Solo Expedition

I went on my first walk alone after Bernadette and I visited the Kurjey Dzong. I decided to walk the long way home - I thought for sure that I would get lost but I was pleasantly suprised. I experienced my first suspension bridge which was gorgeous and covered in prayer flags. After I climbed up from the bridge, I got stuck in an area surrounded by barbed wire. I looked around and wondered to myself how much barbed wire would hurt if I tried to climb over it. So I looked around and wondered if I should try and crawl under it. After I decided that neither of these choices sounded good, I started to look for a way around the barbed wire. And I found it on the edge of the cliff overlooking the river. So I skirted around the barbed wire and found my way back to the road. It was kind of a scary experience but disaster was avoided!
Kurjey Dzong - the Bhutanese proudly proclaim that all of the dzongs are made without a single nail!
A women with her prayer wheel circumambulating the Dzong.
Suspension bridge with prayer flags
Prayer flags - they are fabricated in five colors which symbolize water, wood, fire, earth and iron. Almost as beautiful as the ones my Rancho family made me for my going away party -

Completely unknown to me, it was Guru Rinpoche’s birthday (Book Club – remember the guy on the road trip??). He is known as the second Buddha and is recognized as bringing Buddhism to Bhutan. So he is kind of a big deal around here – his statue is probably in almost every dzong in Bhutan! Since I happened to visit a dzong on his birthday and pretended I was with a tour group, I was able to enter into the main alms room and view the ceremony performed by the monks. It was a completely surreal moment –

At the end of the day, we decided to take a break from traditional Bhutanese food and we had Himalayan Pizza. As you can tell from the pictures, we were basically in someone’s living room. The little girl in the picture handed Stanley the remote and left halfway through our meal. We stayed there for almost an hour more ordering beers so that we could watch their TV!!

Wow - I think that was my longest post yet! Hope you all had a great weekend!

Travel to Trongsa

We boarded the bus at 7am on Sunday morning. At first, I thought that I had the best seat on the bus. However, after a couple of hours and multiple stops to pick up packages and passengers, I realized that I actually had the worst seat on the bus. There were two people sitting in the doorway and the conductor and I became very close as he practically sat on my lap for most of the journey. We stopped for lunch at a roadside café and I had my first traditional ema datse (the traditional Bhutanese dish – chilis and cheese) which was really spicy. I then realized that all of my preparations in the US were in vain – there was no way I could’ve prepared for these chilis! Although the seven and a half hour bus ride was a little rough, the views of the Bhutanese mountains were unbelievable. The ride was definitely worth it though once we arrived in Trongsa. It is a cute little town with a gorgeous Dzong and tower up on a hill. Since we arrived mid-afternoon, the town was covered in a haze which added to the mysticism of the city. We went for a long walk that afternoon and had a traditional Bhutanese dinner for $10 for three of us (including some beers!!). The next morning, we were allowed to enter the Dzong even though we did not have the correct permit (maybe it was our good karma!). After the Dzong, we went to the museum which was unbelievable. It is housed in the tour of Trongsa; each level of the tower contains various artifacts from the monarchy and Buddhist art. The view from the top of the tower was breathtaking.Tower of Trongsa
Monk in the courtyard of the Dzong

Trongsa Dzong

Sunset our first night in Trongsa.
Our hotel in Trongsa

Kids in Bhutan

One of my favorite things about Bhutan so far is the kids - they are absolutely adorable and love to have their picture taken. And once you take their photos, they want to give you their address so you can mail them a copy of their picture - it is really cute! Here are some pictures of the kids in Trongsa and Bumthang (pronounced Boom- Taang). It is possible that I will come back to the US with more pictures of the kids here than the landscape! Clearly - I am not very computer saavy as you can tell from the lack of format with the pictures - this blogging thing is really a test of my computer skills (and I think that I am failing!!).

My First Kira

Immediately upon arrival at the apartment, Stanley (Bernadette's brother) took me to the open air market that is held Friday through Sunday in Thimphu. I got pulled in right away and bought my first kira after being there less than 5 minutes!! Here are some pictures of the woman wrapping it around me and me wearing the whole ensemble. We are heading to a festival in Paro next week so I will wear the whole ensemble then for the first time -

Flight Into Bhutan

So I finally arrived in Bhutan after almost 2 days of traveling, one lost jacket and 3 hours of quality sleep on cold, hard benches at the Bangkok airport. Here are some pictures that I took from the plane ride from Dhaka (in Bangladesh) to Bhutan. The plane ride was gorgeous - one of the most amazing landings ever - I was a little worried that the wing was going to hit the Bhutanese mountains! Unfortunately I am having some problems uploading pictures but I will add them when I figure it all out!!