Travels of THB: Day 14: Punakha

Day 14: Punakha

DB and THB at the tower level of the Choeten, ending our climbing uphill for the day

Weather: Warm, low 80s late in the day

Quote of the Day: This is at least a 5 star day.

FIVE STARS? Nothing happened…read on:

The stars were out last night, it was glorious.

Department of Corrections: THB, under the control of the Divine Madman and his Flaming Thunderbolt of Wisdom, may have inadvertently referred to the town as Pumaka. It is really Punakha

THB does his 7 minutes just outside the door to our room, it’s cool and the yoga mat works quite well along with the nearby stairs.

Breakfast inside, it’s still a little cool

First of 3 suspension bridge day

Not on the agenda today. Floating down the female river looked inviting, sitting in the hot sun for hours did not

DB getting ready for the first crossing of this bridge, we come back this way as well

We’re off at 8:30 (while it is still cool out) to climb about 500 feet in altitude and 45 minutes to the Khamsum Valley Namgyal Choeten (stupa…not a temple, no real assembly hall) built by the King’s mother using prison labor (it’s a form of rehabilitation: when the religious building is complete, the prisoners are released). We cross over the female river using a short suspension bridge pass, walk through terraced farmland, see unusual birds and odd foliage, and we’re the first ones to reach the temple. Great views of the snow covered mountains as we climb up in the top level of the choeten.

Manure being moved to lower fields; the wife is coming behind carrying one huge, heavy bag (note: this guy's pack is near empty

The goal, up close

It was really good to go early, the day is warming up. As usual, no pics inside the choeten, which is too bad because while there is a lot of redundancy inside the temples, some compare and contrast would be helpful (especially to THB, who can’t keep his deities, benefactors and miscellany important people straight)

Our goal

Material was moved from below via cable car. THB can't understand why they didn't leave a gondola running (free in the downhill direction)

Back down to cross the bridge, Chencho is awaiting us (as always). This is a put-in point for large rubber boats (with what looks like a short kayak guide leading the way through the “rapids”).

The spotter, that's the ride THB wanted to take

The time works well as the Dzong (Fortress) up next opens at 11am. Tashi advises that there are dignitaries in the house, so the taking of pics is even more restrictive than usual, as is removing your hat.

There's a substantial, fortified, suspension bridge of about 40 feet on the left, so fortified you don't know it is a suspension style bridge

Waiting for the gates to open

Our Chinese friends on the bridge

So steep even the young monks hold on to the handrails. We're going up now that the assembly is over; there are police awaiting us at the top of the stairs

Immediately we see the Chinese tour that was on the Uma Punakha yesterday afternoon, taking tons of photos. Puna Mochhu Bazam dates from the 1600s and is very impressive, the most impressive of the three dzongs we have visited. As always, it is segmented into administrative functions and an active temple. The festival here is held in an inside courtyard so the number attending is way less than Paro. Remember Paro? That’s where we started the Bhutan adventure, attending two days of festival (outdoors) that held lots of people in the “cheap” seats.

The wall that holds the giant tapestry during festival days

Bodhi Tree

The monks are holding a service in the temple/assembly hall and thus we wait until their finished. As they start coming out, we go inside. HAH! A lead monk is calling off the names of the attending monks and if present you shout out. Guess they don’t trust everyone to attend, they verify. Again, another impressive assembly of statues, the hall is larger than many we have been in.

THB is a big breadstick fan, these are crunchy, excellent

Arnie reincaarnated

No anchovies, plenty of bacon

Excellent fries

Raw veggies with papaya and spicy dip

Return to Uma Punakha for a western lunch. DB has a burger with fries with an Arnie Palmer, THB has veggie/fruit spring rolls (very nice) and a version of a Caesar salad…except THB is pretty sure they forgot to put in the anchovies…accompanied by an excellent local brewski.

Where possible, they build a "go around" to the left side of stupas on the road and all the cars going that direction do the cut out (fortunately it is one way); Bhutan, where religion meets the road

Police check-in at the nunnery (needless to say, unusual) and Tashi is reminded to remind us no pics allowed of the house of the parents of the (true) Queen Mother, just to the left outside camera range; of course, this is also the house of the parents of all four of the Queen Mothers

The nunnery assembly hall from rear

Official car, different numbering scheme

#4 honorarium initiated by his wife

A rest up of about an hour and we’re heading to a nunnery on top of a ridge south of Punakha and across the street from where the parents of the Queen mother and her three sisters live.

Big stupa across from front of temple/assembly hall building

On our way, we spot lots of police and security staff. It turns out the King is going for a raft trip on the female river and we get a brief glimpse of him (well, so Tashi tells us…we are not allowed to slow down or take pics). Tashi and Chencho very excited! He’s taking off from the campground just north of Punakha and fortress.

Not the King, use your imagination

The King was at one point in the campground (no pics allowed while he was there)

The parents of the Queen Mother are in the late 80s and early 90s, so health is an issue. Here’s a little bit of the heritage:

King #1 took over to unanimous acclaim in the early 1900s, hence the Kingdom of Bhutan is the official name of the country. King # 4 married four sisters (reminding THB of Big Love; #4 must have a very functional and worn out Flaming Thunderbolt of Wisdom). The second wife is the true Queen Mother as she is mom to King #5. Yet, all of King #4 wives are referred to as the Queen Mother. THB does not know if Dzongkha has a way of distinguishing between the mother of King #5 and the other 3 Quenn Mothers.

King #4 abdicated so his son, #5, could take over. #4 is in his 60s, #5 is in his 30s, and #6 is a two year old. Remember our first house visit? The woman hosting us was related by marriage to the parents of the queen. The mother of the current Queen is not the Queen Mother, the QM is the mother of the King. Unless you are one of the sisters of the QM married to the King (Ed note: repeated for emphasis).

On left: Queen, Queen Mother to #6, formerly from little village outside Paro, commoner, and probably 5 other things. On right, Kng #5 has just one wife (on the left) and THB does not know if the Queen has any unmarried sisters

If you understood the above, then you are doing really well, award yourself one star!

The nunnery temple hall has several things going on: the large group of nuns is practicing some chants. Four or five nuns are working on removing cobwebs from the higher reaches of the statues and decorations. This nunnery was sponsored by some woman in the hierarchy. THB is so confused by now that he can’t possibly tell you which one.

As we’re leaving, an official car goes by. It’s the Prime Minister. THB has no idea if he is related to the King, #4, #6, or any of the women.

Then two more official cars pass us by: it’s the four wives of #4, sisters to each other, and the second of the four sisters is the Queen Mother. Tashi and Chencho are close to wetting their gho’s. THB’s head is spinning…you can’t take pics of any of these officials.

King #5 and the Queen both attended public schools. THB has forgotten all the other pertinent tidbits dished out by Tashi as the day went along. THB stopped taking notes for the blog a long time ago. Otherwise you followers would be snoozing and snoring, especially if THB told you even some of the religious stories Tashi has spent hours relating as we wander the temples.

Did THB tell you about the rooster that crowed too early?

Did THB tell you about the Divine Madman using his Flaming Thunderbolt of Wisdom? Ohhhhh, now you’re paying attention…it has something to do with a dog and fighting off bad guys with his Flaming Thunderbolt of Wisdom and screwing a ton of women with his Flaming Thunderbolt of Wisdom (THB as seen the statues) and the women don’t seem to be enjoying it all that much. You want more stories like that? SORRY, NO PICS, the statues are inside the temples, and THB has his shoes off and his camera put away.

THB now traveling with his own documentary crew...

Largest suspension bridge in Bhutan; THB has traversed the second longest suspension bridge in USA many many times (no, not the Bay Bridge or the 40th Street overpass in E-Ville)

Part of THB's crew

2 more

Another

Can this guy really deserve to be documented in an documentary or even just a 15 second commercial, even for a good cause THB knows nothing about?

Our last event of the day: THB and Tashi walk across the longest suspension bridge in Bhutan while being filmed by a cameraman from Unicef. Yep, THB and Tashi are going to be in a Unicef film or commercial. This is actually a bit of stretch. What’s not a stretch is that there were four women accompanying the cameraman and keeping DB company because DB took a pass on yet another suspension bridge, as did the Unicef women. Nobody was sure why the Unicef team was there filming (maybe not even the Unicef team).

Tashi did not tell us if any of the Unicef crew are related to the King, the Queen, the four sisters/wives, the women of our house visits, or THB’s brother (who might be collecting royalties, THB will have to ask him).

Back to Uma Punakha for a rest and then dinner at 6:30. THB mixes Bhutan (dumplings) with western (grilled chicken over lentils); DB has salmon and roasted eggplant; Chencho goes western, which was a real shock (veg risotto and roasted eggplant); and Tashi goes for steak!

THB's first course, off the Bhutanese menu

Appetizer and bread tray

Red stuff is Ezay, added liberally to many Bhutanese dishers

Chicken on lentil

Some more unimportant facts: Chencho is 39 and never been out of the country; Tashi has been to India (we overlapped with similar stops in southern India) and London (for tour guide training).

Other highlights:

Sightings of birds that are new to THB: