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We flew back to Kathmandu from Pokara and visited the Patan area, another place filled with palaces and temples. The month long festival honoring the snake and conducted to bring on the rains was going on, featuring large, as in really tall (over 35 feet tall), carts that are pulled through the city twice a day. If the gods are happy, the monsoons will be good and the rice will flourish. By the way, to end the rains there is a festival where children fly kites. A couple of years ago they got too much rain and the elders blamed it on the kids that were too busy with their electronic devices to go fly kites. Sound familiar?
That evening we had a very interesting lecture by a university professor who explained how culture, religion, and geography all combine to make Nepal work. We also had a very long discussion of politics, as on May 14 Nepal will have its first local election in 20 years. There is great optimism here that they will soon have an operating government, something they have been without for eight years.
This morning we boarded a plane run by
Friends taking a break
The traditional dress is worn for work or formal occassions. one of the two airlines allowed to fly into Bhutan and, it being a clear day, had a spectacular view of Everest and the mountains. We landed in Paro, where the only airport is, entering through what has to be one of the coolest airport terminals in the world. It looks like a palace from the outside!
We boarded a bus for Thimphu, the capital, about an hour away through the beautiful Paro River Valley. Bhutan is a Buddhist Kingdom, with a population of only 700,000. It prides itself on having a Gross National Happiness Index as opposed to a Gross National Product. I am hoping to learn more about this, but so far I would say the place is pretty happy, and taking great care of its natural resources. All food here is produced organically and their two industies are tourism and hydroelectric power. They are, as a nation, 'carbon neutral', and the rivers we have seen flow clear and cold. (And are full of beautiful brown trout, which, due to Buddhism frowning on killing anything living, are never fished for.)
Note: Thimphu is the only national capital in the world that does
The only stop light in Thimphu
This is the only national capital in the world without a single traffic light. not have a single traffic signal. Rather, the traffic through the main street of town is directed by a traffic cop in the center of the city who performs what looks like a ballet directing the cars and occasionally running off a dog that has decided to take a nap in the middle of the street. (Yep, dogs again!)
The men wear a national dress called a gho, that is a fancy bathrobe, and the national dress for women is a long skirt and a top similar to the gho that men wear. Food is mainly vegetarian, the major staple is rice. It will be an interesting week here.
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