Well, I’ve left Bhutan. Yesterday was uneventful and I barely left my bed. I couldn’t eat anything besides a few bites here, a few bites there. I think I finished a banana once. I had to travel for over 40 hours the next day. Bring it on. I had a bit of energy to use before I slept, if I was lucky. I showered, almost fainting when I put in conditioner. Then my fears got to me, what if my father or stepmother had to peal me off the floor of the bathroom, naked, and figure out what to do with me? There was no way something that mortifying was going to happen. With more determination, I stumbled my way across the grass and made the five-minute walk to the hotel to get on the Internet for a bit. Probably wasn’t worth it.
A new morning starts and only a few bites of food to start the day, great. I could barely hold my head up as we drove to the airport. But as soon as I needed to get through security with three bags, and 10 kilos overweight, I rallied. I slipped into the seat right next to Diane and moments later we took off. I gazed over the land that had become home over the last few weeks. I was filled with sadness; I was leaving already. It seemed like it took an eternity, or a day. The time went by incredibly slowly, but it also passed in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, the feelings were forgotten quickly when a wave of nausea swept over me and the plane bounced and dipped through the air. My head pounded, bile rose to the back of my throat, and my chest cramped. Before I knew it, tires were screeching against asphalt. We couldn’t be there yet; it was at least a three-hour flight. No, I was crushed to find out we had only stopped in India to refuel. We were in India!? The country wasn’t as exciting as I had expected looking through a plane window. Frank Sinatra started playing when I was lying on the plane and I found it a bit odd. Then I heard, "Catch a falling and put in your pocket, never let it fade away. Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day." I had already caught a falling star during my travels. I pulled it out and let the light fall on me. My body felt lighter, as did my heart. We finally reached Bangkok, and the 100 degree air and 100% humidity hit me like a ton of bricks.
The rest was a blur. I got to Tokyo after a night in Bangkok and said my 'goodbye's' to John and Diane. They were off to Seattle while I was on my way to LA. My flight was delayed and I didn't end up getting to LA 2 hours later than scheduled. I was in LAX for 8 hours before I could find a flight to Salt Lake City. Of course, that flight was 40 minutes late, and I missed my flight in Salt Lake by 15 minutes. I sprinted from gate E to A and could barely hold myself together. When I found out I missed the last flight of the day and had to spend the night in Salt Lake, I started crying uncontrollably. I've made it all this way, only an hour's plane ride from my bed, and I couldn't do it. The airline lady didn't know what to do with me. I made my way to the lady's room in shame of my outburst. I didn't even have to energy to leave. I found a bench next to Internationally Security and tried to sleep under the fluorescent lights.
When I touched down in Hailey, I wasn't even excited. I was delirious.
60 hours of traveling and I was numb.
April 10, 2010
April 8, 2010
Such Great Heights
We got an early start to a very big day; bigger than I would ever realize. I hopped into the car and remained there for another two hours. We were driving up to Chele La Pass, the highest summit in Bhutan reachable by car. Our car weaved and swerved, making switchback after switchback.
I stepped out of the car and was awed by the hundreds and hundreds of prayer flags. The five colors were everywhere; red, blue, green, yellow, and white. Especially white, white was everywhere. Each color represented an element, and each person is associated to an element. I tried to find out what my element was when I was there, but you have to see an astrologer, know a whole bunch of information about your birth and so on. (This is the proper way to determine your element in their culture.) Different people said different elements for different colors, so I never quite found out exactly which colors are for what elements. Some were, white-clouds, blue-water, green-wood, blue-sky, white-air, green-earth, red-fire.
Prayer flags at the pass
More prayer flags
Me in front of some prayer flags
Prayer flags lining the entire ridge-line
Oh, when we first got to the summit, we ran into a shepard with his herd of yaks. Our car scared the yaks and they started running back down the hill when the shepard needed them going on the other side. Let's say, it was probably good that I couldn't understand what he was saying, I have a feeling that a hefty amount of curse words were flying from his mouth.
A yak (whenever Karma saw one of these he would say, "All they do is yak yak yak" then break into a fit of laughter. It was funny the first couple of times.)
From the pass we started hiking across the mountains and into the forest. The forest was beautiful, I felt like I had just stepped into Jurrasic Park. I broke ahead of the group and started messing around on my own. After a few minutes I had a great idea. I darted off the path and hid behind the roots of a fallen tree. I was so excited I could hardly sit still. This was my plan: I would hid in the woods, wait for the guide, my dad, and step-mom to walk by, wait a bit, and then follow them. This was going to be great! First Karma passed, followed by the duo. I waited and crept from my hiding spot. I followed them for probably the next 30 minutes or so. I stayed in a crouch and would sneak behind them. When there was a clearing I would wait for them to go, run across, then slow down and wait for them to get ahead again. It was going great and I could see the nunnery through the trees that was ultimately our destination.
Kila Nunnery, tucked into the hillside
Oh, we were making our way to Kila nunnery, a nunnery only accessible by an hour hike through the hills from the pass. Everything at the nunnery, including the nunnery, got there either on someone's back, or an animals back (probably yaks). Tango Monastery had a similar location. Unfortunately, when we were just about at the nunnery, my step-mother spotted me by happening to turn around when I was exposed and unprepared. None the less, I continued with my game until we got to the stupa marking the beginning of the nunnery.
A few nuns I met at the nunnery
The nuns were all very nice and offered us tea when we got there. I was excited to have some 'nunnery tea' as I hadn't had it since I stayed at Ziluhka. It was oddly comforting and reminded me of the familiar. Most of the nuns were gone when we were there. They had gone to Nepal for some ceremony or ritual. I was pleasantly surprised to find some of the nuns playing badminton when I arrived. They seemed to be having a great time and enjoying themselves after lunch.
Two nun girls playing badminton
The nunnery was settled into the side of the hills, and was almost completely protected if it rained by the towering rock walls above. The nunnery is one of the seven oldest in the country. There were a few nuns in meditation and one was just about to come out of a three year meditation. We hiked down from the nunnery and I did not continue my spying/sneaking mission since they had already discovered me, and we came back to the road. From there we got on some bikes and started down the pass. At first I really didn't like the idea. The road was the perfect size, for one car that is. When two cars passed each other, usually both had to have at least have two tires on the dirt. With hairpin turns every 50 yards, I was not very excited to whip around one of these corners and come face to face with a car. And you had to stay on the left side, as would the cars driving down. I forgot this frequently, used to driving on the right side of the road. All in all, the bike ride was incredible. The sights were beautiful, there were very few cars, and I was alive.
When we got back to the hotel I was sore and exhausted. Ah, a nice relaxing bath would do the trick. After the bath, I was even more exhausted. I was delirious and dehydrated. I quickly passed out on the floor. Nausea started to hit shortly after and I passed if off as fatigue. A few minutes later, I was leaning over the stone wall outside the room, puking on the beautifully manicured lawn. A few hours later, I had relieved my body of everything solid, liquid and gas, lost all energy, eight pounds, and any motivation. (I'll spare you a picture of me with my head in a toilet).
I stepped out of the car and was awed by the hundreds and hundreds of prayer flags. The five colors were everywhere; red, blue, green, yellow, and white. Especially white, white was everywhere. Each color represented an element, and each person is associated to an element. I tried to find out what my element was when I was there, but you have to see an astrologer, know a whole bunch of information about your birth and so on. (This is the proper way to determine your element in their culture.) Different people said different elements for different colors, so I never quite found out exactly which colors are for what elements. Some were, white-clouds, blue-water, green-wood, blue-sky, white-air, green-earth, red-fire.
Prayer flags at the pass
More prayer flags
Me in front of some prayer flags
Prayer flags lining the entire ridge-line
Oh, when we first got to the summit, we ran into a shepard with his herd of yaks. Our car scared the yaks and they started running back down the hill when the shepard needed them going on the other side. Let's say, it was probably good that I couldn't understand what he was saying, I have a feeling that a hefty amount of curse words were flying from his mouth.
A yak (whenever Karma saw one of these he would say, "All they do is yak yak yak" then break into a fit of laughter. It was funny the first couple of times.)
From the pass we started hiking across the mountains and into the forest. The forest was beautiful, I felt like I had just stepped into Jurrasic Park. I broke ahead of the group and started messing around on my own. After a few minutes I had a great idea. I darted off the path and hid behind the roots of a fallen tree. I was so excited I could hardly sit still. This was my plan: I would hid in the woods, wait for the guide, my dad, and step-mom to walk by, wait a bit, and then follow them. This was going to be great! First Karma passed, followed by the duo. I waited and crept from my hiding spot. I followed them for probably the next 30 minutes or so. I stayed in a crouch and would sneak behind them. When there was a clearing I would wait for them to go, run across, then slow down and wait for them to get ahead again. It was going great and I could see the nunnery through the trees that was ultimately our destination.
Kila Nunnery, tucked into the hillside
Oh, we were making our way to Kila nunnery, a nunnery only accessible by an hour hike through the hills from the pass. Everything at the nunnery, including the nunnery, got there either on someone's back, or an animals back (probably yaks). Tango Monastery had a similar location. Unfortunately, when we were just about at the nunnery, my step-mother spotted me by happening to turn around when I was exposed and unprepared. None the less, I continued with my game until we got to the stupa marking the beginning of the nunnery.
A few nuns I met at the nunnery
The nuns were all very nice and offered us tea when we got there. I was excited to have some 'nunnery tea' as I hadn't had it since I stayed at Ziluhka. It was oddly comforting and reminded me of the familiar. Most of the nuns were gone when we were there. They had gone to Nepal for some ceremony or ritual. I was pleasantly surprised to find some of the nuns playing badminton when I arrived. They seemed to be having a great time and enjoying themselves after lunch.
Two nun girls playing badminton
The nunnery was settled into the side of the hills, and was almost completely protected if it rained by the towering rock walls above. The nunnery is one of the seven oldest in the country. There were a few nuns in meditation and one was just about to come out of a three year meditation. We hiked down from the nunnery and I did not continue my spying/sneaking mission since they had already discovered me, and we came back to the road. From there we got on some bikes and started down the pass. At first I really didn't like the idea. The road was the perfect size, for one car that is. When two cars passed each other, usually both had to have at least have two tires on the dirt. With hairpin turns every 50 yards, I was not very excited to whip around one of these corners and come face to face with a car. And you had to stay on the left side, as would the cars driving down. I forgot this frequently, used to driving on the right side of the road. All in all, the bike ride was incredible. The sights were beautiful, there were very few cars, and I was alive.
When we got back to the hotel I was sore and exhausted. Ah, a nice relaxing bath would do the trick. After the bath, I was even more exhausted. I was delirious and dehydrated. I quickly passed out on the floor. Nausea started to hit shortly after and I passed if off as fatigue. A few minutes later, I was leaning over the stone wall outside the room, puking on the beautifully manicured lawn. A few hours later, I had relieved my body of everything solid, liquid and gas, lost all energy, eight pounds, and any motivation. (I'll spare you a picture of me with my head in a toilet).
April 7, 2010
Day 2 in Paro
We woke up early, ate, and were out the door. Well, they were. I rested until about noon since my stomach was bothering me. I met up with them at Bhutan's National Museum, Ta Dzong. The museum was big, full of Bhutanese history, and after an hour, dreadfully boring. The building was created like a Conch Shell, to wind down and down through each floor. And of course, we walked through the building clockwise. I found out that afternoon why clockwise is such an important idea to them. Apparently Buddha walked clockwise, and so they must follow in his footsteps. Got it.
Me in front of Ta Dzong
After a traditional Bhutanese lunch, hot chile soup and all, we made our way to Rinpung Dzong, or Fortress on a Heap of Jewels. This was one of the largest Fortresses in Paro and is now both a government building and a school for young monks.
The Fortress, Rinpung Dzong
Our guide Karma. Karma is wearing the traditional Gho and a white scarf, required for all men entering the Fortress. Before I took the picture he said, "Yes, I'll pose like Brad Pitt!"
Two monks studying at Rinpung Dzong
Our new guide Karma was an adjustment. He was a very jovial man, and he laughed at everything, including himself. After a couple dozen of his laughing fits, I had the slight urge to hit him, hard. I especially didn't like it when he would laugh hysterically, look at me (not laughing) and ask "happy, happy?" No. At first I was not happy. He was too happy, his happy attitude was dampening my day, especially after walking around four floors of the boring national museum looking at historical items and stuffed birds. But by the end of the day, I started to appreciate his upbeat attitude. Of course his constant laughing had my 'limited good mood behavior' dwindling at a rapid rate. If I had a relatively good nights sleep, and feed at a constant rate, I could keep up a good mood until well into the afternoon. He shot that time line right to hell with his manic fits and had my dark, teenage mood rearing its ugly head before lunch.
After the museums and lunch, we headed to Kyichu Lhakhang, one of the oldest temples in Bhutan. When we arrived, beautiful orange trees surrounded the temple. Our guide told us that a sacred ceremony was taking place. We could hear loud bells ringing and muttered chanting. We talked around the to the center of the temple and found dozens of people sitting in prayer.
Buddhists and Bhutanese sitting in prayer.
I was worried about offending the Bhutanese by taking pictures, but most didn't seem to mind. This man in particular was very excited to have his picture taken.
Me in front of Ta Dzong
After a traditional Bhutanese lunch, hot chile soup and all, we made our way to Rinpung Dzong, or Fortress on a Heap of Jewels. This was one of the largest Fortresses in Paro and is now both a government building and a school for young monks.
The Fortress, Rinpung Dzong
Our guide Karma. Karma is wearing the traditional Gho and a white scarf, required for all men entering the Fortress. Before I took the picture he said, "Yes, I'll pose like Brad Pitt!"
Two monks studying at Rinpung Dzong
Our new guide Karma was an adjustment. He was a very jovial man, and he laughed at everything, including himself. After a couple dozen of his laughing fits, I had the slight urge to hit him, hard. I especially didn't like it when he would laugh hysterically, look at me (not laughing) and ask "happy, happy?" No. At first I was not happy. He was too happy, his happy attitude was dampening my day, especially after walking around four floors of the boring national museum looking at historical items and stuffed birds. But by the end of the day, I started to appreciate his upbeat attitude. Of course his constant laughing had my 'limited good mood behavior' dwindling at a rapid rate. If I had a relatively good nights sleep, and feed at a constant rate, I could keep up a good mood until well into the afternoon. He shot that time line right to hell with his manic fits and had my dark, teenage mood rearing its ugly head before lunch.
After the museums and lunch, we headed to Kyichu Lhakhang, one of the oldest temples in Bhutan. When we arrived, beautiful orange trees surrounded the temple. Our guide told us that a sacred ceremony was taking place. We could hear loud bells ringing and muttered chanting. We talked around the to the center of the temple and found dozens of people sitting in prayer.
Buddhists and Bhutanese sitting in prayer.
I was worried about offending the Bhutanese by taking pictures, but most didn't seem to mind. This man in particular was very excited to have his picture taken.
April 6, 2010
Some new scenery
I have left Thimphu, my home and sanctuary in Bhutan. My father and step mom have come into the country and I plan on spending the remainder of my days with them. I hopped into a car after saying my goodbye's to John and Diane and drove for an hour to Paro, the second largest town in the country. Halfway through the trip, my stomach threatened to retch and I could only hold on as the driver weaved in-between cars, taking us to the brink of potential death over and over again. I arrived at the Uma Hotel, probably the only five-star hotel in the country; I would expect nothing less of my father.
After an hour or so in the hotel, we went for a walk around a hillside. It was a beautiful walk and we eventually came upon a cliff overlooking the airport. The day's adventures were limited, but the next day promised to be worthwhile.
After an hour or so in the hotel, we went for a walk around a hillside. It was a beautiful walk and we eventually came upon a cliff overlooking the airport. The day's adventures were limited, but the next day promised to be worthwhile.
April 5, 2010
Deer Park Marathon
The next evening I journeyed to Deer Park to watch a movie. The Llama from Wales invited me, and I had already been there for a meditation earlier in the week. They only watch independent films, usually from Asia or Europe. We watched 'Eternity and a Day.' It was set in Greece. It is about a man who knows he has one day to live and he spends it will a boy he found on the streets. He tries to help the kid get back to Albany, but it proves to take longer than he expected. The movie was long and boring, but had some beautiful scenery. The Llama compared the movie to poetry; it’s not necessary about the end, but the beauty from start to finish. Or something similar to that.
The next day I went to Deer Park again for a three-hour meditation/retreat. For twenty minutes we would sit and meditate. Then we had a five-minute walking meditation. Then we had five free minutes to go outside or get some tea. We repeated this schedule for three hours. Talking wasn’t aloud the entire time. The no-talking part wasn’t difficult for me; it was the sitting meditation that was hard. I’m not use to sitting in the position for that long and my back started to hurt with no support. But the entire retreat was thrilling. I came outside and walked into town. I felt alert, conscious, and very aware of my surroundings.
Yesterday was an incredible day. I met new people, talked about fascinating things, and enjoyed myself thoroughly. It all started out with having lunch at a pizzeria in town. I had a few hours before I had to be at Deer Park for our Wisdom Tea Party. The Llama said that there’s usually more tea than wisdom. Obviously that was about to change now that I was coming!
I sat down and started reading 'Shambhala Warrior' by Chogyam Trungpa, waiting for my pizza to come. While I was reading, a man with a British accent sitting two tables down asked me what I was reading. We started to talk about the book, that moved to Buddhism, which transitioned into why we where both in Bhutan. Before I knew it, he was sitting across from me and we were having lunch. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties and he said he was from the U.K. His name’s Roger and he’s a freelance writer / photographer / editor / some other things. He has been living in Bhutan for the last seven months or so and he might stay a few more, depending on if he gets enough money. He has lived in Thailand for fifteen years, Australia for some years, some other parts of Asia, Canada perhaps, and then I just lost track. The guy was loud, loved to talk, ask questions, drink, and live and write in random places; I loved him. We talked for hours about Bhutanese culture, Asia, Buddhism, Paro and Thimphu, the GNH, and some other random stuff. I told him about the project I'd created and started, school, etc. I talked to him about the GNH and he said that it was complete bullshit. We went back and forth about the subject. He said that the GNH is just a publicity thing. And everyone’s cleaning up the cities for a conference that’s going to happen soon. SAGG or something. It is a huge conference where all the countries in Asia get together about once a year, and now it’s in Bhutan. Sadly, I had to leave for the discussion at Deer Park but we swapped phone numbers, planning to meet up again.
I got to Deer Park and met up with the four other people there. There was one Bhutanese man, a woman from California, a man from Israel, and the Llama. The Llama read from a book by Chogyam Trungpa, and we would occasionally react to the reading. Afterward we all met up at Ambient Café. I talked to the woman, Cara, and found out that she has been here for about seven months or so and is a third and fourth grade teacher and can teach high school history. The man from Isreal, Noam, was here teaching music and said something about composing for the king. A third man joined us, Shafik, and he is a math/science/other stuff teacher. I’m not quite sure why he’s here. I talked with them for hours and they were all incredibly interesting people. We talked about Buddhism, Bhutan, breaking down walls, wet dreams, writing, motivation, working best at night, relationships, and creating an entirely new day. It was awesome. I argued with Cara about history and it’s importance and it’s significance, etc. I felt like I was arguing with McAvoy again. I talked to Noam about his creation of a 28-hour day. That might have been the highlight of my day. He created a system where you would have a six-day week, the days were 28 hours long, and you would sleep for 8 hours over that 28-hour period. All it all, it was brilliant. We calculated the days and hours and years for a while. I got really excited; I was working with math how could I not? We all left the café around 10, and I was satisfied.
Now, I have spent the entire day revising, editing, and basically creating my blog. Tomorrow, I plan on heading to Paro for some new adventures.
The next day I went to Deer Park again for a three-hour meditation/retreat. For twenty minutes we would sit and meditate. Then we had a five-minute walking meditation. Then we had five free minutes to go outside or get some tea. We repeated this schedule for three hours. Talking wasn’t aloud the entire time. The no-talking part wasn’t difficult for me; it was the sitting meditation that was hard. I’m not use to sitting in the position for that long and my back started to hurt with no support. But the entire retreat was thrilling. I came outside and walked into town. I felt alert, conscious, and very aware of my surroundings.
Yesterday was an incredible day. I met new people, talked about fascinating things, and enjoyed myself thoroughly. It all started out with having lunch at a pizzeria in town. I had a few hours before I had to be at Deer Park for our Wisdom Tea Party. The Llama said that there’s usually more tea than wisdom. Obviously that was about to change now that I was coming!
I sat down and started reading 'Shambhala Warrior' by Chogyam Trungpa, waiting for my pizza to come. While I was reading, a man with a British accent sitting two tables down asked me what I was reading. We started to talk about the book, that moved to Buddhism, which transitioned into why we where both in Bhutan. Before I knew it, he was sitting across from me and we were having lunch. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties and he said he was from the U.K. His name’s Roger and he’s a freelance writer / photographer / editor / some other things. He has been living in Bhutan for the last seven months or so and he might stay a few more, depending on if he gets enough money. He has lived in Thailand for fifteen years, Australia for some years, some other parts of Asia, Canada perhaps, and then I just lost track. The guy was loud, loved to talk, ask questions, drink, and live and write in random places; I loved him. We talked for hours about Bhutanese culture, Asia, Buddhism, Paro and Thimphu, the GNH, and some other random stuff. I told him about the project I'd created and started, school, etc. I talked to him about the GNH and he said that it was complete bullshit. We went back and forth about the subject. He said that the GNH is just a publicity thing. And everyone’s cleaning up the cities for a conference that’s going to happen soon. SAGG or something. It is a huge conference where all the countries in Asia get together about once a year, and now it’s in Bhutan. Sadly, I had to leave for the discussion at Deer Park but we swapped phone numbers, planning to meet up again.
I got to Deer Park and met up with the four other people there. There was one Bhutanese man, a woman from California, a man from Israel, and the Llama. The Llama read from a book by Chogyam Trungpa, and we would occasionally react to the reading. Afterward we all met up at Ambient Café. I talked to the woman, Cara, and found out that she has been here for about seven months or so and is a third and fourth grade teacher and can teach high school history. The man from Isreal, Noam, was here teaching music and said something about composing for the king. A third man joined us, Shafik, and he is a math/science/other stuff teacher. I’m not quite sure why he’s here. I talked with them for hours and they were all incredibly interesting people. We talked about Buddhism, Bhutan, breaking down walls, wet dreams, writing, motivation, working best at night, relationships, and creating an entirely new day. It was awesome. I argued with Cara about history and it’s importance and it’s significance, etc. I felt like I was arguing with McAvoy again. I talked to Noam about his creation of a 28-hour day. That might have been the highlight of my day. He created a system where you would have a six-day week, the days were 28 hours long, and you would sleep for 8 hours over that 28-hour period. All it all, it was brilliant. We calculated the days and hours and years for a while. I got really excited; I was working with math how could I not? We all left the café around 10, and I was satisfied.
Now, I have spent the entire day revising, editing, and basically creating my blog. Tomorrow, I plan on heading to Paro for some new adventures.
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.
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.
April 4, 2010
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)