Blogs from Jakar, Bumthang, Bhutan, Asia
May 5th 2011
Thursday morning, Rinchen spoke with us about the 10 rules to be born as a human. The guidelines were quite similar to the 10 commandments. Tobgay helped with the translations as Rinchen's English still sometimes eludes us. After his talk, we meditated together. It was easy to go deep in such a conducive environment. Finally, we had the opportunity to place objects on the altar for blessing. We placed our 2 red marble pieces that Tshering gave us on Wednesday as we hiked up to Kuenzangdak Gompa. We had stopped by a water-powered prayer wheel halfway up the mountain and Tshering found the marble in the stream. In the blessing, Rinchen read prayers, three rice, poured holy water along the altar, then distributed rice to each of us. At his cue, we repeatedly tossed rice upon ... read more
June 13th 2010
So here is an update, finally! Our busy schedule and lack of reliable internet has made blogging pretty impossible. Sundays are our only free days, so weekly updates may be possible. A lot has happened since I arrived in Bhutan on June 1st, so a few highlights: I got my first glimpse of the snow capped Himalayas on the plane to Paro, where we landed on the country's only airstrip (and only straight stretch of pavement). Jigme, our wonderful driver for the program, picked me up and took me straight to the trailhead to the Tiger's Nest monastery, where the rest of the group was already hiking. The strenuous hike up was probably not the best thing to do right off the plane before getting acclimated, and unfortunately I did not have time to catch ... read more
October 6th 2006
We're waking up to another glorious day, the sun shines brightly in a cloudfree blue sky, and the temperature is chilly enough to make the cold morning shower feel like a chore. For the first time of the trip we are allowed the luxury of staying in the same place two nights in a row, Tshering having scheduled visits to the remaining temples and sights here in Bumthang. Mr Dorji, proprietor of the Gongkhar guesthouse, offers up a toast and cornflakes breakfast, cycling the menu a bit to keep things interesting. This man really deserves recognition for his spotless operation, and I would heartily recommend a stay at his guesthouse if you happen to be in town. After breakfast Tshering suggests we go back to Lhodrak Kharchhu Shedra, the buddhist college located on a hill above ... read more
October 5th 2006
My alarm goes off at seven in the morning. Drifting out from sleep my first conscious thought is that I don't want to get up. I think about the joys of a cold shower on the freezing floor tiles and find the concept quite easy to resist. Dorji is still snoring and I ask Tshering what the weather looks like. He pulls the curtain to the side and a gloomy grey light shoots into the room. Marvellous, it still looks like crap. After a bit of moaning I finally get up and take that shower, just as horrible as I had imagined. I can't wait to get out of this place, and if the places further east will be worse than this this trip will turn into a misery. After breakfast we quickly pack up and ... read more
September 27th 2006
25/09/06 - 26/09/06 Jakar, Bumthang province. We carried on further East into the Bumthang province - a 9 hour journey with an hour’s stop when we spotted a family of Common Langurs (or white cap langurs) and stopped to try and photograph them amongst the forest canopy. We crossed the Pe Le La pass at 3350m and climbed up through the clouds. With ever changing vegetation and rising and falling temperatures, we ascended and descended through 2000m. We passed a famous Chorten, which is a replica of one found in Lhasa, Tibet. Well almost… according to the story, a monk decided that he wanted to copy the Tibetan Chorten in Bhutan. He carefully carved a scaled image of the Chorten into the only suitable thing that he had handy - a carrot. When he arrived in ... read more
