Bhutan, Thimphu

October 7th we headed back up out of the valley to the capital city of Thimphu.  We stopped at the top of the pass at 10,000 feet where we each had a set of prayer flags which we joined together in one long line and then our drivers climbed the hills to string it high above the pass where it flutter beautifully against the blue sky. After seeing prayer flags everywhere we went it was a really neat experience.  After lunch at a local restaurant along the way we arrived in Thimphu which is the capital city of Bhutan. With a population of 104,000 it is the third highest capital city in the world at 10,000 feet.  It is the only capital city without a single traffic light.  Traffic is controlled by white gloved traffic police and seems quite orderly.  We settled into our hotel and went for a walk along the Main Street and visited a couple of local stores.  Like the rest of Bhutan there were dogs everywhere.  They don’t belong to anyone in particular yet they appear to be fairly well fed unlike the ones in Thailand.

We had a very interesting evening.  We all got dressed, with help, in the traditional dress of Bhutan and attended a cocktail party and dinner with members of local government, local dignitaries and professionals.  It was extremely interesting to talk with them about their country and the visions they had for it going forward.  I sat between two very interesting gentlemen.  One owned a tour company and he definitely had concerns regarding the number of new hotels being built with foreign investment and what an increase in tourism might do to the local culture. The other gentleman,Sanjay is in the process of setting up the first law school in Bhutan.  To this point students have gone to India to get their degrees and then written the Bhutanese Bar with a very low pass rate. As coincidence would have it they have just in July signed a partnership agreement with the University of Victoria to help them with their Law School and he is coming to Victoria in the spring so he was very interested in our home.  Eric had very interesting conversations with a young poet who is hoping to get a scholarship to study in North America.  She is a big fan of Robin Sharma.  It is a small world.

We started the next morning with a visit to the textile museum.  The fabrics were beyond stunning and all handmade. There were also some embroidered works that one could never put a price on.  We then went on to the Thimphu Tsebhu Festival which is an annual religious event that goes on for days.  It was packed with locals all dressed in their best outfit and looking at the outfits was as interesting as watching the colourful dancing.  Even the little children were dressed in their finery. It was a photographers dream as everywhere you looked there was a photo to be taken.  Before going to lunch we visited an art School where accomplished artists donate their time and art to teach and finance young students.  Before leaving Thimphu we drove up the hill above the city to the giant Buddha which is so large it has a temple inside. It looks down over the city and can be seen for miles around.

My personal set of prayer flags 

Eric getting his flags ready to tie to the group line

The National Geographic Group prayer flags fly high over the summit with the help of our drivers who climbed the hills to attach them to some poles. Awesome sight against the deep blue sky


More monkeys on our way to Thimphu 

Here we our dressed in our gho and Kira. They were very comfortable 

Eric with the young poet he spent time chatting with. Very well informed for 18 years old

A pleasant dinner mate.  The owner of a large travel company in Bhutan 

The whole dinner crowd

Our travelling companions dressed for dinner

For the men no pants was a little more unique 

The festival was held on the grounds of the Dzong.  Rain did not keep anyone away

The costumes were fantastic and some of the dances went on for a long time.  They told a story if you knew the context

The fabrics of the clothing were exquisite 

The children were all dressed in their best as well 

Could not resist the little boy picture 

Never could tell if the dancers were male or female but they certainly were energetic 

The clowns roamed the festival grounds pointing phallic symbols at people and you were supposed to give them money which helps pay for the festival 

When the men are on a holy site they wear a scarf over their gho.  White is for common people and the red for monks

People were seated wherever they could get a view. The walls were a smart place for a good unobstructed view of the dancing

This little fellow was more than happy to have his picture taken

This large group of dancers all had on incredible masks. Saw some beautiful ones here but hard to fit into carry on

The women’s outfits were stunning 

Family dressed for the occasion 

Eric with the artist and his work

The Main Street of Thimphu 

This round about on the main street of Thimphu was covered with dogs which was a common sight everywhere we went in Bhutan 

This giant Bhudda looks down over Thimphu and has a Temple inside

Prayer flags beneath the Buddha. Anywhere that there is wind in Bhutan there are flags as the people believe so strongly that the wind will carry their prayers and help them in their lives

Phobjikha Valley

October 6th was a day full of Buttanese culture.  We started the day by driving up to the Monk’s College for a special ceremony that had been set up for us.  It involved the monks chanting and playing of some music and then we were each given a candle lamp which they lit and then more prayers and chanting were offered.  The per pose was to help us let go of the negative factors in our lives and I personally found it to be a really moving ceremony.  Afterwards the monks served us tea and snacks before we carried on to the temple.  The temple was just down the hill from the college looking over the valley and today was a special family day celebration in Bhutan so all the locals were there dressed in their finery.  The outside of the temple was beautiful and we spent time in the square walking about observing the people and marvelling at the architecture.  We did not go inside as a respect to the locals who were observing a holy holiday.

From the temple we did a wonderful two hour hike down the hill, across fields and through the forest heading towards the village.  It was a great opportunity to observe the local farms and homes and spend some quiet time in nature.  Today was the six year anniversary of Eric finishing the Camino so for him it was very special.  We finished our walk at a farmhouse where we went in for lunch.  The owner of the home had been on Master Chef Buttan and her chilli  and cheese was delicious. We were served Somme area which is Bhutan moonshine.  It smells absolutely horrible but tastes not bad.  The same can not be said for the butter tea that our host made for us.  It smelt and tasted absolutely horrible.  It really must be an acquired taste.

The Monk’s College 

Inside the chapel for our ceremony. One must never point your soles of your feet towards the Buddha’s 

The head monk led the proceedings 

Eric’s lamp being lit by the monk

We left our welcoming scarves as offerings along with some money

Bill is explaining the importance of the fish to the Buddhist religion 

Kaysang explaining more of the symbolism within the chapel 

The alter with all our lamps lined up. They are left burning to burn away the negativity 

The grounds of the college

The farms of the fertile valley

The valley was created thousands of years ago by a glacier 

The Gangtey Goemba Temple

A gathering of locals on the front entrance of the temple 

Monks washing the vegetables behind the temple 

Intricate designs on all the windows 

Collection of shoes at the entrance as the locals enter the temple

All the Bhutanese carry their small children on their backs.  Did not see a stroller anywhere.

Once again the corners of the temple were all decorated with symbolic creatures 

Beautiful porches from which the monks can observe the people below

A monk climbing the common steep stairs to his quarters

An unusually unadorned home but extremely neat and tidy 

Quite common to see these steps up and over the fence which keep animals both in and out

Eric reliving his Camino 

The red field are buckwheat which is a common crop in this area

Prayer fags high on the hill.  They are always put where the wind will carry away their prayers 

This is the farm house where we had lunch. The houses were often very elaborate on the outside but this one and apparently most are very sparse on the interior 

This was our host.  Many of the older generation chew the betel nut which permanently stains the teeth and mouth as well as accounts for a very high cancer rate

Making butter tea for us

This is the kitchen stove. In the winter the family put their sleeping mats in the kitchen for more warmth 

This was my lucky walking stick. Plallic symbols are certainly everywhere and no one is the least bit embarrassed by them

Bhutan, The Divine Madman

October 5th after breakfasts we set off on foot for a delightful hike to visit the small but famous Buddhist monastery Chimi Lhakhang.  Built in 1499 after the location was blessed by saint Drukpa Kunley known as the Divine Madman.  Kunley had an unorthodox philosophy towards Buddhism that included the wide use of phallic imagery and the monastery is also known as the fertility monastery and women wanting to get pregnant make pilgrimages to the temple where they are blessed by being struck on the head with a wooden phallus.  As we made our way towards the temple through the small town a variety of phallic symbols were painted on the houses and around the temple all sorts of pallic images were for sale.  We even were blessed by being tapped on the head with the wooden phallus but for good luck not pregnancy.

We then travelled over a 10,000 pass encountering massive rhododendron trees and scenic meandering rivers far below as we headed to the beautiful alpine valley of Phobjikha.  This is the winter home of the black neck cranes but unfortunately we are a couple of weeks too early to see them.  We visited the crane Center and then took a walk along the local dirt roads for some photo opportunities.

Looking down over the valley from our hotel

Quite an unusual name for a bar yet this was the one in our hotel

These paintings adorned many of the houses as we walked through the village

Cows are everywhere in Bhutan and very often one has to go around them on the road as they simply slept in the middle of the road and do not move for traffic

They even have eyes!

A morning walk through the rice fields. The dike between the fields is quite narrow in places so you do need to watch your step

New plantings of rice. Really interesting as we had never seen rice up this close before 

Locals beating the rice

Rice out drying in the sun

Interesting toy airplanes. Take a close look at the plane body

No shortages of phallic symbols in this town

Housing on the hill

Love the children

They were waving and wanted their picture taken

75% of the people of Bhutan make their living from farming at this point but it is starting to become more difficult as the young are becoming more educated and wanting different jobs

These are prayer flags that are put up when someone dies to help deliver their soul from the state of bardo

The trucks in Bhutan were all very decorated 

The Green Hotel. Our home for a couple of nights