The next day was Emm's Birthday. Unfortunately I hadn't thought through our itinerary very well and we had a 7-hour drive to the district of Bumthang on the agenda. This ended up taking 9.5 hours after we'd incorporated a few stops along the way, and also encountered some pretty crazy fog. We tried to do some nice, symbolic things for the Birthday girl though, and the drive itself was really beautiful. As I said previously, Bhutan is a very mountainous country but the vast majority of the mountains are carpeted with forest rather than agricultural terraces, which makes it quite different to other mountainous places I've visited, like Ecuador and Nepal.
On the way, we stopped at the Pele La pass to hang more prayer flags; colourful ones this time, to bring us luck. Ten also gave Emm some rhododendrons to offer up to the Gods, at a nearby chorten.
Later we stopped at a monastery where Emm lit some butter lamps (apparently this is what the Bhutanese do on their Birthday), was blessed with holy water and prayed over a white scarf which she then threw over the altar. It felt really special to be able to take part in these sacred rituals and we were always the only tourists around.
We arrived quite late in Bumthang but we had a lovely hotel with a wood burner in the room (we'd climbed in altitude and it was pretty cold at night), where a delicious bottle of French red awaited us. That evening we had dinner with the guides again and we surprised Emm with a big birthday cake. All of the hotel staff gathered around to sing Happy Birthday (again there were no other tourists there) and share the delicious cake!
Bumthang is a district of lush, beautiful valleys full of apple orchards and crop-filled pastures - quite different from the terrain we'd seen up until this point.
Our first stop the next morning was at the Tamshing Lhakhang monastery, a small, quiet place in a country village. The monastery was built in 1501 by Pema Lingpa, an important Bhutanese saint. Inside there's an iron coat which he forged and it is said that those who don the coat and walk once around the inner sanctum of the monastery, are then cleansed of sin. Obviously we just had to do this! The "coat" was really a huge piece of chain-mail which weighed 25kg so it was necessary to walk in a bent-over fashion to keep it from slipping off. As I heaved the iron coat onto my back and trotted around the darkened stone corridor of the monastery to the sound of young monks chanting in the courtyard, I couldn't help but giggle to myself. This time last year, it was one of the worst weeks of my life and I never could have imagined that this is what I'd be doing a year later! Right now I'm the happiest and most relaxed I have ever been - it's a very good feeling!
After that we took a short but really nice walk through the countryside and across the river to reach another important monastery, Kurje Lhakhang.
One of the most important figures in Bhutan's history is Guru Rinpoche, a Tibetan saint who introduced Buddhism here in the 8th century. It is said that he came to Bumthang to subdue a local demon who had offended the King. Afterwards he meditated for a while, leaving the imprint of his body etched into solid rock at Kunje Lhakhang. Inside the monastery, we sat quietly on the floor and meditated, as Guru Rinpoche had done centuries earlier. I actually found it much easier to quieten my mind here than I had done in Nepal - something about the holy atmosphere and the gentle chanting of a crimson-robed monk in the corner made me feel very much at peace.
Before lunch we visited another monastery, Jambay Lhakhang, which is one of the oldest in Bhutan. It was built by a Tibetan King, in the 8th century. It is said that he built 108 Buddhist temples in one day, across both Tibet and Bhutan, in order to pin a demoness down into the Earth. Once a year there's a festival here where naked men dance around the courtyard at midnight. It's essential that they have an erect penis for the dance. Again, I kid you not. This place never stops surprising me!
Lunch was in a locals restaurant which made a nice change. We usually eat in tourist restaurants and although they're never very busy it was nice to have the locals eating around us, and to know that we were eating the same food. We're getting pretty comfortable with the chillies now! That afternoon we paid a quick visit to our final dzong, Jakar, and then had a wander around the town.
In the evening we went to a nearby farmhouse for dinner with a local family. It was another one of those moments which you have to pinch yourself to believe. They didn't speak English so our guides translated, but they were a really warm and funny couple and the food was amazing!
After dinner and lots of drinks (including the local rice wine, Ara) we were given a tour of the house. Each home in Bhutan has its own altar room and it was really interesting to see this. There was a large altar covered in offerings and the wall was adorned with pictures of the Dalai Lama, the King, various saints and of course the Buddha.
The next day we had to take the long drive back West (unfortunately we could only stay in Bhutan for 8 days here, due to the expense, so we had to squeeze a lot in!). We visited a textile weaving place in the morning and made some stops for tea and lunch, but otherwise it was a fairly quiet day. Ring often falls asleep in the car in the afternoon and we have taken to tickling his ear with a feather duster and then quickly hiding it when he opens his eyes, to our own great amusement. I think his childish humour is starting to wear off on us! That night we stayed in the district of Wangdue.
 |
| Yaks graze in the highlands on the way to Bumthang |
 |
| With our newly-hung string of prayer flags |
 |
| An offering to the Gods |
We arrived quite late in Bumthang but we had a lovely hotel with a wood burner in the room (we'd climbed in altitude and it was pretty cold at night), where a delicious bottle of French red awaited us. That evening we had dinner with the guides again and we surprised Emm with a big birthday cake. All of the hotel staff gathered around to sing Happy Birthday (again there were no other tourists there) and share the delicious cake!
 |
| Mmmm, cake |
Our first stop the next morning was at the Tamshing Lhakhang monastery, a small, quiet place in a country village. The monastery was built in 1501 by Pema Lingpa, an important Bhutanese saint. Inside there's an iron coat which he forged and it is said that those who don the coat and walk once around the inner sanctum of the monastery, are then cleansed of sin. Obviously we just had to do this! The "coat" was really a huge piece of chain-mail which weighed 25kg so it was necessary to walk in a bent-over fashion to keep it from slipping off. As I heaved the iron coat onto my back and trotted around the darkened stone corridor of the monastery to the sound of young monks chanting in the courtyard, I couldn't help but giggle to myself. This time last year, it was one of the worst weeks of my life and I never could have imagined that this is what I'd be doing a year later! Right now I'm the happiest and most relaxed I have ever been - it's a very good feeling!
 |
| Tamshing Lhakhang |
 |
| Young monks studying in the courtyard |
 |
| Emm and Ring on our countryside stroll |
 |
| Kunje Lhakhang |
 |
| Monks in the grounds of the monastery |
Lunch was in a locals restaurant which made a nice change. We usually eat in tourist restaurants and although they're never very busy it was nice to have the locals eating around us, and to know that we were eating the same food. We're getting pretty comfortable with the chillies now! That afternoon we paid a quick visit to our final dzong, Jakar, and then had a wander around the town.
In the evening we went to a nearby farmhouse for dinner with a local family. It was another one of those moments which you have to pinch yourself to believe. They didn't speak English so our guides translated, but they were a really warm and funny couple and the food was amazing!
 |
| Dinner in the farmhouse living room |
 |
| With our lovely hosts |
 |
| The altar in the family home |
 |
| Photos and paintings pinned to the walls |
 |
| A quick photo-stop by Trongsa Dzong, on the way to Wangdue |
No comments:
Post a Comment