Day Thirteen

Up at 6.15 and breakfast at 7am. I think we were a bit too early for the dining room, but OJ was on the table and tea arrived very quickly. Then we had a short wait, during which K and T wandered through for their meal in the kitchen. When ours arrived we were a bit surprised as there were omelettes, fried ham in discs and tomatoes. The waiter then asked if we would also like some cereal, but that was a bridge too far. Just some toast and more tea. We were ready to go at 7.30 and Tsering drove us off up the valley to the trailhead for Tiger's Nest. We were not the first to arrive, two vehicles had got there before us, and at least one followed us in. Nevertheless, we started off on our own, and pretty much stayed that way. The trail begins by meandering through a conifer forest. There is a babbling brook, a sort of picnic area, but you soon leave the latter behind as the trail gently climbs. Apparently, some people take horses up the trail - Nu.300 to the cafe, and Nu.500 to the view point before the steps. There was plenty of evidence of their having been around recently. From here we had no view of the monastery, but the trail gradually steepened and zigzagged up the hillside. Then we caught a glimpse, through the trees, but the sun had yet to reach it, so we agreed to keep going and stop for photos on the way down. It was getting hotter as we came out of the trees and we were definitely in the sun. There were still trees to the sides of us, and there was continuous birdsong, although we couldn't see the birds. Alan stopped for a moment to remove his pully, but we generally kept up a steady, slow pace, passing a large prayer flag with others strung out from it like a maypole. Onwards, negotiating steps cut into the earth, twisting and turning, noting the rhododendrons, pieris and cotoneaster growing amongst the conifers. Just as we were thinking we needed a rest, Kinley announced that we were almost at the cafe, so we pushed on round another couple of bends, and there was a flat path off to the right - the path to the cafe. We were glad of a seat and a cup of tea - but first we were stunned by the view of the monastery which dominates the scene. It had taken us 45 minutes to get here - as we hadn’t stopped for any photos. The tea was slightly smoky and very tasty, as were the usual salty/sweet crackers. We enjoyed the rest. After half an hour we pushed on again, taking the steep short cut out of the cafe up to the path. This was pretty hard going as a re-start, but then we were back to the steady climb. After a while we passed a cave which was full of the little cones people put in such places for their dead. This cave was used as a meditation cave. Further along is a wooden building around the place where one of the Lamas was born in 1928, the year of the tiger. It is his re-incarnation that we saw in Tharpaling. We hadn't seen so much of the monastery on this upper part of the walk, but gradually, the path evened out somewhat and there was a gateway across the path with prayer flags. As we rounded the corner, we had a breathtaking view across the ravine. We had to stop and take this in. From here onwards we had to negotiate steps - there are around 400 going down into the ravine, passing a chorten on the way. Alan did very well - knees and vertigo well under control. There were three monks walking way in front of us, and we could see them below us reaching a bridge at the bottom, by a waterfall. Soon we reached this point, then began the climb back up again - about 300 steps to the monastery entrance. Here, Kinley signed us in, and we had to leave our bags with the army guard, as nothing is allowed into the monastery. K and T had to put their mobile phones on the desk to be collected after our visit. We had walked up 900m, more or less.
Now we walked up more steps to start the visit. Kinley told us the story of how Guru Rinpoche flew to the cliff top site on the back of a tiger - the manifestation of his consort, Yeshe Tsogyal. He came to subdue a local deity who was causing trouble. This done, he meditated for three months in the cave, which is now surrounded by the primary lhakhang. All this happened in the 7th century, and since has been regarded as a holy place. In 1646 the Zhabdrung visited and in 1692 that primary lhakhang was built by the penlop of Paro. Subsequent penlops extended the monastery, which now has four main 'temples' with others not open to the public. We began our visit at the temple containing a chorten containing the ashes of a disciple of the Guru from the ninth century. In the floor is a fenced area where you can see an auspicious rock, but it was damaged during the renovation. Richly decorated walls show images of the manifestations of the Guru. The next temple we saw, down some steps, contained statues of the Guru on his tiger and behind a heavily carved screen was the cave where the Guru meditated. There were images on the wall and a glass box containing a manifestation of the Guru. People had thrown in money and prayer flags and white scarves. Back up the steps again, directly over the cave, was a temple containing three very large statues, manifestations of the Guru. All these were in the restored part, as the monastery was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1998. Only one tower was untouched.
We spent a little time looking at the view, then descended to the 'ground floor'. Here Kinley showed us a stone - one of the treasures of the Guru, found by Pema Lingpa, on which we saw a moon and a sun. There was also a shiny indentation. If one made a wish, closed one's eyes, then approached the stone with an outstretched thumb; if one hit the indentation with said thumb, the wish would be fulfilled in one's lifetime. Needless to say, we missed.
So it was time to leave this magical place and we made our way back down the steps to the army guard, collected our bags etc. and left the monastery confines through the gate. Now we retraced our steps, this time stopping to take lots of photos. At the chorten, we waited in vain for the sun, hiding behind clouds. K and T had great fun using the binos. We got down to the cafe for lunch at around 1 pm. and we sat with a wonderful view of the monastery overlooking us. Lunch was the usual suspects - only missing the noodles, and any meat as it is all vegetarian on the mountain. On the second half of the descent, we again stopped for photos, and then there were the birds. We saw some more laughingthrushes, a great tit, and Alan and K saw another yellow beaked blue magpie. I was sorry to have missed it.
Now we had a couple of things left to do; firstly, to see Jomulhari, but this just wasn't going to happen because of the clouds. On the way down the road we came across a caravan of donkeys all carrying huge bails of wheat that the farmer had just cut. The lead donkey had a lovely red plume on his head. Then there was a troop of horses, some with western leather saddles. Were these headed for the Tiger's Nest trail, we wondered.
The second was to visit Dumtse Lhakhang, 1433, built by the iron bridge builder. We entered, to see that it was shrouded in yellow curtains. Behind these are some amazing wall paintings. After prayers, Kinley led us round the outer part of the interior; there is no electricity, so it’s quite dark in there. Then we were able to enter the inner area, and we should definitely have had a torch with us. I led Alan by the hand, though even I could hardly see where we were going.
Now it was time to go back to the hotel; packing and baths were in order, but tea on the balcony first. Then the jobs before dinner at 7.30. Kinley joined us and had some fearsome looking red chillies and cheese. At the end of dinner, Kinley called Choki in Thimpu, who phoned back and Alan spoke with him. After the call we were given our homework - the end of holiday questionnaire. This has obviously worried Kinley, who hoped we would give him a good report. He also regaled us with various tales, but sometimes he's a bit difficult to follow. With an uncontrollable yawn, I finished off the proceedings. Kinley ordered tea for us at 6.15 as we have to leave for the airport at 6.30. So that was our last day in Bhutan.

Blue Poppy Tours and Treks

Day Five

A clear and sunny day dawned and breakfast was a busy affair with a large party of Americans/ Canadians occupying a majority of the dining room. We had buckwheat pancakes and honey – all grown or made in the Bumthang Valley. Some conifer branched were smouldering in a wide dish outside and this was in preparation for a wedding due to take place in the altar room, upstairs, during the morning. We think that the couple were European, dressed in Bhutan national dress for the occasion. We were soon off to visit a full collection of temples and monasteries with Kinley and Tsering. The first stop was a very old temple, Jampa Lhakhang, from the 7th century. Tibetan king, Songsten Gampo, was charged with subduing a particularly troublesome demoness by building 108 temples in a day to pin her down. Her left leg was in Bhutan, and two temples were constructed here, this being one of them – the other is Kyichu Lhakhang in Paro. Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) came here on his first visit to Bhutan in 746; a tantric master magician, the Guru meditated in a cave, leaving an imprint of his body in the rock. The temple has been restored and repaired several times; and has acquired a golden roof, courtesy of several penlops of Trongsa. In the main hall are three steps, representing past, present and future. No woman is allowed on these (we are ‘unclean’!!). They believe when the present step sinks to ground level, the gods will become like humans and the world in its present state will end. In the inner area, there is a statue of the Buddha of the future – Jampa, who has his feet on an elephant. It is protected by chain mail made by Pema Lingpa. In an alcove above the entrance is a statue of the Guru, where he mediated, leaving behind a footprint. The walls are covered with murals, some hidden behind light curtains for protection from UV light. There is apparently a lake under the lhakhang, where the Guru hid several terma. A terma is text or artefact hidden by the Guru, some of which have been found by Pema Lingpa, the terton (treasure finder) 1450-1521, reincarnation of the Guru. We walked around the inside of the temple, and received a blessing of holy water. And this was just the first visit of the day!
Just a bit further along the road is the ‘holiest’ monastery, Kurjey Lhakhang. The courtyard is the place where Kings 1, 2, and 3 were cremated; as well as the mother of the third king. Immensely tall prayer flags mark each of these spots. The whole monastery is enclosed with a wall supporting 108 chortens, which was a gift from the present Queen Mother. Three large buildings make up the complex and the first one is the oldest, built in 1652. This is built around a cave where Guru Rinpoche meditated and left his body imprint – kur (body), jey (print). Under the eaves is a carving of a snowlion, a representation of Shelging Kharpo a local demon subdued by the Guru. Inside at the top temple is a representation of the Guru and 8 of his manifestations which guard the meditation cave. We could peep in through a heavily carved, gilded wooden door. Down in the lower hall there is another cave, which local people can try crawling through. A successful manoeuvre means that you have left your sins behind, so our guide, Kinley must be pretty stain free as he does it most times he visits the temple. Over the top of the building we saw an old cypress tree growing out of the rock. They say that this grew from the Guru’s walking stick.
After looking around the courtyard, Tsering drove us down to the river bank and then we walked down to a wobbly bridge, covered in prayer flags. Up the other side, we followed a footpath taking us to Tamshing Goemba, about 20 mins. The Temple of the Good Message was founded by Pema Lingpa in 1501 and they say he built it himself with the help of the khandromas – even the paintings on the inner walls are attributed to him. In the main temple there is a large statue of him which they say was made by the khandromas and had to be finished in one day. As dawn came, they left just as the statue was completed and his eyes are looking skywards watching these angel type beings floating up to the heavens. We walked round the outer corridor of the temple, looking at the wall paintings, and came across the chain mail cloak made by Pema Lingpa. This weighs 25kg and he made it when he was a shepherd to keep warm in the cold nights. If you carry it around the circuit we had just walked, it is considered auspicious. First Kinley, then Alan and I managed this – much to everyone’s surprise. Upstairs we saw pillars that Pema Lingpa had made – to his height, which just about had me ducking, too. The walls here are decorated with 100,000 images of Sakyamuni, the history Buddha.
Now it was time for lunch, and Tsering had brought the van around via the big bridge to collect us and take us back to the Lodge. Here they served us noodles with tomato sauce, corn rice from E Bhutan (with yellow flecks of corn in it), potato datse and asparagus. My right middle finger has been bitten by some fly or other and has decided to swell up. The finger is very stiff and my hand is looking extremely puffy. I am applying lots of Anthisan to treat it. After we had finished lunch, a director of Blue Poppy came to talk to us – he apologised for our not being at the Mountain Lodge, but what you haven’t had, you don’t miss!! It’s OK at Rinchenling. We then left for the last of the temples on the eastern side of the river. Konchogsum Lhakhang was renovated in 1995, but was originally built in the 6th or 7th century. This wasn’t the first renovation as Pema Lingpa also renovated the building in the 15th century. On the floor beside the altar is part of an old bell, which used to be outside. It is made from 10% gold, 20% silver, 50% bronze and 20% tin and they say that when rung it could be heard in Lhasa Tibet. It sat on a stone outside the entrance and apparently the Tibetans tried to steal it, but dropped it and it broke. The missing piece is somewhere in the National Museum, but Kinley says he hasn’t seen it there! There is a white safe to one side, in which are small statues of the three Buddhas that are said to have flown there from E Bhutan. On the altar itself are statues of Nampa Namse with Chenresig to the left and Guru Rinpoche to the right. This is a lovely place and once again we met a family – father, son daughter-in-law with baby, and daughter, who were making a pilgrimage to all the temples in the area.
Our next visit was to Burning Lake, an auspicious place up the Tang Valley. Apparently Pema Lingpa discovered several terma here and performed a miracle by diving into the lake and reappearing quite a long time later, with a butter lamp still burning in his hands. This is where the name comes from. On our way down the river we saw a field full of red billed choughs! And we also passed the Swiss farm where they make a local hard cheese, as well as honey. We did stop and buy some. Our turn into the Tang Valley soon became a dirt track, but shortly Tsering parked and we got out to walk down to Membartsho. There is a wooden bridge across the waterfall and below the bridge is a deep pool in which the ‘enlightened’ may spot the hidden temple where the Guru hid some terma. Across the bridge are strung hundreds of prayer flags and all along the rock walls people have placed lots and lots of tsha-tscha, the tiny clay cone-like sculptures people leave as offerings on behalf of the dead. Just before the bridge is a wooden cupboard looking just like a loo, but inside are three sculptures of Pema Lingpa and his two sons. Behind the shrine is a crawl through cave, which only the virtuous can get through. It is apparently small and very dusty! I could feel I was getting bitten again, so had to leave quite quickly, which is a shame. But I ended up with several more bites that swelled up, even though Kinley squeezed them to get out the poison. As we were visiting Jakar Dzong next, Alan asked if we could go back to Rinchenling for me to take some benadryl tablets. When we came back to the car, Kinley and Tsering insisted that I should go to the hospital, which was on the way back to the Dzong. This we did, and after a bit of a tour of the place we found a nurse on duty who swabbed my fingers with iodine so I look as if I have got war paint on them! At least the others feel reassured! I think they were hoping for more – as there had been ominous discussion about antibiotics and who knows what horrors before we got there.
Jakar Dzong dominates the valley as it is built on a rocky promontory above the town. It is the summer residence of the monks from Trongsa. Its name translates as the castle of the white bird, and comes from the fact that the monks saw a white bird, an egret possibly, rising up into the air and landing on the promontory when they were seeking a place to build their summer residence. The first monastery was built in the 1550s, but the present building dates from 1667. As the monks were not in residence, it was quite deserted, with just a few monks carrying out repairs before the whole group arrives to take up residence for the summer. Nevertheless, it was lovely to see the utze and the views from the top. We walked down to the car and Tsering drove us back to the Lodge – tea in our room, a fire that wouldn’t light, a thunder storm and a power cut; all before dinner at 7.30 – soup, red rice, cabbage and cheese dumplings, beef, spinach datse, mixed veg, roasted baby spuds and mushrooms with angel hair noodles. Dessert was slices of watermelon. We leave for Ura Festival at 7.30 in the morning!

Blue Poppy Tours and Treks