Paro is on the western side of Bhutan and has the only airport. It is nestled in a lovely valley with a crystal clear river running through it. Our hotel was up on a mountain side with an amazing view and was very clean and luxurious. I must say that I was not expecting quite so much progress here. Everything is growing very rapidly. Everyone has cell phones and our SUV is brand spanking new! Our guide is a woman named Tsehring and our driver is Sonom. Both are very knowledgeable and fun! The people here are required to wear their traditional clothing and unfortunately the tourists seem to be kept separate from the locals.
Our first day we hiked for 6 hours up a ridiculously steep path to the Tigers Nest monastery which is precariously perched on the cliff side. We did find a little hidden pizza place. The couple had learned to make pizzas and espresso coffee in Nepal of all places!
Thimphu the capital is a city of about 100,000. We have been told there are only 700,000 in the whole country!
We went to a preserve for their very odd animal called the Takin, which has a mythological story of a "god" of sorts eating a goat and a cow, then putting the goat head on the cows body and creating this new bizarre creature.
There are no street lights in the capital of Thimphu, just this traffic director.
We stopped at Chim Lhakhang which is famous for all the phallus paintings on the homes. It also has a monastery where the "Divine Madman" hung out. He is one of their favorite saints who used humor especially with sex and wine to pass on the Buddhist teachings.
Up till now the weather has been warm and sunny, but today was overcast which is typical since we were driving through a pass where we could have seen the Himalayas IF it had been clear. The road is very thin, winding and very, very, very high! I think we got up to 10 or 12 thousand feet and of course there are huge wash outs with mud and traffic jams of trucks, SUV's, taxis and cows, a bit nerve wracking at times.
Another lovely hotel overlooking a valley spotted with the usual white and red forts and monasteries.
The drive from Trongsa to Bumthang continued with hairpin curves at 12,000 feet, but then we got to add snow to the mix! Bumtang also known as Jakar burned down so they are rebuilding the town completely and it resembles the wild west. Here is where the festival was happening which is put on by the monks in their monastery and is to celebrate their particular deities, clear out demons and gain overall good karma. The best part of all were the "clowns".
The next day we drove for 7 hours on even scarier roads than what we had already experienced.
Today we drove only 3 hours and have made it to quaint Trashigang. Our hotel only has 4 rooms but overlooks the town, all two streets of it. We visited the main monastery that overlooks the river far below. Today the monks were allowed to watch cartoons.
If not monks, then monkeys!
