Catching Up With Bhutan

Okay - - - so let's backtrack:

Day 1 Bhutan: We arrived in Paro via Druk air - the only airline that operates in Bhutan. We visited Paro Dzong - dzongs are fortresses built to house the Government and Monastic bodies for the region in which is resides. There are something like 25 Dzongs in Bhutan.

After lunch we drove to Thimpu; but this was not any ordinary drive. The road from Paro to Thimpu is under construction what this equates to are a lot of stops along the narrow snaking dirt road. The Bhutanese government employs people from India to work on the roads. This is hard work and as we were frequently stopped waiting for workers to clear their equipment so we could pass we caught quite a glimpse of how it is done. Men, women and small childern move rocks by hand, clear dirt, shovel and drill into the sides of mountains to create a wider birth for automobiles to pass. It was incredible and a little frightening to watch.

Day 2 & 3: These I mostly covered in a previous post - we traveled from Thimpu straight away to Punahka in order to attend the Punahka Festival. We stayed in Wangdue overnight at a lovely resort with a river running behind it. T'was delightful!

After we left the Punahka festival we walked through a farm and paddies to see the Temple of The Divine Madman and then made our way back to Thimpu.

Think I forgot to mention that at the festival we caught a glimpse of the new King of Bhutan and the Head Abbot.

Oh and did I mention the safe sex demonstration? Yes, well inbetween the mask dances there are basically these clowns who come out and entertain, taunt and tease the crowds of Bhutanese onlookers. Part of their schtick was carrying wooden phalluses. It took me a minute to figure out that the wooden sticks were actually phallluses and then eventually I saw one of the jesters distributing condoms to kids seated in the front viewing rows. There was much giggling and at some point the clown wooden phallus in hand demonstrated how the condom was to be used. It was brilliant. Bhutan has a limit on the number of childern a family have and I'm guessing that this demonstration is one of the ways in which they teach people from a very early age how to make sure they follow the rules!

There were also a fair number of billboards throughout all the cities we visited that made mention of the need to 'Know HIV/AIDs = No HIV/AIDS'. Again, I was impressed.

Day 4: Our first full day in Thimpu; this is a more 'modern' city and it is the capital. Visually speaking this means that there are newer building which tower above the two story limit of other places (like Paro for example).

We visited Bhutan's Textile Museum and their Folk Heritage Museum. Bhutanese are known for their textiles. They work with a loom and weave intricate and colorful patterns from silk, cotton and wool. My mom and I snagged a couple of scarves from the museum gift shop - they'll make excellent wall hangings.

The Folk Heritage Museum is basically a replica of a typical Bhutanese farm house.

Day 5: We visted the National Library. Eventually made our way back to Paro for and visited the National Museum, the Ruined Dzong and Mt. Jhomalhari.

Day 6: I took a 4 + hour hike up to Tiger's Nest Monastery. My mom decided to sit this one out. It was a nice and very steadily challenging hike. The prize at the end was seeing the Monastery built in the perch were Guru Rinpoche was said to have descended on the back of his favorite consort who'd taken the form of a flying tiger.

Day 7: Home again, home again, well back to Nepal anyway.

I'm still sorting out my thoughts and impressions of Bhutan. Will blog more about that later. Traveling there was an experience that I'm glad to have had. It's a strange and quietly fantastic culture that to my eye remains unadulterated by the likes of Western consumerism and capitalism. Just to give you a taste, they once had MTV and Wrestling but after some time decided to take it away.