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Published: September 26th 2007
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Day 2 began after breakfast by heading to Thimphu Tesche (the festival) at the Trashi Chhoe Dzong (mind you there is a 9-hole golf course in front). It is quite amazing to see Bhutan at this time. So many local people attend the festival and their traditional getups…gho (for men) and kira (for women). It’s incredible to see how colorful they all are. It is one of the main industries in Bhutan and that is textiles. And there seemed to be a zillion kids around (all of whom apparently were sick…maybe they weren’t but I’m not sure why so many of them had snot running out of their noses). People were ALL over the place…sitting, standing, monks on the main steps in the courtyard and inside peering through the windows, some broken open and some gated up.
But what’s truly so brilliantly colorful are all of the dancers and their masks and costumes, especially with the sun out and the sapphire blue sky. The whole festival was definitely a feast for my eyes and my camera. It was a ton of fun to take pictures! The getups for the mask dancers were insanely elaborate and decorative….and it all means something.
The jesters/jokers of the carnival provided entertainment in between the dances. Many of the things they did were ridiculous and very sexual…entertaining I suppose. One sat with me for maybe 10 minutes and kept coming back, especially since I was a foreigner sitting in the first row. He says he wants to marry me and about the fifth time he comes back and somehow I ended up forking over 20 USD! Oh how I am such a typical foreigner. Anyway, it is for them and I love Bhutan so far, so no worries…just amusing to me.
The weather during the day and in the sun was almost unbearably hot…I can only imagine what the local Bhutanese people must have been feeling in their traditional dress!
I’m finding that the people here are SUPER nice and very willing to have their pictures taken. They actually love it and some people ask me to take their picture…and I am happy to do so obviously. They are all smiles! Always waving and saying hello. English is a required subject now in the schools so many youngsters speak English.
At the end of the day, all of the people line
up to receive a blessing from the chief lawyer and a prayer string, which I did as well.
Afterwards, Tshultrim, my guide took me to his home in Thimphu. It is actually his sister’s but it is where he stays while he is in Thimphu. His family is farmers and he grew up in the eastern part of the country. I met his youngest niece who is eight and was VERY excited to meet me…she wanted to practice her English, but she was very shy when I arrived. It was sweet. And his sister was very excited to have her first American in her home. She has invited me back to have dinner there upon my return to the town at the end of my trip, which I am looking forward to although I anticipate I may not love it. While I was there I was offered butter tea…yuck! It was so buttery and well, just not my cup of tea…and then they suggested I put in these hard corn bits which soften and you eat them…well they didn’t soften and with my dental issues I opted to not finish. I try not to do this, but I just
couldn’t pretend anymore. His sister is a weaver and makes beautiful kiras, one of which she won a prize for. It is most impressive and she showed me how they are made. Seems like a very daunting process, but it may be more rewarding than sitting behind a computer all day!
Speaking of which, no crackberry service here and there are limited internet cafes. VERY limited.
Have I mentioned the dogs yet?! There is an obscene amount, especially in the larger towns like Thimphu. I swear…at any given moment you turn your head and see 5 dogs and can hear another 2 or 3 barking in the distance. Apparently they have decided that in the next year they will capture all of them and put them in one place. This is a great idea as they don’t like to keep their traps shut at night…makes for difficult sleep. But I did bring my ear plugs…one of my many brilliant ideas.
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