25 – 26 October | Samdrup Jongkhar to Trashigang
The Bhutanese celebrated a Buddhist holiday today and it turned out to be a very auspicious day for us as well. We began with a tour of a nunnery where many people made long walks to light butter candles and leave donations honoring the Buddha’s descent from the heavenly realm to the earth. We each received a blessing inside the temple and enjoyed the spectacular view overlooking the valley with a view of the road to Sakten to the east. We are so far away from the usual tourists destinations that we were greeted all day by friendly waves from the locals who shouted ‘Hello foreigners or hello tourists!” The road to the nunnery was lined with tall poinsettia bushes – they varied in heights up to 20 feet, a stark difference from the scrawny plants we see at home during the holidays. Then we made our way to the Ranjung Monastery in time to observe the monks inside the temple chanting and beating bright turquoise drums. This temple was unique for its use of blinking string lights placed around the shrines which were very festive and matched the spirits of everyone we met there. Locals circumambulated around the temple on this bright sunny day and happily allowed us to photograph them at this temple which is only a few years old. Next stop was at the home of a local weaver who makes silk kiras, including ones purchased and worn by the queen. She was spinning when we arrived, an intricate dance of unspooling the thread from the silk cocoon onto a spool which is later transferred to a dowel holder so the thread can be dyed. Dark rich maroon dye filled the vat in her outdoor dying shed and she showed us how all her colors were made from natural local vegetables and roots. She shared glasses of ara with us after we purchased some of her extraordinary silk scarves and admired the intricate kiras which take up to 13 months to produce. Ara is the traditional liquor made here. Our next stop was to visit one of Bhutan’s oldest dzongs (former fortress and now government offices which may also house monasteries) built in the 17th century. Trashigang dzong is recognized as the dzong that helped fortify Bhutan as a nation by controlling its eastern region. Here we arrived in time to witness the monks preparing for tomorrow’s festival as they rehearsed the dances they will do in masks and costumes. Inside we got a peek into the room filled with the highly decorative wooden masks and heard a monk sewing costumes on a sewing machine. From inside the upper temple we were able to take photos of the Dangme River below. Upon our return to the hotel, we were fortunate to meet the former Interior Minister, Mr. Ninjur Doji. He explained that they were preparing for a very special visit. Relics of the historical Buddha would soon arrive to bless this new hotel on their way to the dzong tomorrow. The relics have been most recently been traveling the United States and were now in Bhutan. Over 19,000 devotees visited the relics in Thimpu in just one day this week. We are told that by our fortunate timing and honoring of the relics we will certainly enjoy safe travels.
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