Day 4
The next morning when I woke up I wasn't feeling 100%. Not really sure why (you never can be) but just in case I peeled my fruit at breakfast (we were always brushing teeth with filter water etc.)
Today's itinerary was 2 hikes – one to a monastery and another to a Buddhist college.
It was a full day, and later Tashi would admit that for the normal guest it is a one-or-the-other kind of affair.
In otherwords, we did two days of hiking in one. He didn't admit this until after we were most of the way down on hike #2, because he didn't want to intimidate us. We got a good laugh, but seriously, how many tour guides adjust your itinerary to make more work for themselves just because you seem like the sporty types? Tour guide gold, I tells ya.
On the way up hike #1 we took a short break on some benches by a stupa. By good luck, a monk was on his way from the Monastery down the hill. We ended up having a really interesting and long conversation with him, partly in his English and with the occasional translation from Tashi.
It was awesome, in part because we got some really specific details about his Buddist mythology (including creation and end-of-the-world stories) and his contemporary world view. Here's a guy my age who grew up in a monastery, in a Buddist country that until very recently was completely closed to the outside world. We quizzed him about his feelings on Bhutan's changes, the world outside, Buddism, everything. Besides a really unique cultural exchange, it was a cool human moment. Here we were, four people, just chatting as one might at a barbershop or over a nice dinner.
The monastery was very cool and very old, embedded into the steep hillside.
We stuck our heads in at the main shrine, and the monks were performing a ritual. We tried our best to be unobstructive as we listened to the low frequency blaring of the giant prayer trumpets, the drone of the chanting, and the occasionally startling clang of bells. It was a ceremony to appease local dieties (not Buddist per se, but much religion incorporates local pagan traditions along the way). Then – Tashi's cell phone rings. And he answers it. Nobody bats an eyelash. We were trying so hard not to make footfalls, but these guys didn't care one whit. It's routine for them, so the giant and his girlfriend are sort of welcome distractions, and a cell isn't considered irreverent.
Back down the hill and we're hungry for lunch. We had hoped to picnic by the river, but the flies were heavy for some reason, so the guys parked in front of a local farmhouse, ran inside, and made arrangements for us to borrow their kitchen/dining room/main sitting room.
Only the eldest daughter was home, and we busted out our best Dzongpa “Thank yous.” Lunch was take-away from a hotel in town, and our expectations were for something simple. Ha! We feasted on multiple dishes – so many, in fact, that Tashi and Phubu sat and ate on the floor so Susan and I could fit all our dishes on the table. This was completely unnecessary, and we told them so, but our encouragements were not persuasive. Clearly, this is a very hierarchical society, and the rules governing the hospitality extended to guest are strong. I had trouble with this, my American-egalitarian ethos says that I have hired these guys as guides, but aside from fulling that role, we are equals. But no matter how many times I got to a door first and held it open, they would never walk through before me.
The house was a simple affair, three rooms in all I think. We got a picture from outside, but it seemed far too imposing to take one from inside.
Up the hill on the other side, again a beautiful view of mountainous forests and a riverine valley below. The place houses several important relics, but the highlight for Susan was how an entire class of monks (including one very important reincarnation) darn near fell over from their lotus positions staring at me. It was almost like those scenes in the movies where you walk into the bar and the music scratches to a halt. Even the chanting sort of lost a few decibles. I beamed back my best “I think it's funny too” smile and got lots of laughs.
The college itself was beautiful, and a renovated monastery from way back when.
After checking out one of the shrines a monk offered us some sweets. There were goats and kids grazing about, and as we left a few horses were being led up the path carrying heavy sacks of provisions. A reminder that everything gets here by muscle power, and usually human not livestock.
As we were in Thimphu, we were in the hometown of the Snowleopard Trekking Co. owners, Jack and Karma. Susan's friend had given us the hookup in the first place, and so we got an invitation to dinner. Jack met us at a very nice Indian place, but ended up not being able to stay for our dinner because he was meeting with some high-ups (apparently he plays golf with the fourth King, and is sought by many others as an advisor because of his long time living in the west and business success). Jack is also the tallest man in Bhutan, so this was pretty funny as he comes up to about my chin. He did stay for a drink, and introduced me to the local whiskey, which I must say is very fine indeed.
After dinner, and evidently after Jack's other appointment, we went by Jack and Karma's house for drinks, finally meeting Karma (with whom we've had a long email correspondence). They were also hosting three Taiwanese, a visiting monk and a married couple. It was great to get a home tour – hospitality rituals are evidently not that much different – and see a real Bhutanese home which we would contrast to the museum version of a “traditional home” the next day. The prayer room was the most important in the house, and had a beautiful hand-carved wooden altar and a not yet painted hand carved prayer chair.
We then had a fun evening of discussing the contemporary history and culture of Bhutan, got insights into the economics, the relationship with India, and the various political controversies accompanying the new parliament and the new Prime Minister. Politics and whiskey; I was like a pig in shit. Well fed, exercised, and watered, we slept well indeed (OK, honestly, I was drunk as skunk and passed out seconds after hitting the mattress).
