Tigers Nest - Para Taktsang

Rose at dawn to drive from Thimpu back to Paro so we could begin the hike up to Tigers Nest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paro_Taktsang early in the day so that there was no rush to complete.
The postcard standard for Bhutan, its a beautiful monastery on a cliff face that  houses several meditation caves and.is rich with lore.
Lynda was adamant that she was going to walk vice taking a horse up to the monastery. The hike to the monastery is 5 km including 3000 feet total ascent to 10,700 feet elevation. Kencho informed us that today was a important religious day and was going to be a pilgrimage day for the locals so today of all days was a very bad day to ride a horse up vice making the personal commitment.
Awesome achievement for Lynda - great experience for all of us. Yay this was worth the price of admission.

Not this time

 

Punakha Dzong

We visited the Punakha Dzong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punakha_Dzong which was built at the confluence of the Mother (Mo Chhu) and Father (Po Chhu) Rivers in the early 1600s. This is an awesome palace that holds a palpable level of energy. In centre courtyard is a single, multi century old fig tree that I was drawn to. I drew from my limited Qi Gong training, properly introduced myself and hugged it. My sis would be so proud!
In the afternoon we headed to Thimpu, the new capital city (was Punakha). We went to a textile museum, and an art school centered on traditional pieces. Note the levels of training on the door ways. Complexity and difficulty increases with level.

It just looks huggable, right?

Note the bird

Punaka - Jigme Dorji National Park

We were awakened at 5am by the camp cook with bed tea in our cots and a quick breakfast. Following breaky we headed out to the nearby national park for some hiking. It was a great day, the forest was spectacular, pristine and very much reminded me of South-East Alaska in terms of temperature, dense forest and fast clear running streams. The flora here though is more tropical with lush epiphytes, a few orchids and ferns. We spotted all three of the local Forktails (no usable pics) as well as  a Collared Owlet and the Wallcreeper pic below. Had a fantastic picnic lunch by the river then returned to Punaka to seek out the endangered White-bellied heron.
On the way to the heron habitat I took the opportunity to take a picture of a farmhouse with peppers drying on the roof. When I asked the driver to stop so I could take the picture kencho says " but Sir why do you want a picture of them? They are your enemy! True oh so true.

Water Prayer Wheel

White-Bellied Heron

Bumthang to Punaka

Long day of travel today over two passes to drop down into the Punakha valley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punakha for two days camping. Road construction gave us the opportunity fro a few walks while we waited for the road to reopen so thankfully the day was broken up slightly.
We stopped for a while at a bee hive that Kencho knew of to see if we could spot a Honey Guide and were rewarded.
The Punakha valley is at a lower altitude, 5000 feet so was considerably warmer even though the skies were overcast with few showers. Once we reached the campsite we got settled into the tent. Comfortable with two cots and  a card table with electricity roughly wired in. The camp cook was very experienced and cooked us up a good meal served in the next tent.

Bumthang - Jambay Lhakang Drub

 Kencho and I went out birding in the morning looking for the Brown Parrotbill and a few other endemics. In the afternoon we went to one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, Jambay Lhakang to watch the Drub festival. It was a much bigger festival with quite few tourists.


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