Guess Who's Back?

Alright, so I know it's been a few days since my last post, but It's hard to get on here when there's no internet. The place we are in today is the first place to have a computer with internet that we've been to since Thimphu 5 days ago. I've been writing these posts on my laptop, so I do have one for every day, and I've gone back and edited the publishing dates so that they match the days they actually took place. Also, we're leaving this hotel tomorrow, so I'm not sure when I'll get back on to post more, but hopefully this satisfies you guys for a bit. So don't worry if there's no new posts for another few days. It is unlikely that I have fallen off a cliff or been kidnapped by organ-thieves or anything like that. The part of the country we are in is pretty rural, so internet is hard to come by.

With that taken care of, back to the story!


We started today with a drive to a nearby monastery that showcased some of the stunning decoration and painting found in all Bhutanese Buddhist temples. Every time we visit one of these places, I am always surprised at how colorful they are. The walls are always painted with different figures from Buddhist mythology, there are hand-woven tapestries and decorations hanging from the ceiling, and the support pillars are covered in hand-sculpted metal.

After this, we drove to the National Art School, where students are trained in painting, woodworking, embroidery, sculpting, and sewing with a hand loom.

In Bhutan, there are only a small number of high schools that teach past grade ten. The government provides education for all children up to grade ten, but afterward, only pays for the further education of those students with the highest grades. If a child's family possesses enough money, they can pay for their child to attend school without attaining the requisite grades, but most families cannot afford this.

Because of this shortage of high schools, the government has also opened schools like this one to enable those students not accepted into upper high school to learn trades. The students at the school were much like those you would see in any school back home. Some were hard at work, some were sleeping at their desks, and some were chatting away and getting little work done.

Since the school is teaching its students to fashion physical objects, rather than just throwing away the finished products, the statues, paintings, wooden masks, and so on are taken by the government and sold to the public. The money brought in this way goes back to fund the operation of the school. This additional revenue is required to run the school, as all the students are not only provided an education, but while they are students, they also live and eat at the school, all of which is paid for.

After this, we drove up to the radio transmission tower that is perched high above the city. From there we could see all of Thimphu as well as the surrounding area. Around the tower there were also an enormous number of prayer flags. Prayer flags are pieces of cloth of different colors stamped with blessings. The different colors represent the four elements. The people place these flags en masse anywhere people constantly pass by, as they are said to bring good luck and safe travels. You find them adorning almost every bridge in Bhutan, as well as on the side of the road and around temples. Tashi said that up here there were probably more prayer flags in one place then anywhere else in the country, and it wasn't hard to believe. There were thousands of them. Along a path leading away from the city, they were hung from every tree and between poles that seem to have been erected just for that purpose. This went on as far as I could see.



We then headed back down toward the city, and stopped at the "zoo," as Tashi called it. It turned out really to be a big pen for Bhutan's national animal, the takin. In the early 90's, a young wounded takin wandered into the area, and some local residents nursed it back to health. By that point, it had grown accustomed to human contact and support, so to release it back into the wilderness would likely have been fatal. Instead, a habitat for it was fenced off, and the "zoo" was established. There are now nine takin that live in the reserve, with two more due to be born soon.




Next we drove to a traditional paper factory, were we saw each step in the process of turning native plants into paper. It is done by much the same process as at home, but all by hand. Most people do not use this paper anymore, as it is substantially more costly and takes longer to manufacture than by modern methods. Typically these days it is reserved for writing scriptures on.

Finally, we drove up to the massive statue of Buddha that is under construction way up on a nearby mountain.



When I asked Tashi about what kind of landscaping they had to do to make a space big enough to build this behemoth of a statue, he told me that the construction site used to be the peak of a mountain. They chopped off the top to make their space. These guys are clearly super serious about their Buddhism. As you can tell from the picture, the statue is still under construction, but when it is finished, it will make an impressive sight, looking out over the city.

To get an idea of how tall this thing is, take a look at the full size picture and notice how small the trees that are nearby are. Don't be fooled by those ones in the foreground; those are far closer to me than the statue.

In the afternoon I wandered around the city and received more stares than I have ever gotten in my life. It was ok though, because most of the people were either smiling at me, or at least looking on in curiosity. It is becoming a common sight for me to be walking or driving by a group of people, have one notice me, and have them start tapping their friends and getting them all to look at me. When this happens, I usually smile and wave, and they always do the same.