Tango Monastery

The first day of freedom I had, I celebrated by hiking up to Tango Monastery. Tango is half an hour drive from Thimphu, and a 30-minute hike. On the way to Tango, we stopped on the road and looked at a painting on the side of a rock. The painting was beautiful and detailed. It was a painting of Guru Rinpoche, a very sacred deity in Bhutan.

Painting of Guru Rinpoche


The short 30 minute hike up the hills had me gasping for breath multiple times. I was out of shape, and the high elevation was not being kind to my lungs. First we reached a Tibetan Stupa before we reached Tango.

Stupa at Tango Monastery


We reached Tango and it was beautiful. Over 300 monks are studying and living at Tango. My driver, Kinley, had a cousin at the monastery and he invited us into his home/shack for tea. The only way you could reach the monastery was by walking. Everything at the monastery, everything used to build the monastery, was either carried up using horses or peoples' backs.

Tango Monastery


On the drive to and from Tango Monastery, you drive across several bridges. One of the small, wooden, and rickety bridges is covered in colorful prayer flags. The different colored flags represent the different elements. The flags are suppose to bring good luck. As a friend from the UK put it, "if you didn't know the significance of the prayer flags, it would look like a kids birthday party everywhere!"

Bridge to Tango


A couple hours after getting back from the trip to Tango, my driver took me to a local place to play pool. Their version of pool is a bit different from ours. There are tons of red balls and some multi-colored balls. You have to get a red ball in before you hit a colored ball. You get points by getting the colored balls in, different colors have different points. The colored balls are always in play until all red balls have been eliminated. I'm still confused by it and I usually have to ask if I can hit a certain ball in. I ended up playing doubles. The Rinpoche came by, we were on a team, and we played against Kinley and another boy. They were all very nice, but they kept telling which balls to hit in which pockets. I know how to play pool, and just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't figure out which ball to hit. Other than me getting slightly aggravated by being told what to do, I had a great time with the guys.