Where am I? a post script to my weekend

It was a great weekend.  I traveled to Thimphu on Friday night as Saturday was Blessed Rainy Day, a national holiday so I did not have to work.  I met up with Arwen and Sarah Diamond and we had a small hotel room that was wall to wall mattresses.  On Saturday am Sarah and I had hot chocolate at a fancy hotel.  Well not that fancy but it felt luxurious, then took a taxi to Dochula pass where we met Brick and Sarah S.  We walked up the ridge to Lungchezekha Goenpa, which is the first temple in the photos of the previous posting.  The temple was locked but as we were eating a monk brought us tea.  After lunch another group with a guide toured the temple so we got to go inside too.  Every time I visit a new temple, I think it will be - similar? same old, same old? On some level it is,but each visit has been a new experience. 

Unfortunately the big mountains are still shrouded in clouds so the view was not great.  However I will take Jon and Andrea as you can see all of the great Bhutanese Himalayan peaks from the temple.

We walked down through a beautiful forest - there is a photo of a small meditation cave.  The next "village" is called Trashigang, which is a bit confusing because of the Dzongkhag of the same name.  It was not a real village, as it is filled only with meditating monks.  There was a special puja going on, where both nuns and monks had come for 7 days of meditation. There were beautiful tents set up and when we arrived they were chanting on loudspeakers Om Mani Padme Hum. We toured 2 temples both of which had been built in the 1700"s.  One was quite damaged by the 2009 earthquake, but still solid. The monks fed us tea and biscuits.  It was the first time I have been asked to donate to a temple.  We always leave money on the alters or in the donation boxes in the temples. 

The walk down to the highway brought us out much lower than the pass where we started.  A bus came by and whisked my friends to Thimphu.  I had to walk up about a kilometre to the immigration post.  I did not have a road permit, so the official had taken my work permit to make sure I would come back.  I caught a taxi and met my friends in town.  

The next morning I woke early so walked up to the BBS tower.  I went out for a walk with no destination and kept on going up and up.  It was a spectacular morning for walking.  On the way down I took the road, which was a lot less direct, but it passes the Takin Reserve, where I saw takins.  I did not have a camera.  They are unusual looking animals.