The days after

The day after I left the nunnery, I ran into John and Diane at the Druk, the hotel I was now staying at. They were exhausted from traveling back from Punahka and they gave me the driver and guide, Sange and Sonam. It first I was just planning on going to the National Public Library for a few hours. They dropped me off and waited outside. I got to the second floor and turned around. Why would I just want to waste two knowledgeable Bhutanese who can take me anywhere?

We drove into the hills and went to Dechen Phodrang Monastery. This monastery housed over 100 monks roughly between the ages of seven to seventeen. We walked around the main monastery, spinning all the prayer wheels along the way. You can’t take picture inside the rooms at the monastery, so it’s hard to describe. While walking around, we ran into a Bhutanese couple from the north. Sonam told me that it takes them four days to reach Thimphu. There are no roads from where they are from, and they must make the journey on foot.

Picture or Bhutanese woman from the north


Next we went to the oldest Dzong in Thimphu, Bhutan: Simtokha Dzong. The Dzong was used as a fortress or castle during battle. It is located about 5 km outside of Thimphu and up on a hill. It looks nearly impenetrable. The ancient and sacred Dzong was beautiful, and I could feel the power of it tingling from my crown down to my toes.

Next we drove up to the Buddha point. The largest Buddha structure in the world is overlooking Thimphu. It is still under construction and won’t be completed for a few months. Buddha is 168 feet tall and towers over the city on one of the highest hills above the city. After running out of activities, we went to a local restaurant and had cheese momo’s, a Bhutanese form of dumplings. I met up with John and Diane at the hotel and we went to a meditation at Deer Park, guided by the Llama that we had met at Ambient Café.

The next day, Diane and John were scheduled to leave around midday. John was going to play a round of golf, and Diane had to pack. So Sonam took me to play archery. We went to the archery grounds and watched a group of men shoot up and down the field for half an hour. After, we went to a random field near the golf course and started to shoot. The Bhutanese don't use the fancy compound bows, they shoot with the real deal. We did as well. And they only shot two arrows, then walked to the other side of the field. The target is a small piece of wood. About 2-3 feet tall, and a few inches wide. They have to hit that target from 165 feet away. What a sport! While shooting, I almost got the arrow all the way across the field to the other target, but that was only once. Usually the arrow ended up halfway to the target, or a little over halfway. Afterward, my upper-left arm had a nice black and blue bruise on it from the bow string.

John and Diane left for Bumtaun (sounds like Boom town) which is a 10 hour drive from Thimphu, and I was alone in Thimphu. Bring it on!