Blogs from Bumthang, Bhutan, Asia - page 2

Sunday, May 1st marked traveling for over a month. We began our morning with some group time in a simple meditation space here at our hotel. With all the traveling we've been doing, this was the first opportunity to have some group process. After a quick tea break, we spent the mid-day walking from the hotel through pastoral dirt farm roads, over hill and dale. Happily, no steep climbs today. Just ambling through cow and horse pastures, over streams, and enjoying several encounters with local children. Our paths led us to the important Kurjay Monastery where Padmasambhava meditated in a cave and left his body imprint in the rock. That cave is now enclosed within the temple which was empty of monks as they all arrive from Trongsa tomorrow for the summer months. Behind the monastery ... read more

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

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