Land of the Thunder Dragon – Part Two

(Continued from Part One)

Whilst in the Gangte Valley , we also walked through the terraced paddy fields that had just been planted. This was fascinating as we learned all about how rice is grown, but also saw the beautiful fields themselves. Another part of the culture that we got to learn about where all the festivals surrounding it.

We spent most of the time moving around in a twenty seater minibus. This was very comfortable and like our second home.  The back row carried all our rucksacks and luggage while Chimmi drove us carefully around the roads.  Here, people use lanes and give way to each other, so the only thing making it slow was the very hilly countryside with very windy roads.

Apart from trekking in the hills and seeing the various aspects of the capital, Thimpu, the main attraction in Bhutan is the dzongs, temples and monasteries.  In essence, these all evolve around Buddhism, and explain why this is such a calm and beautiful place.

Dzongs are the large forts that exist all over the country.  Built in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with white-washed walls towering over the cities, they were once the strongholds of the local warlords.  Now they are the administrative centres and monastic headquarters for the regions.

Once inside there are various courtyards with exquisitely painted buildings and temples.  One was the site of the king’s coronation, some have the king’s modest palaces, while others were summer and and winter homes for the chief abbott.  Here the yellow of the monarchy mix with the red of the priesthood.

The temples across the country were varied in size and location.  Many are at the top of hills where early followers of Buddhism mediatated, some were in the dzongs whilst others were in towns and country alike.  All were linked by the Buddhist shrines, but each one shares the story a local protector who once killed demons and demonists in the area.  The local people would look to the protector in his various re-incarnations to protect them from everyday life.

Perhaps the oddest of these protectors was the mad monk.  He is said to have scared off the local demonist woman by flashing his “flaming thunderbolt”.  Apparently she was so scare by the size of the said appendage that she turned into a dog, who he later killed and saved the local village from here evil powers.  This explains the sight of large phalluses hanging outside, or painted on the walls, of many houses.

The monastic way of life is central with many families sending a son, and now daughter, to become a Buddhist monk.  They receive nine years of education, but is a tough life.  However, we rarely saw any one of them unhappy; in fact we saw most of them using their mobile phones or playing football or even practicing their dancing for all the festivals that they lead.

After ten days it was time to say our goodbyes and fly back to Kathmandu.  Having never done a group trip this was a great way to see somewhere with people of similar mindsets; and the Kinley, our guide, gave us all insights into this wonderful country.  It will be remembered for a long time.