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Published: December 11th 2009
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Today we planned to trek to the monasteries of Thangu and Cherry. A taxi costs you around Rs. 700 for a return trip. A bus leaves at 7.00 am from the city bus stand to Begana (ticket: Rs 20), 3 km from Dodeyna the base for the trek. No prizes for what option we took. We reached Begana at about 7.30 and walked to Dodeyna. We had our breakfast, Maggi and tea, at the shop right at the trail head. That was probably the most pathetic tea I have ever tasted. Thangu and Cherry are located on two adjacent hills and is a half hour trek from the base. We chose Cherry first, located midway on the hill with another monastery,Thangery, nestled right on the top. We decided to do both. Its an easy 30 min uphill trek to the monastery with beautiful views of the valley below. Halfway on the trek, is a resting point in the form of a small chorten. A 15 min walk ahead lies a seemingly isolated monastery of Cherry.
We met two monks sitting under a tall, slender tree, which according to the legend is the walking stick of Guru Padmasambha. One of them was
probably on a silence vow and other understood neither English nor Hindi. So we strolled around the monastery to find another monk washing his clothes. He stopped his ablutions to talk to us. Apparently Cherry monastery is a meditating center for 40 monks who lock themselves in small rooms all day. Some for as long as a year. They keep on moving from one monastery to another during their 3 year course duration. This guy just arrived from Thangu. He opened the temple for us. This temple holds the great king of Bhutan, Shabdrung's father's ashes. It also had a huge statue of Buddha with 19 bowls of water offered. The Chorten at Punakha had 14 and the monk was not clear on the reason behind it. The peaceful surrounding are perfect for some soul searching meditation. We did not do that though and started walking further to Thangery only to be welcomed by barking of what seemed to be a ferocious dog. The monk ran up to us and told us not to go there as it the meditation center and no-one is allowed there. Disappointed, we hiked back to Dodeyna.
Thangu looked almost similar to Cherry, another monastery
with meditating monks. And the hill overlooked the same valley. So we skipped it and walked back to Begana. The problem is the bus back to Thimpu is only at 5 p.m. and we were 6 hours early. There is no sign of human beings and finding a taxi can be labelled as a miracle. Suddenly, we saw a Toyota Hillux with a junior monk in the driving seat and a senior monk as a co-passenger. We waved for a ride back, the jr. looked at the sr. and the sr. moved his head saying no and they whirled past us. The monks over here not only keep their Ferrari but also want to keep it all for themselves. Cursing him, we continued walking on out 20 km journey back. But then there came another monk this time in a Hyundai Santro and he was kind enough to give us a ride. He took a stop in between to meet an uncle of his, and not wanting to keep us waiting long, finished the business quickly and dropped us as a taxi stand where we got the taxi back to Thimpu. Not all monks are bad !In the evening we
went to
Ambient Cafe , a nice little coffee place with free wireless, friendly hosts and good ambience. A cup of latte and an hour of reading book we called it a day.
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