MINDUP in traditional men's dress, a Gho. He's adjusting the manditory scarf worn in the same fashion by all men entering a Dzong or holy place.
BHUTAN – LAND OF THE THUNDER DRAGON
First day in this country that I have wanted to visit as long as I can remember Bhutan is one of the rare places on earth where compassion is favoured over capitalism. They strictly regulate tourism and want low impact, high value visitors who respect the tenets of Buddhism and its unique culture. Every aspect of daily life is shaped by Buddhist beliefs and aspirations. Prayer flags fly everywhere. Prayer wheels are whirled, people prostrate themselves towards images of the Buddha and other numerous religious figures, people smile gently and most can speak English.
I had a scare this morning in Kathmandu when a knock came on the door at 5 am saying that there was a strike and I had better leave for the airport although my plane was not due until 0945. However, dutifully, I got ready quickly and rushed downstairs to go via rickshaw to a place where there would be a tourist bus only to find that there would indeed be taxis until 0900. That’s Nepal where the strike will last 2 days and mainly tourists and business people will suffer on top of their having so little electricity, water etc. In fact the strike is because of the above but there is no way that the situation can improve until after monsoon season at the earliest.
Spent hours at the airport but did take off around
10 am and did get a window seat on the left side of the plane (a
lbeit over the wing) so that I could see all the majestic mountains on the way – see photo album example. The pilots must be very experienced to fly so close to the peaks.
It was so great to land and see the lovely airport in the traditional architecture with my guide Mindup waiting in traditional Gho from which he produced the famous welcoming white scarf. I never get a guide or go on a tour so it feels like being spoiled to have such attention. Of course here one must have a driver/guide. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the car was very nice so all was perfect. Mindup has great English, a lovely smile and is just gorgeous looking. How nice to have lots of time and meals together for 2 weeks. It could have been very different. He’s a devout Buddist, most sincere and loves his job. I am lucky to have him as he owns the company and has several other guides but in correspondence he decided to do it himself since we are both in the same field. Thats a picture of him above.
Paro is in a beautiful valley overlooked by Mt Jhomolhari which is over 7000 M. We had lunch in town and strolled along the wide very clean main street along all the little shops in the traditional wooden style. There's photos in the album. Men, women and children are mainly in their traditional dress. Today was the Kings 30th birthday and all the Bhutanese are mad about him so there is a 3 day holiday in his honour. I was told that he is most honourable, compassionate and kind just as his father is. They both visited homes of people who suffered in the earthquake last year and gave money to victims and helped in costs of rebuilding. Because of the occasion flags were flying, girls were dancing and there were competitions in the national sport, archery, In between each archer taking his turn there was singing around the target and when an arrow (from a very long distance) hit the target the men did a dance. The bows are huge and very powerful.
We visited the main Paro Dzong or Monastery. Dzongs were once fortresses and this one was built in 1646. The approach was via a wonderful cantilevered bridge. There are so many legends and history attached to these Dzongs and their murals and Mindup is a fountain of knowledge and interest in Buddism and explains so well. This is where the Bertolocci film "The Little Buddha" was filmed. We also went to one of the oldest monasteries in the country built in 659 - a wonderful place of tranquility and traditional style with trees laden with oranges, statues full of mythology, stories galore and on this day full of monks chanting out of huge, thick, Tibetan style parchment held together in rectangular book form and wrapped in orange cloth. Very young novices were chanting and bowing with enthusiasm.
I am staying in a lovely hotel again built in traditional style which is very ornamental with separate houses holding 4 rooms each best described by a picture. The nicest thing about it is the wonderful view of the Tiger’s Nest Monastery high up in the mountains. It takes 3 hours to climb up and 2 to come down. A Guru landed there on the back of a tiger in the 8th century and meditated for 3 months so it is an important site for pilgrimage. I know that the views from there are wonderful but we are headed for the festival in Punakka and anyway I don’t know if I could still manage the climb. It is very hard even going up a lot of steps here at this high altitude and men have told me that they found it most strenuous so maybe I’m glad that we are pushing on in the morning.
Unusually we are the only guests here but enjoyed dinner with Mindup and our driver Cherub. There are many dishes served at both lunch and supper including fresh veg so that’s fine although nothing stands out especially. Bhutanese do not kill animals so if one eats meat it is probably imported from India. It seems they can eat meat as long as they don’t kill the animal. The overall impression here is one of gentleness, friendliness, fairness and ready laughter.
http://picasaweb.google.com/a.roantree
First day in this country that I have wanted to visit as long as I can remember Bhutan is one of the rare places on earth where compassion is favoured over capitalism. They strictly regulate tourism and want low impact, high value visitors who respect the tenets of Buddhism and its unique culture. Every aspect of daily life is shaped by Buddhist beliefs and aspirations. Prayer flags fly everywhere. Prayer wheels are whirled, people prostrate themselves towards images of the Buddha and other numerous religious figures, people smile gently and most can speak English.
I had a scare this morning in Kathmandu when a knock came on the door at 5 am saying that there was a strike and I had better leave for the airport although my plane was not due until 0945. However, dutifully, I got ready quickly and rushed downstairs to go via rickshaw to a place where there would be a tourist bus only to find that there would indeed be taxis until 0900. That’s Nepal where the strike will last 2 days and mainly tourists and business people will suffer on top of their having so little electricity, water etc. In fact the strike is because of the above but there is no way that the situation can improve until after monsoon season at the earliest.
Spent hours at the airport but did take off around
10 am and did get a window seat on the left side of the plane (a
lbeit over the wing) so that I could see all the majestic mountains on the way – see photo album example. The pilots must be very experienced to fly so close to the peaks.It was so great to land and see the lovely airport in the traditional architecture with my guide Mindup waiting in traditional Gho from which he produced the famous welcoming white scarf. I never get a guide or go on a tour so it feels like being spoiled to have such attention. Of course here one must have a driver/guide. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the car was very nice so all was perfect. Mindup has great English, a lovely smile and is just gorgeous looking. How nice to have lots of time and meals together for 2 weeks. It could have been very different. He’s a devout Buddist, most sincere and loves his job. I am lucky to have him as he owns the company and has several other guides but in correspondence he decided to do it himself since we are both in the same field. Thats a picture of him above.
Paro is in a beautiful valley overlooked by Mt Jhomolhari which is over 7000 M. We had lunch in town and strolled along the wide very clean main street along all the little shops in the traditional wooden style. There's photos in the album. Men, women and children are mainly in their traditional dress. Today was the Kings 30th birthday and all the Bhutanese are mad about him so there is a 3 day holiday in his honour. I was told that he is most honourable, compassionate and kind just as his father is. They both visited homes of people who suffered in the earthquake last year and gave money to victims and helped in costs of rebuilding. Because of the occasion flags were flying, girls were dancing and there were competitions in the national sport, archery, In between each archer taking his turn there was singing around the target and when an arrow (from a very long distance) hit the target the men did a dance. The bows are huge and very powerful.
We visited the main Paro Dzong or Monastery. Dzongs were once fortresses and this one was built in 1646. The approach was via a wonderful cantilevered bridge. There are so many legends and history attached to these Dzongs and their murals and Mindup is a fountain of knowledge and interest in Buddism and explains so well. This is where the Bertolocci film "The Little Buddha" was filmed. We also went to one of the oldest monasteries in the country built in 659 - a wonderful place of tranquility and traditional style with trees laden with oranges, statues full of mythology, stories galore and on this day full of monks chanting out of huge, thick, Tibetan style parchment held together in rectangular book form and wrapped in orange cloth. Very young novices were chanting and bowing with enthusiasm.
I am staying in a lovely hotel again built in traditional style which is very ornamental with separate houses holding 4 rooms each best described by a picture. The nicest thing about it is the wonderful view of the Tiger’s Nest Monastery high up in the mountains. It takes 3 hours to climb up and 2 to come down. A Guru landed there on the back of a tiger in the 8th century and meditated for 3 months so it is an important site for pilgrimage. I know that the views from there are wonderful but we are headed for the festival in Punakka and anyway I don’t know if I could still manage the climb. It is very hard even going up a lot of steps here at this high altitude and men have told me that they found it most strenuous so maybe I’m glad that we are pushing on in the morning.
Unusually we are the only guests here but enjoyed dinner with Mindup and our driver Cherub. There are many dishes served at both lunch and supper including fresh veg so that’s fine although nothing stands out especially. Bhutanese do not kill animals so if one eats meat it is probably imported from India. It seems they can eat meat as long as they don’t kill the animal. The overall impression here is one of gentleness, friendliness, fairness and ready laughter.
http://picasaweb.google.com/a.roantree
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