On Tuesday, we headed back to Paro to see the end of the annual Tsechu festival celebrating Guru Padmasambhave, a Buddhist monk born from a lotus and commonly known Guru Rimpoche. This is where all the traditional dances are displayed and the famous mask dances to celebrate the triumph of goodness over evil are also done.
On our way up to the festival grounds, I met the king of Bhutan!
He was coming down as we were going up, and everyone just suddenly stopped and moved to one side of the path. I took a picture and one of his attendants came to tell me “no photos!” Boo to that. Anyway, as it turns out, Duptho knows the Queen because she is the daughter of one of his good friends and they stopped to talk to him. He introduced me and the king asked me where I was from and if I was enjoying my trip. He said it was nice to meet me and then shook my hand. I found out he’s my age!! I’m not one for monarchy, but it was kind of cool to meet him so randomly. I learned that his grandfather, as king, was known as the father of modern Bhutan. His father, as king, was known as the visionary because he was able to plan far ahead for the country’s future, even though he ascended the throne when he was 16. He was the one who brought democracy to Bhutan and made lots of alliances with countries like India and Japan and Thailand to develop the country and after something like 30 years abdicated from the throne because he said he was there too long and gave power to his son, the current king. The current king is known as the “People’s King” because he likes to be out and about with the people and told his staff that they shouldn’t turn anyone who wishes to see him away. He seemed nice.
The festival was cool too. It felt like a Canada Day celebration with so many people in one place (the most crowded I have seen it here!) and just watching the entertainment. The traditional dances were interesting to see, and some of the mythology around the country’s history was interesting to learn. For example, there is a story about how a mermaid lives around each Dzong (monastery) to help protect it, but in the ancient days she had to find a mortal to have a baby with and only one person would do. So at the festival, there were maybe 15 men lined up on the side, while someone portraying the mermaid and two other creatures with masks brought them one by one to see if the wooden penis they were holding would match the man. If it matched, he would be the baby daddy! It was an hilarious skit with people around me laughing and joking about it. After that, the masked dancers came out portraying bad demons and after they finished dancing, others came out banging drums portraying the demon fighters. They would fight it out through dance. Anyway, it was interesting to see!
Some traditional Bhutanese dancing:
And here:
That night we headed up a mountain for a nice view of the Himalayas. I was supposed to see it in the early morning (Tibet on the other side!) the next day but it was a cloudy day, so I didn’t get to see much. I did see a nice sunrise though. 🙂 That morning, we went to a temple built a few years ago by the former queen in memory of the king (the current king’s father). It was beautiful! After that, we headed back to Paro, where I did some shopping in the town and then we checked into the hotel where I had a hot stone bath! Soo nice and relaxing! The stones were heated with wood, so it smelled so nice too! Thursday, I did the trek up to Tiger’s Nest!!
All in all, an awesome five days in Bhutan!! Great guide, yummy food, amazing views that make you feel like you’re on top of the world, and such a peaceful environment. I absolutely love it here, and hope to come back one day!
–Bea
Bea Vongdouangchanh 