire, so you are seeing the river raging below you as you walk.  The temple was built by the famous Tibetan Iron Bridge builder, Thangthong Gyalpo, who was an architect, physician, teacher and a saint.  The temple is still maintained by his descendants.  He built over a hundred bridges in Bhutan.

Upon arrival in Thimphu, we visited the giant Stupa (shrine) to the 3rd king of Bhutan, the grandfather of the present king.  We joined the locals by walking around the stupa three times to earn good merits.

After lunch, we were taken to the National Institute of Arts and Crafts, where we could watch the creation of the treasures, and then on to the Dupthop Nunnery, which had a spectacular view of the city below.  Finally, on to our hotel, Migmar.

Signts of Thimphu in no particular order