Monday September 28, 2009
Beautiful day for the festival, but we had an embarrassing start when the guard at the gate deemed our Capris inappropriate. Our guide made a quick cell call for the driver to return with out clothes. We made a quick change in the van and started again. Local women and girls - from the oldest to the youngest - wear Kiras, a long wrap-around dress or half Kiras, a long skirt with jacket. All are very colorful and most beautiful. A few westerners had purchased their own Kira for the occasion.
The festival is still held at the massive Tashicho Dzong, about 700 years old. Now, however, the festival has been moved from the inner courtyard to a large arena just outside. It was built for the coronation of the new king in 2008. We had good "fifty-yard-line" with 30,000 of our new Bhutan friends. One interesting lady wedged herself in between Jennifer and I and promptly offered Jen beetle nut to chew. See the picture of her red mouth and teeth. Another lady offered us peaches - the smallest, knottiest, greenish peaches we Georgians had ever seen. The guide signaled "DON'T EAT"!!!
The performing dancers all wear very colorful, elaborate costumes. The Black Hat dance typically opens a festival to drive all evil spirits away. Since it lasts for one solid hour, we usually turned out attention to the interesting people around us. We hope we've captured their beautiful spirit in our photographs.
After a full morning of music and dancing, we drove to Paro and our hotel, Gangtey Palace. On the way, we stopped to watch an archery tournament. Archery is the national sport and taken very seriously. The archers are amazingly accurate from a long way away. After each bulls eye, the team members do a traditional dance and sing. We also visited Kichu Lhakhang, built in the seventh century and one of the oldest temples in Bhutan. The story goes that a giant demoness lay across Tibet and the Himalayas and was preventing the spread of Buddhism. To overcome her, King Songtsen Gampo decided to build 108 temples in a single day to pin the ogress to the earth forever. We also saw Paro Rinoung Dzong, consecrated in 1645, and built without a single nail. From there we hiked to our hotel.
