Tiger's Nest

Parent's friend to tour guide: Why is the temple called Tiger's Nest?

Brother: because tigers lay eggs there.

All of us: -.- but laughed

For the real explanation, you can read it here. From what I remember, a great Buddhist master flew to the temple on a tiger, so my bro's joke wasn't so far off haha.

You can ride ponies halfway up. If you're afraid you'll run out of steam, then it's a good idea to do so. A word of warning though that the ponies prefer to walk on the sides so if you're afraid of heights don't look over the sides. The ponies can be quite mischievous too and try to irritate the other ponies or be stubborn and not move hahaha..

It looked really far and I was seriously wondering if it was possible for us to make it there in one day and back hahahaha...

It's interesting seeing Paro Taktsang (Tiger's Nest) from different views and getting closer and closer to it

Some parts are quite steep and I felt sorry for the horses.

So close yet so far!

The last stretch (after crossing the bridge) was really tough because we had to go up and down a lot and also because of the altitude the air was really thin. I'd to stop quite often and I was really huffing and puffing.

We couldn't take photos at Tiger's Nest itself but the temple was very beautiful. The paintings on the walls were beautiful too. I can't imagine how they built the temple up in this remote area...

an old temple and ruins

I remember at another temple in Bhutan we met an old man who had retired and become the caretaker the temple. The temple was located on a hill so it was quite tough to travel to get food and supplies but he had decided on the path and that was it. His wife had passed away and his children grown up so he dedicated his life to religion. His daughter made the climb once a week to visit him. He spent his days keeping the temple clean, praying for a better next life for him and his dead wife, offering fresh water to the Buddha..Just a simple life.

Animals are not harmed in Bhutan as it's not good karma to harm them. I feel that even the animals are happier in Bhutan. They have a lot of stray dogs though. I heard that at night in the cities the stray dogs howl quite loudly.

We went to see the ruins of Dryukgyal Dzong that was burnt down because of butter lamps.

We took a different trail down and the view from that trail was stunning. Bhutan is so beautiful. I prayed a lot in the temples of Bhutan that it would stay beautiful.

Paro

Paro was colder

The view was beautiful

This is the Amankora in Paro

You can relax at the veranda and they'll bring you a drink if you like. If it's too cold you can request for a blanket. It was a bit cloudy but when there are less clouds you can see mountain peaks and the view is breathtaking (even when you can't see the peaks I think it's breathtaking anyway)

To access it you have to walk through a trail. This is a cute mushroom I saw at the side of the trail

I just love how blue the sky was and how every picture turned out lovely (well I think so anyway)

Dungtse Lhakhang.

Royal stables Punakha

If you go to the royal stables, make sure you wear long track pants, better if they're the type that the seeds of plants can't stick to because my pants and socks and shoes had hundreds (i'm not exaggerating) of that damn weed (don't know what it's called)'s seeds and they made my skin soooo itchy!!!!

Sheep!

horses ponies and cows grazing peacefully. The walk's quite nice and scenic and not tough. Good way to work off a heavy lunch.

You can really feel the respect and love that Bhutanese people have for the royal family when you listen to them speak about the kings. When I hear of all the great deeds the royal family has done, even I feel huge respect for them. It's amazing how much can be done when a country has great leaders.

The past king's house wasn't very luxurious and grand, but was just a simple farm house. As Buddhists they don't attach so much importance to money and luxury items. And I was also amazed at how much Buddhism there is in how the country is governed. There's no killing so there's no farming animals to have them killed. Instead, they import meat. Fishing is also not allowed, unless you have a special licence. But even then you have to let any fish you catch free.

There's so many more amazing things about Bhutan that I can't list them all here.

Punakha

On the way to Punakha we saw some ladies selling organic corn on the road side so we stopped to have some. The corn's really yummy! And so different from the corn we usually have. Grainier somehow and not so soft. But it tastes very real.

We were a bit puzzled when she showed this to us and our guide explained to us - first take a bite of the corn, then dip the chilli in the salt and take another bite! The combo was delicious! Corn plus a little salty and spicy flavour, yum~ And yes, the chilli was spicy but! worth it.

We were treated to this view entering Punakha and it really lifted our moods. So beautiful! And sunny and warm and pleasant!

There's something about the beauty of nature. Being in a concrete jungle makes you appreciate being in natural surroundings even more. As you can tell, one of Punakha's main industries is agriculture.

To get to Amankora in Punakha, you have to walk across a bridge.

And then take a buggy..Or it's around a 2km walk I think..Needless to say I took the buggy to save energy for hiking (actually i was just too lazy and hungry)

And this is what the resort looks like.

We had lunch outdoors, with this as our view:

I really enjoyed having lunch outdoors in the shade. The only thing was there were some bugs but that didn't bug me too much haha..good food, good weather and good air were enough to keep me happy.

We then tried archery and darts, the 2 most popular games in Bhutan. At which both I suck. Haha. I was slightly better at darts because my arm's way too weak for archery but the target for dart is usually much further away apparently hahahaa..oh well luckily I've never aspired to be a national archery or darts champion then hahaha

These are the buggies that we have to take when leaving or going to the hotel to and from the bridge.

We watched a folk dance admist the darkening night. The dancers went round the flickering bonfire, which casted light and shadows intermittently on the dancers.

Thus concluded my first day in Punakha

Farmer's market & Art school Thimpu

We went to the farmer's market in Thimpu

Apparently it was built by the government. The government supports local produce. What struck me about the place was how organized, how clean and how lovely it was to walk around! So unlike our wet markets that seem uncivilized in comparison...Why can't our markets be like this??

Bhutanese people eat a lot of chilli. Our tour guide said they eat chilli as a vegetable instead of a spice haha..

This is yeast!

I love the colors and sights and sounds. So nice! and it didn't stink and it was so clean~~ hahaha i should stop gushing about a market really i sound so aunty..

We went to the art school as well. They had a statue of the four friends (famous folklore story in Bhutan) which you can read about here because I'm too lazy and I'll probably screw up the story anyway

The government built the school for free and students learn here for free too. I couldn't help admiring the Bhutanese government and also how the people also respected the government

Wood carving class - a student with his muses hahaha...

Embroidering class: the students are learning how to make the strips of cloth you see hanging from the ceiling..they can be often found in temples..

Sketching:

Painting:

Look how fine that paintbrush is! Must have taken ages to finish one painting.. They have to sketch it really well too because it's considered a sin to get the proportions of the gods they draw wrongly..Alot of people paint the walls and rafters of their house so it's quite likely these painters will be able to make a living after they graduate..

Like this:

I think it's wonderful how the Bhutanese government also supports the local arts. Wonderful wonderful! All buildings are also Bhutanese style which is one of Bhutan's charms.