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.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Friday, March 2, 2007
Happy Holi!
Well we are back in Kathmandu and it seems I inadvertently planned for us to be here during the Holi Festival. Another festival, sounds great, right?!
The Holi Festival is like a rite of Spring; it's a reminder to people that Spring and the Monsoon season are coming. The main civilian method of participation in this celebration is to 'play Holi' which equates to throwing colored water on your friends, neighbors and random passerbys.
My mom and I got a whiff of the game last night after we arrived back here from Bhutan. We took a stroll through Thamel, the tourist ghetto of Kathmandu. At some point water came pouring out a window above me and onto my head. I was miffed to say the least not having a clue as to what was in the water or why I was a target. Then we spotted kids with water bombs (clear plastic baggies filled with water) waiting for just the right moment to nail a hapless tourist right in the ass. I thought for awhile these were just games Nepali kiddies played on foreign visitors but then it was explained to us that there was to be a festival and the water works were part of it.
This morning we decided to damn to torpedos or better put - water bombs - and walk from our hotel to Durbur Square in Kathmandu. We mapped out a path to get there and I had it in mind that if things got really crazy we would duck into the National Museum to escape the festivites.
And so it began, kids from every direction ducked out from shops, windows and just plain in the middle of the road taunting my mom and I with little baggies full over water. Needless to say we got nailed a time or two (at least). We walked for some time and then decided to hell with it and hopped into a rickshaw to make our way down to Durbar Square. Wise move I realized after catching a glimpse of some Westerners not only drenched but with color all over their face, hair and clothing.
The rickshaw presents another interesting experience of course and that is navigating the narrow streets of Kathmandu and competing with taxis, scooters and motorcycles for room on the road. It's quite an experience, horns are honked continually, engines die here and there as taxi drivers have to make their way around skinny corners in low gear and there we were in a covered rickshaw powered by a fairly thin Nepali man in pedaling the bicycle in sandals.
Durbar Square was nothing short of amazing. Temple after temple, angry goddesses, people dressed in colorful clothing, water balloon fights, vegetables and fruits being hawked on the street.
Kathmandu provides a riot for the senses. In retrospect the capital of Bhutan, Thimpu is a sedate little town nestled in a valley with sleeping giant mountains on both sides.
I need to blog more about the last week in Bhutan and seeing as how things will be insane outside here for the afternoon it seems like a good time to catch up. We've been assured that the water portion of the Holi program ends at sunset today!
The Holi Festival is like a rite of Spring; it's a reminder to people that Spring and the Monsoon season are coming. The main civilian method of participation in this celebration is to 'play Holi' which equates to throwing colored water on your friends, neighbors and random passerbys.
My mom and I got a whiff of the game last night after we arrived back here from Bhutan. We took a stroll through Thamel, the tourist ghetto of Kathmandu. At some point water came pouring out a window above me and onto my head. I was miffed to say the least not having a clue as to what was in the water or why I was a target. Then we spotted kids with water bombs (clear plastic baggies filled with water) waiting for just the right moment to nail a hapless tourist right in the ass. I thought for awhile these were just games Nepali kiddies played on foreign visitors but then it was explained to us that there was to be a festival and the water works were part of it.
This morning we decided to damn to torpedos or better put - water bombs - and walk from our hotel to Durbur Square in Kathmandu. We mapped out a path to get there and I had it in mind that if things got really crazy we would duck into the National Museum to escape the festivites.
And so it began, kids from every direction ducked out from shops, windows and just plain in the middle of the road taunting my mom and I with little baggies full over water. Needless to say we got nailed a time or two (at least). We walked for some time and then decided to hell with it and hopped into a rickshaw to make our way down to Durbar Square. Wise move I realized after catching a glimpse of some Westerners not only drenched but with color all over their face, hair and clothing.
The rickshaw presents another interesting experience of course and that is navigating the narrow streets of Kathmandu and competing with taxis, scooters and motorcycles for room on the road. It's quite an experience, horns are honked continually, engines die here and there as taxi drivers have to make their way around skinny corners in low gear and there we were in a covered rickshaw powered by a fairly thin Nepali man in pedaling the bicycle in sandals.
Durbar Square was nothing short of amazing. Temple after temple, angry goddesses, people dressed in colorful clothing, water balloon fights, vegetables and fruits being hawked on the street.
Kathmandu provides a riot for the senses. In retrospect the capital of Bhutan, Thimpu is a sedate little town nestled in a valley with sleeping giant mountains on both sides.
I need to blog more about the last week in Bhutan and seeing as how things will be insane outside here for the afternoon it seems like a good time to catch up. We've been assured that the water portion of the Holi program ends at sunset today!
Monday, February 26, 2007
Return To Thimpu After Punahka and Wangdue
We just arrived in Thimpu after leaving it yesterday morning. We spent last night in the town of Wangdue which is close to Punahka town where we attended the festival.
The festival was pretty interesting; highlights include mask dances, a renactment of the failed invasion of the Tibetans, phallic symbols everywhere and safe sex demonstrations (more about that later).
The festivals are for the Bhutanese people of the town in which they occur. The celebration takes place in the Dzong of the town; Dzongs are town centers that look something like fortresses where the monastic and government bodies of the town live and work. There is a courtyard in the center of the Dzong where demonstrations and festivals take place.
Last night after our first day at the festival we drove to Wangdue to spend the night in a resort. The resort faced the Wandue river and was quite lovely and peaceful.
In the morning we drove back to Punahka for our 2nd day of the festival and the first day of a typical Teschu. It was today that we witnessed the mask dances.
After the festival and lunch we took a walk through some rice, corn, mustard, wheat, garlic and onion fields and made our way to the Temple of the Divine Madman, another heroic figure of Bhutanese lore. This particular temple is known as a fertility temple; people visit it if they wish to have childern and after a child is born they come to this temple to receive a name for the child. People in Bhutan only have a given name, no family name and their names are all Buddhist terms. For example, our guide whos is absolutely delightful is named Karma and our driver is named Lakee which means 'luck'.
Bhutan is indeed a fascinating place where there is no shortage of the fantastical.
The festival was pretty interesting; highlights include mask dances, a renactment of the failed invasion of the Tibetans, phallic symbols everywhere and safe sex demonstrations (more about that later).
The festivals are for the Bhutanese people of the town in which they occur. The celebration takes place in the Dzong of the town; Dzongs are town centers that look something like fortresses where the monastic and government bodies of the town live and work. There is a courtyard in the center of the Dzong where demonstrations and festivals take place.
Last night after our first day at the festival we drove to Wangdue to spend the night in a resort. The resort faced the Wandue river and was quite lovely and peaceful.
In the morning we drove back to Punahka for our 2nd day of the festival and the first day of a typical Teschu. It was today that we witnessed the mask dances.
After the festival and lunch we took a walk through some rice, corn, mustard, wheat, garlic and onion fields and made our way to the Temple of the Divine Madman, another heroic figure of Bhutanese lore. This particular temple is known as a fertility temple; people visit it if they wish to have childern and after a child is born they come to this temple to receive a name for the child. People in Bhutan only have a given name, no family name and their names are all Buddhist terms. For example, our guide whos is absolutely delightful is named Karma and our driver is named Lakee which means 'luck'.
Bhutan is indeed a fascinating place where there is no shortage of the fantastical.
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