Today was the first of our two full days in Bumthang (pronounced almost like boom-tong). We started the day by driving to the other side of the village, and from there we started hiking to a monastery that was built in the seventh century. It was an awesome hike, as it was really the first opportunity I've gotten to walk through a village, rather than driving through. I got to walk the same paths as the local people do, rather than just drive by in a car. I like doing things that way. When you leave, you feel like you got to have a more authentic experience. It feels less like you're walking around a big zoo, observing things from the outside, and more like you actually got to be a part of life there, instead. The monastery was awesome too, with its paintings that were hundreds of years old, its doorways build for people three-quarters my height, and setting that could have as easily been in 1500 as 2010.
Afterwards, we continued on our journey, and headed towards another monastery built upon the ground where one of the great figures in Buddhism in Bhutan meditated for three months. On the way to this monastery, we came across something interesting.
Marijuana grows all over the place in parts of Bhutan. It grows on the side of the roads, it grows in the forests, and it's cultivated in big fields right next to the rice and wheat. The local name for it in English is "pig wheat," because the farmers feed it to their pigs. Since the farmers want to make their pigs as fat as possible, they often feed it to them instead of more typical fare. When pigs eat marijuana, they want to eat more and more and more and get lazy, so that when they're not eating, they just go back to sleep, meaning less work for the farmers, and fatter pigs.
When we reached the monastery, Kurjey Lhakhang, we entered to find that the monks were currently gathered and participating in a chanting prayer, as it was a significant day on the calendar used in Bhutan. With the earthy incense, the rhythmic intonation of the monks, and the harsh shadows cast by the sole window, it made for quite an experience. It just seemed so real, and unlike most watered-down versions of things you typically get to see as a tourist. It was awesome.
Continuing our journey, we passed more tens of thousands of dollars worth of marijuana plants, and eventually reached the third monastery of the day, which turned out to be closed, so we decided to come back later in the day, because according to Tashi, there was some stuff that was worth seeing inside. We have a habit of showing up places and having them be closed.
At this point, we'd been out for around 3 hours, and walking for about two hours of that, but we still had another hour of walking to do to get to where we were getting picked up. We headed back along the road, passing through huge swaths of wild bamboo, past groups of grazing cattle, and down cobblestone pathways wending their way between houses and farm fields.
After we made our way back to the hotel for lunch and rested for a bit, we headed out once again to check out a few more local sites. We visited the local dzong first, which is different from many of the others we have seen in that it has never seen a battle. As all the other dzongs, it now serves only as the administrative center for the area and well as as a monastery, but even when it was originally built, it was never used in battle.
Next we crossed the river to return to the monastery we had visited earlier that had been closed. Thankfully, it was open this time. As we entered the main courtyard, we found a group of young monks performing the same kind of chant that we had seen at the previous monastery. I know I've said it a bunch of times, but I love just how authentic everything is here, and how close you can get to it all.
Inside we got to see paintings on the wall that date back to the 14th century that have never been restored. Most of the temples and dzongs have had their painting redone over the years, but this one has not. As a result, the paintings are pretty faded in some spots, but it was very cool to know that what we were looking at was the original, and was over 600 years old.
Finally, we drove to the Swiss Guest House. No typo.
About 30 or 40 years ago, a Swiss man was visiting the valley and fell in love with a woman who lived there. The two got married, and he has lived there ever since. He now owns a bunch of farmland, a hotel, a brewery/vineyard, and a facility that makes swiss cheese. When we went up to check the place out, it happened that Tashi had gone to school with the guy on duty at the hotel, so he showed us around and gave us free samples of Red Panda, the beer that they make there. I think it's cool to be in a country where you can travel halfway across it, and still run into people you know, consistently.
At this point it was about 5:30, so we headed back to the hotel, but there was still a bit of time before dinner, so I decided to walk down and watch a soccer match I had spotted as we were driving back. As I approached the sidelines, a bunch of kids came over, intrigued by my gorillapod. I showed them how it worked, and when they saw I had a camera, they asked to have their pictures taken. I happily obliged.
The kids here love having their pictures taken. When you show it to them after, they think it's hilarious. We stood around and talked until the match ended, at which point it looked like it was going to start raining, so everyone hurried home.
As I was walking back to the road, however, I saw a little girl lean out of the window of the car she was waiting in and start waving frantically at me. As I got closer, she, like all the other kids who notice me, started calling out "hi" and staring at me as if I was the guy from Twilight in an 8th grade classroom back home. I waved back and walked over toward her. As I approached the car, I saw that she was not alone. Her brother and sister were also in the car, and they all crammed into the window so they could get in on talking to this green-eyed white boy.
The girl asked me my name, which she repeated back as if she was testing out the sounds on her tongue for the first time. I guess the sounds in "Cameron" aren't too common in Dzongka. With surprisingly good English for a seven year-old from the countryside in Bhutan, she asked me where I was from. Then she told me I was beautiful, and buried her face in her hands while her siblings burst out laughing. When she had recovered sufficiently, she wanted to know how old I was, and what everyone in my family's name was. She hung off of every word as if I was giving her instructions on how to turn lead into gold.
Once she had asked me every question she could possibly think of, she said "thank you," gave me one final enormous smile, and started waving at me while saying "bye." This continued until I rounded the corner in the road and was out of view.
As I was on my way back to the hotel, I ran into another young kid who was probably around 11. Actually, he ran up to me. At first he was walking behind me, and I heard the sound of running as he tried to catch up to me, although I didn't know that's what he was trying to do at the time. As he did catch up, he crossed to the other side of the road, matched my pace, and started looking over at me tentatively every so often. He started whistling, so when he stopped, I echoed his tune. He started laughing, so I caught his eye and asked him if he spoke English.
It turned out he did. I asked where he lived and how far away his school was from his house. First, he told me that it was one kilometer, but then he changed his mind and told me it was one centimeter. He thought this was the funniest thing that had ever been said by anyone anywhere. We walked together for about twenty minutes, while he told me all about the village, his school, and his friends and family. It was fortunate that I ran into him, because he showed me things and taught me things I wouldn't have even known to ask about if it weren't for him. Eventually, we reached his house, where his sister was just getting back to at the same time. They walked up the hill together chattering away excitedly and glancing back every few seconds, smiling and waving the whole time.
I like this place.
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