I had a bit of a realization regarding my wonderful readers out there - you may have never heard of Bhutan! I think the best in/fo I can get you is located on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan This country is nestled by India, Nepal, and China. Read up on it and I'll try to give more information as I go along...
After Jen and I struggled to get our fire in our room back to life last night, we woke up this morning under layers and layers of blankets and not wanting to get out from under them. It is FREEZING here! We had a delicious breakfast of eggs, fried rice, and chili paste. I loved it! The chili paste is so, so tasty, but unfortunately I found out as the day went on that chili paste does not like me.
We started off by driving to the information center on the Black Necked Crane. They come down here from Siberia and are really cool looking. They're a little over 3 feet tall with black necks and feet and white bodies. Amazing. We then drove to a few monasteries and a nunnery on the way - one was The Punakha Dzong, the second one built in Bhutan and previously the seat of the government. Legend has it that the building of the Dzong was foretold by Guru Rinpoche, who predicted that a person named Namgyal will arrive at a hill that looks like an elephant and build. True to the prediction Ngawang Namgyal arrived in the 16th century and built the Dzong at the tip of the elephant trunk, which is right on the confluence of two rivers, the Mo Chhu (Mother) and Pho Chhu (Father) Rivers. The Punakha Dzong was the scene of some fine victories, some of the finest that Bhutan has ever seen.
The highlight of the day was going to Chimi Lhakhang, the temple of Divine Madman, which was built in the 15th century. This temple is also known as the Temple of Fertility. The infertile woman takes blessings from the temple so that they may bear children. Many have been known to trek long and far to this temple to be blessed with fertility. As we entered the small temple there, they were preparing for a ceremony. This is a school for young monks as well, so there were lots and lots of little boys running around preparing for the ceremony. They put piles and piles of food onto altars before the statues of their gods and then say chants and blow horns and other instruments. It was so much for to see the little boys picking up the little scraps of food that had dropped on the floor and nibbling. They were very sweet and reverent, but also still boys! Having fun and throwing things at each other. At one point, our guide told us that we can be blessed with the bow and arrow of the Divine Madman as well as the fertility stick. Before I knew what was happening, our guide bowed and the monk touched his head with it, Jen did it, and then it was my turn. I bowed and he whacked me pretty hard on the head with the fertility stick. My guide next to me said, "Oh!" with great concern. I shook it off, but then my head began to throb. We hiked back to the car and Jen and I couldn't stop laughing about it - I don't know what it means if he hit me extra hard!
I finally got our guide laughing a bit today - he has been a little uptight, but he can laugh! He asked us about marriage in the US and we found out info about it here - that there were only 23 divorces in the country last year. We also found out that our guide is our same age! So fun.
Our hotel here is nice, but not as great as last night's place. Apparently we got moved from another hotel because the prime minister and his "raucous" entourage were staying there. Instead our guide said that we would be staying in the jungle. Yet another example of mistranslation since we are in the woods...
Good luck flags outside the Fertility Temple
The Fertility Temple
Some of the scenes near the temple
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