PUNNAKHA TO BUMTHANG

Punnakha
We returned to the festival the next morning for a few hours to see the famous black hat dance and the masks along with many other dances. It seems the dancers train for years and that is their job so they travel to various cultural events including to Hawaii. Again at the festival even though the dancers costumes are magnificent it is the people and their faces that are the most fascinating. Today we were allowed to enter the gorgeous Dzong and see the wonderful Thondrol ot Thanka which is enormous in fact the biggest in the country. It was rolled up again by a veritable army of men and monks. I will squeeze in a picture of it. See left. All the images and scenes on it are embroidered.
Afterwards we drove along the most marvelous road to the Phobjakha valley which is one of the few homes of the Black necked cranes who migrate here from Tibet in Nov. They will leave in one week so again we were lucky to see them. On the way we saw so many birds and yaks especially Himalayan Gullion flying about overhead with a large wingspan. While viewing them we met with a group of teachers from Canada who are coming here to Bhutan, mainly to remote villages, to work for one year. Some of you may have read the book by Jamie Zeppa “between the Earth and the Sky” the story of her time here in that same capacity, The woman with this group was Nancy, a colleague of Jamie’s who is mentioned in the story. She has been here 20 years now directing the Canadian programme and it was fascinating to chat with her about Jamie, her son and the Bhutanese man she married. The whole group of us met up for dinner, a singsong and guitar playing last night. We stopped by Chendebji Chorten a lovely peaceful place that is a replica of Bodnath the famous stupa in Kathmandu. It seems that the shape of Bodnath was carved out of a potato and then copied here and used as a place for greeting dignitaries who visit. The whole drive is just wonderful between mountains and passes with gurgling rivers far down below. 25 Feb.’10. Today’s pass took us up to 3360M. The drivers here are fearless skirting the edges of roads. There are views of Mount Jomolhari (7360), Jichu Drakye(6989) and Kang Bum(6526) We had lunch in Trongsa in a Tower and visited an excellent museum there. I wish that I had been to Bhutan when I was young. Just imagining the treks up those mountains some of which last for 20 days. My guide Mindup leads those treks and also bicycle tours on all these roads. I have seen his pictures and it is unbelievable that one could have the stamina to cycle to these heights. They have to prepare very carefully for the treks and use first ponies to carry all the gear and later yaks as they reach very high ground. There are no villages, clear paths or any type of accommodation up there so every single thing must be carried. Now we have arrived in Bumthang, a very pleasant, clean little town. Because of the order that all architecture should be Bhutanese the towns look very much the same. Tiny shops selling only practical things like basins, jugs, pots, back packs, t shirts, blankets and large carry bags. No specialty shops like jewelry, opticians, little cafes, dress shops etc. One is certainly not tempted to go shopping for souvenirs except for, perhaps, an example of the local weaving or the traditional dress but even that is not prevalent as women usually make their own. If you look at the picture album, especially of the festival you can see the beautiful way the women dress in their Kira. Over the top is a short jacket called a toego. They look very elegant. It is compulsory for Bhutanese to wear national dress at school, government offices and at all special occasions. The men, of course, wear their Gho, a knee length garment in traditional, tartan like woven cloth. They wear a tight woven belt and carry most of their needs like a wallet, keys and belongings right above the belt which gives them a stout look around the waist. People here are very friendly with each other whether they have met before or not and are most helpful in every way.
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