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Bhutan 2009 Day Eleven – Paro to Bangkok

Kara — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:20:06 +0000

Boarding area of the Paro airport, Paro, Bhutan

I woke up at about 5:00 am to the sound of rain falling, and I wanted to cry. If we can’t get out of Paro today, we’ll have to deal with changing our hotel, changing our United Flights, notifying our car service picking us up at SFO and letting the dog sitter know we’ll need her a little longer. Not to mention that they continue to charge you the daily rate per person as long as you are in Bhutan.

We took our time getting ready for breakfast and went to the dining room at 8:00 am. The couple we met from London came in shortly after us and we had a lovely chat with them. They are very well traveled so we had a great time talking about all the places we have visited. They said they had an excellent time in Galapagos and didn’t have any problem with seasickness, which gave me great hope that I can manage it. That is my dream trip, but Stephen insists we take a trip specifically for photographers and those are all on boats for the whole trip.

Pema and Ugyen picked us up for lunch at 1:00 pm and we went to a great little restaurant. We arrived at the airport way early, but that turned out to be fine because they have free internet access and we can finally get online again. I saw that a friend posted on Facebook that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize and I thought it was a joke. I pulled up CNN and found out that it was true. I about fell out of my chair, but it was a really nice surprise.

We just watched our plane land and I expect we’ll be boarding in a half hour or so. I know it’s our plane because Druk Air only has two planes and the other one took off for Nepal about an hour ago.

Our trip to Bhutan was wonderful, but it is always nice to go home. I’m logging off for now, but I will have more details and photos when I get home (and get some sleep). We’re in for some long plane rides. Hope the movies are good.

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.

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Bhutan 2009 Day Ten – Taktsang Monastery – Tiger’s Nest

Kara — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:13:01 +0000

Taktshang Goemba (Tiger's Nest) monastery contains seven temples, Paro Valley, Bhutan

When we woke up this morning, it was still raining. At breakfast, we sat with an older couple from London that we met the evening before at dinner. They were also hoping to hike to Tiger’s Nest today. By the time breakfast was over, the rain had stopped. We went ahead and got ready for a hike, hoping that the weather would hold.

At 8 am we went to the lobby and Pema and Ugyen showed up shortly. We decided to attempt the hike. We had to hike to the car down the flooded road. A lot of the water was gone, but it was a bit of a muddy mess. When we got down to the car, the portion of the road that we still had to drive actually looked worse. The problem was that with all the water, it was difficult to see where the rocks were. It was a little iffy, but we managed to make it down to the main road. The riverbanks were overflowing and there was water everywhere.

Taktshang Goemba hidden amongst the clouds, Paro Valley, Bhutan

We reached the starting point for the hike just before 9:00 am and Pema told us that Ugyen would be coming along and he took my backpack. That helped a lot because my back was a little sore this morning. I live in fear of re-injuring it. We took off and it started raining again, but lightly. I asked what the distance of the entire hike was, but Pema said they never measured it by distance – just by the time it takes to hike it. He said it was about three hours up and two hours back down. I knew at my pace, it would be slower than that.

I know everyone was a bit worried because I couldn’t do the Cheri Monastery hike the week before, but I knew it was because of the food poisoning. Being a bit out of shape, having a bad back, and bad knees slows me down, but it doesn’t stop me. It took us just over an hour to reach the first stopping point, the teahouse. We stopped and had a cup of tea and biscuits. There is supposed to be a spectacular view of Taktsang Monastery (Tiger’s Nest) from the teahouse, but everything was mostly misted over.

Stephen, Kara, Pema and Ugyen on the hike to Tiger's Nest.

Then we headed off to the second viewpoint. It was muddy in spots and steep in others, so it was slow going. In one place, part of the trail had slid down the mountain, so there was only a narrow space for us to walk. It took us another hour to get to the second viewpoint, and it was still fairly misty around the Tiger’s Nest, although we could now see the valley. The next part was the section I was dreading. It was hundreds of steps down, then back up to the monastery. I had a walking stick, but it was still pretty hard on my knees. Right before we got to the stairs leading back up to the monastery, we had to cross a bridge in front of a big waterfall. Although the rain had completely stopped, we got soaking wet again. I struggled up the steps and we finally made it to the Tiger’s Nest. We went into the first of two prayer halls and received a blessing. We didn’t stay very long, as the monastery would be closed from 12 to 1 for lunch. We headed back down the steps. I couldn’t wait until we climbed back up to the second viewpoint, because it would be all downhill after that. At the second viewpoint, Stephen was finally able to get some clear shots of the monastery. We stopped at the teahouse for lunch, then finished the hike. We got back down to the car a little after 3:00 pm.

After that, we went into Paro to do a little bit of gift shopping. It only took about a half hour and then we headed back out to the hotel to relax before dinner. We were quite happy to be staying in a hotel tonight instead of a farmhouse so we were able to shower. At dinner, Pema received a fax for a revised schedule for Druk Air Flights on the following day. Because they added some extra flights to make up for the days they couldn’t fly, our 10:15 am flight had been delayed to 4:50 pm, with a stop in Calcutta. Instead of reaching Bangkok at about 4 pm, we will get there at 10:05 pm. Our plane leaving Bangkok for Tokyo leaves at 7:00 am the next morning, so we will just have enough time to sleep by the time we get through immigration and to the hotel. We’ll just have to do our relaxing in Paro, sans internet. I would feel better if we had a little more time before our flight to Bangkok in case there are any more delays. At least we decided we could wait to pack until the morning.

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.

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Bhutan 2009 Day Nine – Paro Dzong, National Museum, Drukgyel ruins

Kara — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:10:39 +0000

Crumbling wall at Drukgyel Dzong, Paro, Bhutan

It rained all last night, and this morning it was still raining. Our first stop was the ruins of Drukgyel Dzong. The rain was fairly light so we were able to walk around the ruins. The dzong was built in 1649, but destroyed by fire in 1951. They plan to renovate it, but that would require major funding, so there is no schedule for doing so yet. Personally, I think the ruins are beautiful as is. The site is slowly being taken over by plant life. At one time, it was a massive structure, and now it serves as a reminder of the impermanence of human beings. Whatever we create, nature will eventually reclaim. If it weren’t for the rain, I could have wandered around there all day.

Next, we went to Kyichu Lhakhang, which is one of the oldest temples in Bhutan. It is believed to have been built in 659, as part of a series of 108 temples built to pin down a demoness. This is one of two such temples in Bhutan. The remainder are in Tibet. There was a ceremony going on today, and we were able to receive a blessing.

Entrance to Kyichu Lhakhang, Paro, Bhutan

On the way to lunch, we stopped at a new hotel for a tour. I admit that I was initially lukewarm about visiting a hotel we weren’t going to stay at, but Zhiwa Ling was definitely worth a visit. I will write more about it in a separate post.

The rain started falling harder, and we headed to lunch. I rarely seem to catch the name of the restaurants that we eat at, but this one was pretty good. They served rice noodles with vegetables. They put chili sauce on it, but it was so tasty, I had to eat it.

Next, we visited the National Museum. I hate to say that this was the most disappointing site we visited on the trip. They have a wonderful collection, but it is poorly lighted and the signage isn’t always as detailed as I would like. There are also many opportunities to bump your head on low beams. Although I think it is important to keep the traditional Bhutanese architecture there, I think the collection could be displayed to much greater advantage. My absolute favorite museum in the world is the National Museum of Korea. I’d love to see Bhutan do something similarly spectacular with their collection. My guess is that they likely have a huge number of artifacts that they do not have the room to display.

Central tower in Rinpung Dzong, Paro, Bhutan

Our last stop of the day was the Paro Dzong. Because the rain was coming down much harder, we kind of had to edge around the courtyards so we were under the overhangs, since we weren’t allowed to open our umbrellas inside. We went into the monks’ prayer hall where they were memorizing their chants. They weren’t in sync, so it produced this otherworldly sound. I would love to have a recording of that – it was such a beautiful, relaxing sound.

It was only about 3:00 pm when we left the dzong, but we decided against any shopping this afternoon. I just wanted to check into our hotel and try to warm up and take off my wet clothes. We are staying at the Tandiling Resort, which is a fairly new hotel. For the first time in Bhutan, we have a king bed in our room, so we finally get to sleep in the same bed. The room is very nice, if a bit chillier than expected due to the pouring rain.

Flooding caused by heavy rains, Paro, Bhutan

Our concern is that we may not get to experience what should have been the highlight of our trip – the hike to Taktsang Monastery (the Tiger’s Nest). If it is still pouring rain tomorrow, chances are we won’t be able to do it because of all the sliding mud.

We also heard that the Druk Air planes were unable to take off or land today due to the rain. I sure hope that the day after tomorrow will be nice again so that we can get to Bangkok. We are staying overnight in Bangkok, because the flight from Paro would arrive too late to make the flight to Narita in Tokyo. I don’t know how accommodating United will be if we can’t make our flights. Most airlines, including United, are not known for trying to make things easier for their customers. We used air miles, so we are even lower on United’s compassion list.

After dinner, we found out that Pema and Ugyen had gotten stuck down the road, which had flooded, so they couldn’t make it to us for dinner. They stayed in town.

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.

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Bhutan 2009 Day Eight – Wangdue to Paro

Kara — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:08:46 +0000

The 108 chorten are located at Dochu La pass which connects Thimphu and Punakha.

We left at 8:30 this morning to drive back to Paro. Pema had a plan to break up the drive a bit so that I wouldn’t get carsick. Our first stop was at Dochu La Pass, about one and a half hours after we left Wangdue. I walked around a bit, not really nauseated, but feeling a bit uneasy about it. Then it was another 45 minutes back down to Thimphu. On our way to the Takin Reserve, we stopped at the Traditional Medicine Institute so that Pema could pick up some medicines. One of the things he brought back to the car were little packets of medicinal herbs tied up in small pieces of cloth. He said that we should take them with us when we hike to the Tiger’s Nest, and if we start having any altitude problems, we should sniff them. They smelled kind of good.

Next we stopped at the Takin Reserve and hiked around. The takins turned out to be kind of hard to spot, although we saw a couple. Legend has it that the Divine Madman, Drukpa Kunley, created the takin by placing the head of a goat onto the body of a cow. To me, it looked a little bit more like a buffalo. There were also some deer in the reserve. Our driver, Ugyen, got one of the deer to come over to the fence to feed him some grass.

People crowded on Norzin Lam street buying and selling merchandise, Thimphu, Bhutan

After the takin reserve, we went to Karma Coffee for lunch, which is where we went for lunch on our first day in Bhutan. It is my favorite place I have eaten at in Bhutan. The owner is a friend of Pema’s. He apparently went to Australia for a couple years, and when he came back, he made a lot of changes to his restaurant. It has a very western feel. We ate Bhutanese food, but they also serves sandwiches and other western style food.

After lunch, we walked around a little market selling traditional handicrafts. I was tempted by a couple things, because I need to get Christmas presents, but most places don’t take Visa and I didn’t have enough cash in either Ngultrum or US dollars. We left empty handed. I will have to do my shopping in Paro.

Town of Paro, Bhutan

Next we headed straight out to Paro. I started to fall asleep. About half way to Paro, everyone started calling my name and trying to wake me up. I thought something bad had happened. But I looked to where they were pointing, and there was a Hanuman Langur sitting on the guard rail next to the road. He was so close. Unfortunately, we weren’t expecting it at all, and Stephen was not able to get his camera out before he ran away. I couldn’t believe how close he was to the car.

We went on and arrived at the farmhouse where we would be staying on the outskirts of Paro. It was really interesting, although I was a little worried about getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night. You have to go down a very steep, almost ladder-like set of stairs, then through several doorways. The bathroom requires you to climb up to very big concrete steps to reach the squat toilet. I am going to do my best not to need the bathroom until the morning.

General shop in Paro, Bhutan

One highlight of the farmhouse stay was the hot stone bath. They fill a large two-part wooden bathtub with water. There are small holes between the two sections. They heat large rocks, then put them in the smaller section of the tub to heat the water. They also say the minerals in the rocks are very good for your joints. At first, the water was unbelievably hot, but I quickly got used to it. I didn’t want to get out, but Stephen needed a turn too. He caught my cold, and is feeling pretty miserable.

Before dinner, we were in the sitting room outside our bedroom, and the family’s little cat came and made himself at home on my lap. I am a dog person, but this guy was pretty sweet. Before dinner, the farmer’s wife shooed the cat away and then we went and served ourselves. They served rice, pork and potatoes, ema datsi (chilies with cheese) and potatoes with cheese.

We went right to bed after dinner. We shut and latched the bedroom door, but Stephen woke up in the middle of the night and found the cat curled up with him. We couldn’t figure out how it got in until the morning. There was a gap in the wall between the bedroom and the sitting room and the kitty easily could have squeezed through it. He knew he found a couple of softies and took advantage!

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.

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Bhutan 2009 Day Seven – Phobjikha to Wangdue

Kara — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:24:21 +0000

Beautiful Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan

We had breakfast with the French ladies today, and had an interesting conversation regarding religion, including Mormonism and Scientology.

We left at 8:30 am to hike the Gangte Nature Trail up to the Gangte Goemba (temple). It was beautiful hike, most of which was flat, except for climbing up to the temple itself. Because they had been offering blessings at the temple the previous day, the surrounding area was a bit of a mess, with trash all over the place.

The hike took just over four hours, undoubtedly slowed by Stephen’s picture taking. It rained a bit when Stephen stopped to take a panorama of the vallery, but it didn’t last long. It was a beautiful hike. I seemed to be just about back to 100 percent, so I didn’t have any trouble with it.

Young girl with grandmother at Gante Goemba, Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan

After lunch, we got back in the car and drove back to Wangdue. On the way, Ugyen, our eagle-eyed driver, spotted some monkeys and pulled over for Stephen to take pictures. It was a fairly large family of Hanuman Langurs. It was hard to get good pictures because they were not right next to the road, but it was exciting to see monkeys in the wild. They were quite acrobatic. After that brief stop, we went on to Wangdue to stay overnight at the Dragon’s Nest Resort. It’s a nice spot away from the town. We should sleep well tonight.

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.

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Bhutan 2009 Day Six – Punakha to Wangdue to Phobjikha

Kara — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:52:31 +0000

Terraced rice paddies and farmhouses, Punakha, Bhutan

This morning we hiked to Chimi Lhakhang,the Temple of the Divine Madman. Lama Drukpa Kinley was a spiritual master who had a unique method of teaching to the people. He believed that the monastic body was too strict, therefore separating the common people from Buddhism. His goal was to loosen people up to bring them closer to Buddha. He was very much into wine, women and song. He is the one responsible for the phallic symbols seen painted on the sides of buildings all over Bhutan.

Much of the hike was through rice paddies, which I unexpectedly thought were beautiful. We got to see the rice being harvested. When we got to the temple, I rested a bit while Stephen took pictures. Then we headed inside. At each of the temples we visited, if you made a small donation, they would pour some holy water in your hand to drink. It might have been more like oil – I’m not sure. It has special herbal ingredients in it. Usually after the holy water, you are done. But at this temple, they also bless you. The monk handling the holy water and the blessing was about eight years old I would guess. When you are blessed, you bow so that you may be touched on the head with the holy objects. In this case, the holy objects were an archer’s bow and a large wooden phallus. It was kind of disconcerting to see this little kid approaching with this phallus, but that is just an American cultural difference. It is a honor to receive a blessing, and I treated it as such.

Pema said that kids usually enter the monastery between the ages of five and seven. It used to be compulsory for families to send at least one son, but that is no longer the case. Now it is the family’s choice and most choose not to send a child to join the monastic body. Pema calls the youngest monks the “mini monks” which I loved. It is hard to imagine having a family and being sent to be raised as monk nearly your entire life. They seem so young to be living the monastic life.

Wangdue Dzong and Punak Tsang Chhu River, Bhutan.

Next, we visited the Wangdue Dzong. Unlike Punakha, the Wangdue dzong has not been restored, although I think they are beginning restoration work. The layout is very similar to that of Punakha, although it is not as big.

After visiting the dzong, we ate lunch, then had a chance to wander around the town a bit. I was looking for a baseball cap for my brother because I bring him a cap from every place we visit, but all the caps for sale in the town had logos like Reebok and Adiddas. When looking in one store, the daughter of the owner wanted to talk to us and ask us questions. Her English was quite good, and she was obviously very bright. I’d guess she was about eight or nine years old. She was fascinated by my watch because it has two faces. I told her “one for home and one for here”. Honestly, it is the most wonderful watch for travel. As we walked back down toward the car, two Indian guys walked up to us and very much wanted to speak with us in English. They were holding hands, which is not unusual in Bhutan, although I don’t know about India. These gentlemen were Hindu. We chatted a bit about where we were from and they wanted to know what sights we would be visiting. Interestingly, one of them asked us if this was the first time we had visited India. India has been a strong partner to Bhutan, but I found it very interesting that he either misspoke or considers Bhutan as part of India. Bhutan is very much an independent country.

Young Buddhist monks, Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan

After wandering around in Wangdue a bit, we drove to Phobjikha Valley. Amazingly, I didn’t get the least bit motion sick, because it was a windy, bumpy, two and a half hour drive. We stayed at the Gakiling Guest House. Our room was quite sparse and had a wood stove in the middle. We were told it would be quite cold in our room at night and that they would also give us hot water bottles for our beds.

We took a quick walk down to the Crane Information Center, but we found that the Black-Necked Cranes had not yet returned to Phobjikha for the winter.

At dinner, we met three French ladies and sat with them for dinner. I could really tell I hadn’t had a French class in 14 years. I caught a little of what they were saying, but one of them spoke English, so she translated for everyone. We had a great conversation, and some tasty tofu curry, then headed to our room. With our stove, water bottles and blankets, we actually got a little too warm. The pillows were not great (Stephen’s was hard as rock and mine was flat), so it was hard to sleep, but we did manage to get a pretty good night’s sleep.

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.

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Bhutan 2009 Day Five – Khamsum Chorten, Punakha Dzong and Archery Competition

Kara — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:49:35 +0000

Sculpture of goddess in a pavilion at Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten, Punakha Valley, Bhutan

This morning we hiked to Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten. It was about a 45 minute uphill hike. The first part was through some rice paddies, which were surprisingly beautiful. Although the hike was a little bit difficult for me with my cold, it was totally worth the hike. Once we reached the top, I sat on the steps to the temple and rested a bit. There were lots of dogs around, and one of them decided he was my buddy. The dogs here are very docile, but I don’t pet them because they are pretty dirty and some have mange and who knows what else. But this guy looked fairly clean, so I gave him some scratches behind the ears, and he plopped right down and cuddled up to me. There were also some tiny puppies that were adorable. All the dogs were extremely skinny.

After a bit of a rest, we were invited inside the temple. We climbed all the way to the roof and were rewarded with a wonderful 360 degree view of the area. When went back down, Stephen took lots of pictures of the puppies – they were so cute. Then we hike back down, which was a little rough due to slippery spots, but I remained more or less upright for the remainder of the hike.

Main tower and exterior walls of Punakha Dzong, Punakha, Bhutan

After a stop for lunch, we visited the Punakha Dzong. It is an impressive structure. The dzongs were originally used as fortresses when Bhutan was at war with Tibet and others. All the windows are very high up and there are small slots used for shooting arrows at the enemy. The dzong is 180 meters long and 72 meters wide. It has three courtyards. The first one is used for administrative purposes and houses a chorten and a bodhi tree. It is in this courtyard where the Punakha Tsechu takes place in February or March of each year. The other two courtyards are used by the monastic body. The third courtyard is the site of a temple that is considered the most beautiful in Bhutan. It certainly is the most beautiful one we’ve seen thus far.

Young man taking aim with a compound bow during an archery competition, Punakha, Bhutan

After the dzong, we walked over to an archery competition that was in progress. It turned out to be great fun to watch. Every time someone hit the target, his teammates performed a song and danced. I have some video of this that I will post when we get home. Stephen got some great pictures, then we headed back to the hotel.

I haven’t been talking too much about our meals here, because there just isn’t that much variance. After dinner, we watched a bit of Gladiator on tv and conked out.

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.

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Bhutan 2009 Day Four – Cheri Monastery and Drive to Punakha

Kara — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:43:48 +0000

The courtyard of the Cheri Monastery, which I never got to see

When we went down to breakfast this morning, I just had a couple slices of toast. I was still feeling pretty weak, and of course tired. After checking out of the hotel, we headed off for a hike to the Cheri Monastery. Unfortunately, the hike was all uphill and I was still feeling week. I sent Stephen and Pema on up to the top, and I went back down to hang out with our driver. I hadn’t been sitting very long when a monk came up to the car and said the head monk was coming down and asked if we would like to be blessed. It seemed like an excellent idea to me, so I went and got in the line of people waiting for the monk to come down. Finally he appeared, being carried by a group of monks. I made a small offering to the monastery, then bowed so he could bless me. I am not Buddhist, but it was a big honor to be blessed. He was the previous head abbot for the country.

When Stephen and Pema came back down, we headed back to Thimphu, but I was feeling worse. About half way back, I had to have them stop the car so I could get some fresh air. They moved me to the front seat, then decided we would go back to the hotel and see if they had a room where I could lie down for a bit. As soon as we got back to the hotel and I got out of the car, I started throwing up again. Luckily, they had one room available, although it was unfortunately on the top floor. I climbed the stairs and got right into bed. I sent Stephen and Pema off to lunch, but first they brought me some crackers in case I felt like eating something. I also made a horrifying discovery about Bhutan. They don’t sell Gatorade here. Some Gatorade would have been awesome to help me get re-hydrated. Knowing that we were going to have to get in the car later, I put on a Scopolamine patch. Then I tried to rest up. I did manage to eat about five crackers and drink some water. I thought Stephen wanted to go to the weekend market, but when he got back to the room, he said we were going to drive straight to Punakha. Before we got in the car, I took some Bonine, hoping that in combination with the Scopolamine patch, I would be okay in the car.

Woman walking around the main chorten at Dochu La pass, Bhutan

The first hour of the trip got us to Dochu La Pass. I was definitely okay up to that point, although I was exhausted. There are 108 chortens there, as well as hundreds of prayer flags. We then drove down to the Dochu La Hotel to stop at their tearoom. Then we headed on to Punakha. With only about a half hour left in the drive, I started to feel sick again, so I had them stop the car so I could rest a bit. After about 10 minutes, I felt better and we took off again. I made it to our hotel with no further problems. We stayed at the Hotel Zangto Pelri. It didn’t have internet like our hotel in Thimphu, so we are incommunicado again. We ate dinner at 7 pm then went straight to bed. Stephen said the crickets were incredibly loud, but my ears hadn’t popped from driving down from the mountains, so I couldn’t hear a thing. I slept very well.

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.

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Bhutan 2009 Day Three – Thimphu

Kara — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:40:46 +0000

Buddhist worshippers walk clockwise around the National Memorial Chorten

We had an extremely busy day today. We started off by visiting the National Memorial Chorten. A chorten is a receptacle for offerings and contain religious artifacts. It was built to honor the memory of the third king of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. Buddhists walk around the chorten counter-clockwise, at least three times. They even built the road around it so that cars only travel in a counter-clockwise direction. It is a beautiful chorten. We walked around it three times, then headed off to our next stop.

I had asked to visit the post office because Bhutan is known for its beautiful and interesting stamps. Most of them aren’t particularly collectable, but they are really neat, so I wanted to buy some. I bought eight sheets of stamps, including a set commemorating the coronation of the fifth king, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck. I also found a stamp featuring compatible lunar animal signs, with rat and monkey. I am a monkey and Stephen is a rat, so it seemed like a good choice. When I get home I will scan some of the stamps and post them.

Crowded Norzin Lam Street in downtown Thimphu

Next, we went to the Textile Museum. We watched a short film about textiles and clothing in Bhutan, then toured the small museum. The film was especially interesting – some of the weaving techniques they use seem pretty amazing to me.

The next stop was the Institute of Traditional Medicine Services. In addition to providing medical services, the institute trainers practitioners of traditional medicine. Some of the techniques they teach include golden needle therapy (acupuncture?), heated oil cauterization, and bloodletting, in addition to the use of traditional medicines. The Pharmaceutical Research Unit manufactures traditional medicines that are distributed around the country. Bhutan also has western medical facilities, which are free to the average citizen. Government workers have to pay a portion of their medical care. Pema said that for very serious ailments, people are transferred to India or Bangkok for treatment. The museum at ITMS was very small, mostly showing many samples of different types of ingredients for traditional medicines. I looked in vain for an ingredient that said it would cure the common cold, because I would be happy to OD on such a thing right now. I hate the travel cold. I don’t get sick that often, but I typically do when we travel.

A weaving class at the Institute for Zorig Chosum

After the ITMS, we went to the National Institute for Zorig Chusum. Zorig Chosum refers to the 13 traditional arts and crafts of Bhutan. These include weaving, sculpting, painting, embroidery, and carving. The school is for high school age kids who either didn’t make it in a regular academic school, or who prefer vocational training. I am sure that tourist dollars must help keep the school afloat, as we were allowed to wander through the classrooms, take pictures and ask questions. The students seemed very talented. We met Pema’s cousin there in a painting class. He went to the school because he is deaf and mute, but had exceptional aptitude for the traditional arts. They don’t have any sort of standardized sign language in Bhutan, so deaf children and their families just have to develop their own way of communicating. It was difficult to Pema and his cousin to understand each other for that reason. He was a handsome young man and seemed quite talented. They have a store at the school to sell the students’ work to help support the institute. We were especially mesmerized by the paintings and spent way too much time trying to pick one out. We finally settled on one and paid $19 US, which I thought was entirely reasonable. The paintings are not unique. They paint the same subjects over and over, as those are the traditional Buddhist images. I could have easily bought a dozen of them, they were all so lovely. I haven’t found any gifts I liked for my family yet, but we are still at the beginning of our trip, so I have time.

Entrance to the National Library in Thimphu

Next we went to the Folk Heritage Museum. The museum is located in a restored three-story traditional rammed mud and timber farm house. It was fascinating to see how people lived (and still live in some parts of Bhutan). Of course a highlight for me was wood printing blocks. I noticed a roller with some cloth tied around it and asked if it was for applying ink to the blocks. Indeed it was. They had an indoor toilet, but it was only for honored guests such as visiting lamas and monks. The family just went to the bathroom outside in the bushes.

Our last stop of the morning was the national library. They had a huge model of the Punahka Dzong (fortress), which was pretty amazing. Pema said the dzongs were built without blueprints, which is quite impressive for such massive structures. The library houses the world’s largest book, a photographic book of Bhutan. They turn one page a month. That thing must weigh a ton. There is a smaller (though still quite large) version you can buy. Most of the museum is filled with prayer books in beautiful silk wrappings.

Next we went to lunch at the Lingshay restaurant and rested for a bit. After lunch, we went to the Jungshi Handmade Paper Factory and watched them making paper using the bark of the daphne papyri plant. Everything was done in one room. When I get home, there will be a link to a longer article about the papermaking factory.

A view of the Thimphu Valley

For the rest of the afternoon, we drove around to some lookout points above Thimphu sp Stephen could take some pictures. We also drove up to the construction site for what will be the world’s largest seated Buddha. The largest is currently in Hong Kong. Right now, only the framework is up, but it is going to be gigantic. We also walked up to a small nunnery and explored a little bit.

We went to dinner and then we went to a Bhutanese karaoke bar to meet a friend of Pema’s. I was having fun, but then started to feel a little nauseated. Finally, I had to go back to the hotel because I just kept feeling worse. Unfortunately, it turned out that I had food poisoning and I was up sick all night. It is hard to know what caused it, but we had spinach with dinner, and I ate by far the most of it. Pema ate a little bit and he apparently got a little bit sick. Stephen didn’t get sick at all. I ended up with another sleepless night. My immune system must be operating at nearly zero.

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.

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Bhutan 2009 Day Two: Thimphu Tsechu Festival

Kara — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:48:35 +0000

The Thimphu Tsechu attracts a large crowd

After a good night’s sleep, we went down at 7 am to a breakfast of toast, fried eggs, bacon, beans, porridge and apples. We met Pema at 8 am to head over to the fortress for the tsechu. All the people were in their finest clothes, and it was an impressive sight. The women wore kira, long woven dresses with Chinese brocade jackets. The men wore the traditional gho. They looked fantastic, although they surely must have been very hot. I felt quite underdressed in my jeans and t-shirt. I wore long sleeves to protect myself from the sun. We were told not to wear hats, so we lathered ourselves with sunscreen. They laughed at me for taking two huge bottles of water for myself, but I drank almost all of it. I don’t do well in the heat, so I tried very hard to stay hydrated. Even at 8:30 am, it was getting very hot and the sun is quite strong here.

Dance of the Sixteen Fairies

At around 10 am, Stephen went off in search of good photo taking spots. This suits me fine. I sat and watched the dancing and wrote in my journal while he moved around. Pema sat with me a bit, but also walked around awhile. I hate to admit that the dancing did not make all that big of an impression on me, but this was undoubtedly because it was too hot to be comfortable and too sunny to see very well. I am sure that had it been cooler, I would have enjoyed the show more. I spent most of my time people watching. The little boy next to me had a veritable feast inside his gho. He pulled out potato chips, an apple, some dumplings and slices of zucchini. Pema calls the gho, “the world’s biggest pocket,” an apt description.

Bhutanese children were always very friendly

I felt like I was baking out there, so at 11 am, I finally went and stood in the shade in the gate area. I was not the only person to take shelter there. It was packed. There was a little boy and girl playing a sort of kick the can type game with a plastic bottle and they were entertaining to watch. The little girl accidentally kicked the bottle into my foot, and her hands flew up to cover her mouth as if she was horrified that she did it. I just gave her a big smile and told her it was okay.

People of all ages attend the Tsechu

So far, Bhutan has been everything I expected. The people are warm and friendly and the country is beautiful. But there is one big disappointment, and it’s one that I didn’t expect. There is litter everywhere in Thimphu. I saw people throwing trash on the ground all the time. Not just at the festival, but all over town. It is a big mess. It makes me really sad to see people do that. It’s pretty common in the U.S. too, but in a Buddhist country like Bhutan, where Gross National Happiness is a way of life and nature is revered, I just didn’t expect it. Littering is completely mystifying to me. It takes so little to carry something until you find a trash can, but it contributes so much to the beauty of the world that surrounds you. Why people would want to turn their world into a dump, I don’t know, but it is pretty common behavior worldwide. However, if that is my chief complaint about Bhutan, then I really don’t have much to complain about. But it still makes me kind of sad.

Four dancers with white skull masks

At lunch, we sat with a couple from San Diego. As it turns out, they both went to San Jose State, so they know our area very well. After lunch, we ran back to the hotel to refresh our sunscreen because I forgot to throw it in my backpack. I found one spot I missed in the morning – the back of my left hand and wrist. When I took off my watch, I had a stark white stripe in the middle of a field of red. Ouch!

We headed back to the festival, and while Stephen walked around, I sat next to an endless line of people waiting for a blessing. I had a lot of little kids come and sit with me for a bit and watch me write in my journal. There were three little girls who were just all over me, and it got to be a bit much. They wanted me to name all these body parts in English (nose, mouth, neck, legs, etc.) and they were clapping my hands for me. It made me even more tired than the heat. They would leave, but kept coming back. Finally I escaped and went to stand in the shade to wait for Stephen to finish.

Young Buddhist monks sit on the steps just outside the courtyard at the Thimphu Tsechu

The people really seem to have a sense of humor – they are very playful. I saw a monk with an empty water bottle, and when another monk turned his back, the first one bonked him on the head with the bottle. When he noticed that I had seen him, he gave me a big grin. When we were driving back to the hotel, we saw the following written on the back of a car, “Don’t be hurry – no space for you at hell.”

We took a brief look at some of Stephen’s pictures and I think he got some good ones. I will have to post pictures when I get back – he doesn’t have anything to edit photos with on this computer. His new camera also takes videos, so I will post a couple of those when we get back home too.

After a rest at the hotel, we went out for a dinner, which was excellent. We had red rice, puta (buckwheat noodles), kewa datse (potatoes with cheese), dumplings with spinach, a ground beef dish, and a dish with pork, cabbage and chilies. All very delicious.

It’s about 8:45 pm now and we are zonked out again. Time to get a good night’s sleep before a day of sightseeing tomorrow.

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.

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