Day Two in Bhutan
The textile museum in Thimpu
I woke up after a surprisingly good night’s sleep. I was being picked up for the day at 9am so I had a couple hours to hang out. I noticed the internet was much better and so I was able to update my blog post much easier than when working on it the night before. I read for a bit and watched some YouTube videos before finally getting up and getting ready for the day. At around 8am I went down for breakfast in the hotel restaurant. The same wait lady was there and greeted me with a big smile. I had the “Continental” breakfast which was loosely a western-style breakfast. It was good although I did remind myself that I wasn’t here for the gourmet food. After breakfast I rearranged things and got ready for the day ahead.
The first stop of the day was to the Royal Takin Preserve. The Takin is the national animal of Bhutan and is a sort of goat/cow looking animal that roams the high mountains of the country. The preserve keeps some of them along with a selection of other local animals. We walked around the large pens on an elevated catwalk and saw the Takins, some deer, a wild boar, some yaks and some birds. The preserve is spread up a hillside and I could see it went a long way back further than we were able to walk. I have seen Takin before at the San Diego Zoo but these ones looked different than those.
Our next stop was further up the hill for a hike to a monastery. We parked at a broadcast tower and then proceeded to hike up the ridge. Considering that we were almost at 9,000 feet the climb up the ridge was a bit of a slog. We went up about 500 feet before branching off along the ridge to head to the Monastery. Once we stopped the straight up climbing the hike was a lovely walk through pine forest and felt like a hike in the Rockies. The hike was about 1.5 miles before we dropped down to the Wangditse monastery. This monastery is one of the oldest in Bhutan and sites on a hill overlooking Thimphu. We took a bit of a rest there while Tsering went it to make a prayer before heading back on the lower more level trail. The walk back was a lovely ridge walk through a lovely mostly shaded trail. I throughly enjoyed the hike which ended up being just over three miles. I was definitely feeling the altitude but the cool mountain air was very refreshing.
Our next step was to the Textiles museum. The local dress is a Gho for men and a Kira for women. All people working in any official capacity are required to wear them.So Tsering and our driver wear a gho. The gho is an oversized robe that gets folder and wrapped in a certain way and then held up with a belt. The Kira is a long skirt with a jacket top. The designs are all woven in wool or silk and are very pretty. The museum has a collection of Kiras worn by the queen mother and shows the events where she wore them. They are all very pretty and the weaving is very intricate.The royal family is from an area of Bhutan that is famous for its weaving. Like a Scottish tartan and kilt there are regional patterns and styles to the weaving. I enjoyed the museum a lot and am thinking that a piece of woven cloth from Bhutan would make a good souvenir so I m keeping my eyes open.
By this time it was lunch time and Tsering wanted to take me to a local place down by the market. He seemed a bit apprehensive if it would be okay for me but I assured him that it would be fine. It was a place for momo (dumplings) and noodle soup. It was quite busy when we got there but we got a table fairly quickly. We ordered up some noodles and momo and they arrived soon after. I enjoyed the lunch and especially the local character of the place tucked next to the market.
Our next stop was to a paper making factory. It was a short drive across the river to get there. It was interesting to see them making paper from Daphne bark. I have never heard of this tree but it is traditionally used to make paper that has been used for hundreds of years to record Buddhist scriptures. The paper making process was quite simple and the paper had a very nice texture to it. This factory hand makes paper to ship around the world. I got a small sample piece that includes the details of how they make it.
After this I got dropped off at the craft shops on the Main Street of town. Tsering offered to come with me but I said I would be fine so they dropped me off. I wandered by all the small shops. In particular stopped to watch a couple of the shops were there some women doing traditional weaving. I saw both the horizontal frame loom and the more traditional back loom in use. After the craft shops I went to the bank and withdrew a bit of local currency. I found my way back to the hotel without any problems. Something from lunch wasn’t sitting well with me so I went back to the hotel rather promptly to use the toilet.
I spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out. I was able to get my blog post updated and complete as well as do some reading. At about 7pm I went down for dinner. It was a Thai themed buffet. Again, the food was okay but nothing special. The good thing was that I was able to take what I wanted instead of having too much food brought to me. Dessert was a lovely combination of coconut milk with banana slices in it. The same wait staff were there and were very friendly. I let them know when I would be down for breakfast in the morning as I left. Pretty much went to bed shortly after dinner. I slept okay but tossed and turned and could definitely feel the effects of jet lag trying come through. Woke up ready for another day. I am leaving Thimphu today and heading to the Eastern part of the country. Next two nights are in a tent camp so not sure if I will be able to keep the blog up or not.