Glimpses into Bhutan in the Year 2000 – A Travel Diary Part 6

13th of October
At 5:00 a.m., the cyclists were woken up quite loudly - and so I also woke up. Later one of them missed breakfast because he had turned around in bed again.
Conversation with the New Zealanders (older semesters) who had organized their trip on the internet for four weeks in Bhutan – wasn't usual 20 years ago.

Again through Chamkhar Town. The road to the bridge is worth seeing.
Today I noticed women of different ages with nose rings; one had a ring with a T in the lower half and a grid pattern.
A house with phalluses. The homeowner told the story of a monk who had a choice of three sins: drinking alcohol, killing and eating a pig, and having sex with a woman. He took the alcohol and committed the other two sins while drunk.

While driving to Trongsa Dzong the VVIPs overtook us. The finance minister waved to us. We circumnavigated the long line of people waiting. The dzong was very nice. There was a ceremony attended by people from all over the area. Police and other security forces regulated the flow of people. Very beautiful architecture. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos; from the outside however we could.
Discussion about nirvana and blessings for a long life. High and popular forms of religions always collide.
Picnic again at the Chendebji Stupa. An excellent place for this purpose.
Behind the Pele-la we could see Himalayan peaks this time, but only very badly.
Over a bumpy road after Gangtag. The dzong was smaller, but also beautiful and very interesting. Crows. We could also go inside. There were supposed to be a 1,000 butter lamps burning there, actually less than 27x27 (729).
Chanadorja - name of a protective deity.
Via Wangdi to Punakha - the evening shops are nicely maintained.

 

 

I've written a couple of postcards.
The full moon casts a pale light on the dark, gray-blue slate mountains. And the crickets chirp.

14th of October
J.: “I have lost 10 min. Because of diarrhea. "

I could take a photogrph of Punakha Dzong with turquoise water. It's actually just big inside. A bodhi tree.

The name of our hotel, Zangtho Pelri, means paradise.
Got stamps and souvenirs in Thimphu.
Bought some books:
David MacDonald: Touring in Sikkim and Tibet. Kalimpong 1930. You should take for a party of four “2 tins Quaker Oats” [not much], “5 lbs Sugar” [that seems alot, even if you have a sweet tooth], “2 doz Matches” [I would have taken more, just in case], “1/2 lb Macaroni” [to play jackstraws]. Quite a funny book, though it also contained solid information.  
G.E.O. Knight: Intimate Glimpses of Mysterious Tibet and Neighboring Countries. London 1930. Interestingsly he referred to the Consul-General David MacDonald as a “great Tibetan scholar”; how courteous I thought 20 years ago, but David MacDonald was fluent in Tibetan as his birth name had been Dorje, he had been Anglo-Sikkimese and was also one of the translaters of the New Testament into Tibetan. He lived from 1870/1872 till 1962. If you want to check this, there's only the French version of Wikipedia [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Macdonald]. It was very entertaining to read this reprint as I had been to Sikkim less than two weeks before and to Tibet two years before.
J. Claude White: Sikkim and Bhutan. London 1909. Mr White recalled his twenty-one years (1887-1908) on the frontier. Very good read. The pictures of the reprint aren't too good. Too bad, as he also took photographs of places I had visited.

Chantilling colors of the jackets of two young women.
Then on the way to Paro. Unclear where (Damduc / Goanba ??? - couldn't verify these locations). I see that chillies are being dried somewhere.