Exploring Thimphu
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| Changangkha Lhakhang |
31st
March 2018
I went down to breakfast in the dining room
of the Khamsum Inn and was about to settle down at a table alone when I spotted
Susan and Arlene who had been participating in the reading program at a school
in Paro. I remembered that the man
on reception had told me that there were 2 rooms booked for BCF for the night
just passed, but he could tell me no more and the fact has slipped my mind.
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| Spinning prayer wheels at Changangkha Lhakhang |
They had a car booked for some standard
sightseeing for the day, and we exchanged a little news and shared experiences
from the past month. Susan had
been unwell on arrival and had not really got over her cold.
They left to prepare for their day and I
finished my breakfast, deciding how I would spend my day.
I started with a walk to Changangkha
Lhakang – just up the hill, discarding my instructions from Google Maps and
trusting to my own sense of direction to find a much shorter route. I watched parents bring small children
for naming and blessing and old ladies taking the sun with their prayer beads.
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| Thimphu from Changangkha Lhakhang |
I walked down to some of the lower chortens
and sat for a while, then followed a set of steps down to a path that seemed to
go in the right direction for my next destination.
I found “Simply Bhutan” – a bit of a living
museum and decided to look at it. I let a nice girl guide me through and show
me the dancing. I told her no, I
did not need to get dressed up for a photo in national dress – I had half a
dozen sets back in my bag at the hotel.
I also resisted purchases, though was tempted by the hand made paper cards, until I found that they were 200Nu each – which was thoroughly over the top.
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| Pema Tshering, the disabled carver with his work |
I watched some dancing and admired some
musical instruments with which I was not familiar before being taken to see an
artisan at work. This young man
had major physical deformaties but had lived in his village and taught himself
to carve using his feet. He came
to the attention of the Queen, who had him brought to Thimphu to better ply his
trade. His work was lovely, but
heavy and bulky and I have no room for it in my suitacase.
It was time to return to the hotel to meet
Karma for lunch. He took me to a
café that served a mix of foods and I chose spagetti with pesto for a change,
it was rather nice.
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| Tachichho Dzong |
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| Thangtong Gyalpo - the iron link bridge builder |
I eventually found the ticket office, after wandering around
for a bit and being assisted by a civil servant about to leave work – he picked
me up in his car and drove me the 300m or so, then accompanied me to the ticket
office and there was another complicated conversation and I was told I needed
to buy a ticket. I thought I’d
already figured that out, but never mind!
I was allocated a guide – which was great – and received a brief tour though we could not go inside the main temple. My guide explained to me who many of the murals were, and once again I was overwhelmed by the who's who in the history and religion of Bhutan. There was an excellent bas-relief of one of my favourites - Thangtong Gyalpo, the iron link bridge builder. As far as I can find out this man was using this technology a couple of centuries before the west worked it out!
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| Garuda |
I was a little irritated as my guide
was talking to me about some paintings on the walls and a tall German came and
stood right in front of me, blocking my view. I tapped him and pointed out the obvious and he did
move.
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| The central tower (Utse?) |
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| Another lovely mural of... |
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| The main temple under renovation |
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