Paro

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Paro:

Christian who is the chef of all the Amankora lodges took a trip to check out Gangte and Bumthang so Shane and I headed to Paro to make sure all was okay with the food here. It’s nice to get out of Thimphu for a little while. Paro is smaller and the lodge is set about a half hour outside of the Paro town. Paro is located in a valley and is surrounded by gorgeous snow-covered mountains. We stayed at either the lodge or Christian’s house. The lodge rooms are very nice and have HUGE beds, an awesome bathtub and tons of space. I will be fed with lodge food while I am here because there is no cooking equipment at Christian’s. There are a few more expats here in Paro who have been nice enough to take me on hikes and such. The lodge manager, Mark, has a wife here, Suzy, so we have been able to hang out quite a bit. The second day here we walked up to the Drukgyel Dzong, a short distance from the lodge. It has been here since 1649. Druk means Bhutan and gyel means victory, so named to commemorate the victory of Bhutan over Tibet invaders. It was then used in future attacks by Tibet. It is located at “Zero Point” because it lies close to the Tibetan border. A bumpy road now serves as the trading route. A fire in 1951 destroyed it so it is basically ruins and no longer in use. It is still an incredible Dzong to look around in and stands as a strong historical monument.

Steve, F&B Manager, and I went on a hike past the Drukgyel Dzong and down into the valley towards Tibet. The path went along the river. We came across three huge bee hives. I have never seen anything like it. We only came across a couple of other people along this road. We passed a couple Chortens and continued into a village. There was a small school with children inside but the rest of the village seemed like a ghost town. We were standing there when suddently a Bhutanese man came running out of nowhere saying “yak, yak, yak, yak” and pushing us out of the way towards a store. We finally realized he was talking about six yaks being herded down the road. These yaks were huge and kind of scary. They were walking behind rocks so they were hard to see but then all their heads poked up and they looked like they were all staring at us. The herders definitely had control of them but still if one wanted to run at us they could. They are really hairy too, which makes them look twice their size. Steve walked closer than I and at one point they looked like they would run towards us. We followed these yaks back the way we came, keeping our distance along the way. At one point a yak veered off the road and plowed through a rock wall like it was nothing. They tied them up in this grass field presumably to be killed there. Shane and I later did this same walk and the yaks were gone. We went a bit further and came across a small restaurant. We sat inside and talked with the owner, who spoke great English. She seemed a bit worried about something and so we asked what was happening. The Ministry was in town to explain the voting process once democracy begins in 2008. This restaurant we were sitting in was in charge of feeding them. People running for election go from town to town explaining the election, their party, and what they stand for. It’s interesting to see a country head into democracy for the first time. We headed back and found a secluded rock near the river to eat lunch at. We had an amazing view all around. It was one of those moments where you just can’t believe where you are.

One day Suzy and two of the Paro kitchen staff and I walked to the Elevated Buddha monastery. It took about 4 hours to walk there. Pretty exhausting by the end of the day. However, it was one of those days that you know you will remember forever. The walk wasn't too difficult until the very end when the path goes straight up to get to the monastery. It was small and just a few monks were walking around. They said we needed permits but since we walked for four hours they would let us into the temple with the elevated buddha. First they fed us tea and cookies which was very nice. The temple had a large statue and when we looked they put a dollar bill under the foot of the buddha so you could see it wasn't touching anything. It was hard to see if the buddha was touching on any other sides but it's nice sometimes to just believe in their faith. The monks did not speak English so one of the kitchen staff translated for us. It was a very magical day.

Another hike I went on was with Suzy and Dani, a manager from Indonesia. We tried to hike to a monastery which we could see from the road. We asked directions and were pointed towards this Indian Army Camp. We had to walk all the way through it. If I thought I had gotten stared at before, I had felt nothing yet. The Indian army was only men, of course, and they were dressed in either fatigues or these blue running suits. They kept pointing us up the road further and then to the left. We followed a path up in the mountains quite a bit before it finally dead-ended and we had to head back. It had rained the night before so the path was quite slippery. At one point I began slipping and couldn’t right myself for a couple minutes. It must have been quite a sight. Dani later also fell, although much harder, as we headed down. We got some exercise and a few scratches but we did not find that monastery.

House Blessing:

While in Paro, Steve got his house blessed and Shane and I were able to witness it. The monk is called Rimpoche and named Ngawant sherdrup Chokyi Nyima, the 9th reincarnation of Neyphug Trulku. He has a monastery called Neyphug Thegchen Tsemo and he also runs a school for underprivileged children. “The motivation for all my activities is based on Buddha’s teaching that Sangha should create a field where good Karma is cultivated”. He came to the house with one of his disciple monks. He really is quite young but has been studying Buddhism for about 20 years. His disciple lit incense and there was corn, rice, beer, holy water available for the ceremony. Steve was to pray to the house spirits to accept him and to accept the food and drink as his offerings to them. Rimpoche chanted extremely fast while reading this old script written on old lengthwise pieces of paper that were wrapped up in colorful cloth. He walked slowly from room to room following his disciple who carried the incense. Rimpoche threw corn and rice around in each room and continued to chant. The disciple also poured beer in a small cup. We were told house spirits were like humans and also enjoyed alcohol. It was very spiritual and moving. I saw this Rimpoche speak the night before at the Amankora. He is a great speaker, humorous and speaks English well. The most interesting part was his belief in “religion”. He believes the many Bhutanese practice Buddhism as a religion but true Buddhism is not a religion. It is personal, in ones soul, heart, and mind. Only the self will truly understand when one is enlightened. People kill in the name of religion but religions are not in themselves bad. He respects all religions and it is the people who do with religion what they will.

Taktshang Goemba (Tiger’s Nest):

This is a two hour hike to probably the most touristy place in all of Bhutan. It is a monastery set on a cliff that seems absolutely impossible to build. When it was built pieces were taken up on the backs of goddesses. The setting is where Guru Rimpoche rode upon the back of a tigress to ward off an evil demon. The hike was uphill the whole way. Shane and I did it together. He finally had a day off. We passed a lot of people in the beginning. Shane and I had an advantage since we're used to the altitude already. The path, at the very end, starts to go down some steps and then back up to the monastery. They almost didn't let Shane and I in because we didn't bring a guide. We had permits and there luckily was another Amankora guide right behind us who took us in. We went into two temples. There are nine total but we lost our guide and felt weird walking around by ourselves. There is a rock in one area with a small hole. You are suppose to make a wish, close your eyes and walk towards it with your thumb. If the thumb hits the hole than your wish will come true. I was a little off. Tiger's nest was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. You look at it in awe that it could have been built. They have only let tourists there since 2005 so I feel very lucky to have gone. On our way back we stopped at this cafeteria built halfway up. Many people stop the hike at the cafeteria because there is good view. I would say the average age of people who come to Bhutan is 60 because it costs so much to get here. There are no college-age backpackers here. Tigers Nest was magical and the pictures should talk for themselves.

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Photos

Elevated Buddha Monastery
It took four hours to get to this monastery.

Tiger's Nest
Paro, Bhutan

Comments

[Travis]

It looks...
amazing! Can't wait to see more pictures. Those yaks look huge. How do you get over to the Tiger's Nest?