Last morning in Paro

We spent 2 days in Paro - or actually two nights. The first day we went up to Tiger's Nest. Since our flight was delayed we were able to do some more shopping and watch part of an archery tournament. Archery is the national sport of Bhutan. They compete with both traditional bows made of bamboo and the newer compound bows that are used in international competition.

The target is quite small - a circle about a foot in diameter drawn on a white board that measures about 15 inches across and maybe 2.5 ft high. You get 1 point for hitting the board and 3 for getting an arrow in the circle. The target is 180 - 200 meters from the archer. Amazing that they ever hit it. 

One left-handed archer enabled me to see the front of him. 

Chimmi said that this was part of a national tournament, but it was not clear whether this was a regional event leading up to the nationals, or the actual national tournament. There were 3 teams competing, each with 5 members.

If a team member hits the target there is a victory dance and song at both ends of the field. Each team shoots 3 arrows, then they move to the opposite end. One of the flags was in the way, but can get the idea.

People at work

I realized I had not posted anything about the people we saw working in Bhutan. While there is some heavy machinery for the road work and quarrying, most of the work is done by hand. We saw a family using a brace of yaks to plow their fields in the Ura valley.

















Later that afternoon we saw another family threshing their buckwheat. The man was doing all the work and his wife and 3 children were there, watching. He used the large basket to separate the buckwheat grains and the flat basket to scoop up the grain and put it in the sacks.

There is an infant in the mother's lap, although you can't see it in this picture. See below. 

Here he is using the flat basket to shovel the grain into the sack. 

Here' are the mother and her youngest. Families are encouraged to have no more than 2 children, but there is no enforcement. In this province and at this altitude, most people survive on subsistence farming. Buckwheat is about the only thing that grows up here. Chimmi said there were sheep and we did see some weaving with wool, but I never saw the sheep. 

I'm not sure that I mentioned that Bhutanese society is quite different than Western society in terms of inheritance. The man moves in with his wif'e's family and the daughters inherit the property.

We also watched a woman with a hand scythe cutting buckwheat. These were situations where we noticed someone working in the field and we asked Chimmi to talk to the people and ask if it was OK to photograph them. Everyone was fine with it.

This is also the beginning of the season for the rice harvest. We saw a couple of fields where the rice had been cut and one where the threshing had begun, but we didn't have time to stop and photograph.

Weaving is prevalent in the northeast, but I found a few women weaving in the shops. I was in this shop one evening and the weaver had gone home, but she was there in the morning two days later. She was very fast. Most of the patterns are standard pickup and inlay, but there is also the use of what looks like a sumac weave that I originally thought was embroidered.

11 October - Tiger's Nest

Tiger's Nest is the iconic photograph of Bhutan. It is another monastery built in the 17th century. According to Buddhist tradition, the Guru Rinpoche flew to this location back in the 7th or 8th century on the back of a tigress. He meditated in a cave for 3 months. This cave is now one of the most holy temples in Buddhism. The Tiger's Nest burned in 1998 and all the woodwork has been restored - and embellished.

There was some debate among the group as to the actual altitude of  the Tiger's Nest (10,200 ft. - or 2300 ft above the valley floor) and how far we would have to climb. About half of us opted to ride horses or mules. We were put to shame by Edith, who is 78 and has now walked up twice in the past 3 years. Even Dick was able to get to the look-out under his own power. The views are spectacular and who knows how they managed to get those prayer flags strung over the chasm. This is the view from half-way donw the stairs. Thank good ness they have widened the staircase and added railings. No way could I have gotten down without the railings. You walk down one side of the chasm, cross a bridge at the foot of the waterfall and climb back up the other side. At 10k ft, you stop every few steps.

I think I shot these prayer flags from the terrace at the entrance to the monastery. I also shot a video which give a much better sense of the wind whipping through here. 

This was shot on our way back up the steps. Later hour and better light. 

The horses will take you to the look out, but then there are still 400 hundred steps down and up to the monastery. No electronics allowed in the monastery, so no photos of the inside. The horses share thepath with the humans and travel in groups. I rode a mule. Some of the horses were a bit

The travel company had arranged for us to have lunch just down the path from the look out. There wa an unfortunate incident when one of the dogs bit a local woman who got to close to its food. We patched her up as best we could and tried to impress on her the importance of seeing a doctor ASAP, but who knows whether any one will follow up.

The hike down was rough on Michael's knees, but he made it.

OUr flight out tomorrow has been rescheduled to the afternoon. With only 3 flights a day, they can be flexible. We have heard that there is major flooding in Bangkok that is supposed to peak next week. Our hotel is not near the river, but it could put a crimp in my plans to get to teh fabric market. Chances are the boats are not running. We'll see. 

10 October Whang Du to Paro

Breakfast at 6:30 and underway at 7:30. We planned a stop at the cafeteria at Dashu La - the pass with the 108 stupas. Tea and cookies. The first cookies we have had since we left home. It was a nice treat. Then we got hung up photographing a Bhutanese tea pot. Michael got an interesting shot - I'll have to get him ot post it.

We had lunch in Thimpu and everyone actually got back to the bus on time. We hit the ATM to make sure we had adequate money to tip Chimee and Tandin. Then off to Paro to visit another Dzong, more shopping and another early night. This hotel is unreal. The room is huge - complete with seating area, a balcony overlooking the valley and a bath with both bath and shower.  Feels weird. Thimphu felt very strange after a week in the rural areas or central Bhutan. There is a lot of construction - new housing going up everywhere. And lots of prep for Friday's festivities surrounding the royal wedding.

I've decided to go with the horse tomorrow. It's a 2 hour hike at best. And even if you take the horse up, you have to walk down. I hope to get time to post some photos tomorrow. Still need to buy a silk under-blouse for the kira. 

Jakar to Whang Du

9 October

Jakar to Whang Du

We got up early because this was going to be a long drive. We wanted to stop on the way out of town to take photos of some chili peppers drying on mat and wooden roofs. All our other photos were on metal roofs. Side note - most modern roofs are metal. New ones are very shiny. There is a law that you have to paint your roof after a few years, but  the only approved colors are red and green. Most people seem to choose green. We got some good shots and headed out of town. Most of the shingle roof are like this - held down with rocks.

This is the 4th time we have been over this road, since we went back to the weaving center on Wednesday to take some rural shots and so I could pay my bill. They actually let me take the items I bought with the understanding that I would pay when we came back through. Tells you something about the difference in the trust factor between the US and Bhutan.

We made a few stops to stretch our legs and take some photos. Gail has a thing about stupas so we had to stop at a couple of those. There were also a couple of rest stops. The Thais refer to the restroom as the "happy room". We have adopted Edith's term for an unofficial toilet - the "happy bush". We had lunch at a new restaurant - less than 2 years old. They had western style toilets - complete with paper and flush. Whoo hoo.

This is one of the trucks from India. These drivers love to decorate their trucks. They transport all kinds of goods back and forth.

What with all the stops, we got into Whang Du at about 5:45. There were some interesting rice paddies along the way, but the light was fading and we wanted to get in by 6:00. Tandin, our driver did some amazing driving through the washout area. There was a backup and one-way traffic. Huge potholes. He is an outstanding driver. And only in his 20s. 

We are staying at the Kichu Resort. It appears to be run by an Indian family as  the restaurant is vegetarian. Alongside a river that we are hoping to see in the morning. Departure tomorrow is 7:30. We get to sleep a whole half hour later. The restaurant was out of several drinks, so we had beer. The bar was well-stocked however. Interesting. We have a riverside room. Nice white noise. A contrast with the barking dogs at the Jakar Village Hotel. 

Next stop Paro where we will climb up to the Tiger's Nest on Tuesday. It's a steep climb and takes a couple of hours. I'm thinking about taking the horse option. Not much shorter, but at 8500 ft, I'm not sure I want to risk problems with the altitude.