April 26 Day 70
Got up to another nice breakfast. We packed our bags, left our room and took a short ride downtown.
We toured the city market, which was nicely set up with separate areas for different things. Raw meat and fish are sold in stores downtown so the smells aren't pungent there. We started in the grain area and saw the local red rice, toasted rice and bags of cereal. Vegetables were next and we saw piles of precious chilis amongst mainly familiar veggies with a few we had to ask about. Dried fish and fruit were also on this level and we had to ask about the local peaches, which grow plum sized.
Upstairs we found a place that sold dried cow skin (they boil it and eat it) and a few sausages and eggs. There were also strings with cubes strung along them which were how cheese was displayed. There was also a daycare there for the vendors, a huge area for incense and some betelnut booths. We asked lots of questions about cooking and seasonal availability, I won't put everything down here.
Then we had a long, winding road to Punakha. We stopped at the highest point of the pass to see where the queen had built 108 stupas to protect her husband during a battle. 108 is a sacred number because some early Buddhist built 108 temples in a day over the Himalayas to pin down all parts of a giant demon's body. Keep in mind, these things aren't ancient as the royal family started up in the early 20th century and they are only on their 5th king. We walked through a nice park full of meditation huts. From the parking lot on a clear day you can apparently see many of the country's highest mountains but it wasn't clear enough. It was quite cool there because of the altitude and walking was slow.
Now the twisty roads headed downward to the lowest and warmest area of our trip. We saw rice paddies spread out beneath us as we headed into a river valley. We stopped in town, got a buffet lunch and then headed to the temple of the divine madman.
We walked through some paddy fields and by many prayer flags until we hit the village before the temple. Almost every building had squirting penises painted on them with hairy balls. The shops sold penis souvenir, some painted like they were strange characters and others were unadorned. They were everywhere.
The walk up to the temple was long and the grounds looked like most other temples. There was a black stupa outside it that we were told to remember. Inside, the figures looked like most setups except the divine madman was represented and there was a large wooden penis with a bow around it beside the shrine. The black shrine was where the divine madman buried the body of the master's dog after he realized that it wasn't a dog but a bunch of disguised demons so he smote it. The name for the temple is also the "No dog temple", in spite of the many strays who hang out there. The madman apparently loved beautiful women and drinking and went from house to house demanding one or both. The shrine is considered a place to pray for fertility and there's a photo album there full of pictures and letters from people all over the world saying that they were able to conceive after visiting the temple. The locals also put first harvest and other offerings there to guarantee fertile fields, which the region is known for. Putting penises on your house apparently calls to the Divine Madman to protect you if you get something nice and others send demons of jealousy at you. I'll bet there's a lot more to it than that but that's what we were told.
We were blessed by a 10 year old monk who bumped our heads with a wooden penis and a bow and arrow. This was all done very seriously and had to be one of the oddest moments of our trip.
The road out of there was tiny and crowded so it took awhile to get on our way. We drove up to our resort and checked into our room. The place was nice, with a large room and nice gardens. The only problem was that some pigeons had taken residence in our roof and were noisy during the day.
Rinchen wanted us to try the local wine so he brought out a bottle before dinner. We were braced for the worst but it was quite nice. According to the label, the grapes came from South Africa and the blending and aging was done in Bhutan. Whatever, it was tasty and they let us bring it in for our dinner (note: okra is called ladyfingers in Bhutan).
We ate well with Rinchen joining us this time and then headed back to the room to read and sleep. Another group from India called WOW (Women of wandering) were yelling and screaming like 12 year olds but gave it up by 10 o'clock.
Got up to another nice breakfast. We packed our bags, left our room and took a short ride downtown.
We toured the city market, which was nicely set up with separate areas for different things. Raw meat and fish are sold in stores downtown so the smells aren't pungent there. We started in the grain area and saw the local red rice, toasted rice and bags of cereal. Vegetables were next and we saw piles of precious chilis amongst mainly familiar veggies with a few we had to ask about. Dried fish and fruit were also on this level and we had to ask about the local peaches, which grow plum sized.
Upstairs we found a place that sold dried cow skin (they boil it and eat it) and a few sausages and eggs. There were also strings with cubes strung along them which were how cheese was displayed. There was also a daycare there for the vendors, a huge area for incense and some betelnut booths. We asked lots of questions about cooking and seasonal availability, I won't put everything down here.
Then we had a long, winding road to Punakha. We stopped at the highest point of the pass to see where the queen had built 108 stupas to protect her husband during a battle. 108 is a sacred number because some early Buddhist built 108 temples in a day over the Himalayas to pin down all parts of a giant demon's body. Keep in mind, these things aren't ancient as the royal family started up in the early 20th century and they are only on their 5th king. We walked through a nice park full of meditation huts. From the parking lot on a clear day you can apparently see many of the country's highest mountains but it wasn't clear enough. It was quite cool there because of the altitude and walking was slow.
Now the twisty roads headed downward to the lowest and warmest area of our trip. We saw rice paddies spread out beneath us as we headed into a river valley. We stopped in town, got a buffet lunch and then headed to the temple of the divine madman.
We walked through some paddy fields and by many prayer flags until we hit the village before the temple. Almost every building had squirting penises painted on them with hairy balls. The shops sold penis souvenir, some painted like they were strange characters and others were unadorned. They were everywhere.
The walk up to the temple was long and the grounds looked like most other temples. There was a black stupa outside it that we were told to remember. Inside, the figures looked like most setups except the divine madman was represented and there was a large wooden penis with a bow around it beside the shrine. The black shrine was where the divine madman buried the body of the master's dog after he realized that it wasn't a dog but a bunch of disguised demons so he smote it. The name for the temple is also the "No dog temple", in spite of the many strays who hang out there. The madman apparently loved beautiful women and drinking and went from house to house demanding one or both. The shrine is considered a place to pray for fertility and there's a photo album there full of pictures and letters from people all over the world saying that they were able to conceive after visiting the temple. The locals also put first harvest and other offerings there to guarantee fertile fields, which the region is known for. Putting penises on your house apparently calls to the Divine Madman to protect you if you get something nice and others send demons of jealousy at you. I'll bet there's a lot more to it than that but that's what we were told.
We were blessed by a 10 year old monk who bumped our heads with a wooden penis and a bow and arrow. This was all done very seriously and had to be one of the oddest moments of our trip.
The road out of there was tiny and crowded so it took awhile to get on our way. We drove up to our resort and checked into our room. The place was nice, with a large room and nice gardens. The only problem was that some pigeons had taken residence in our roof and were noisy during the day.
Rinchen wanted us to try the local wine so he brought out a bottle before dinner. We were braced for the worst but it was quite nice. According to the label, the grapes came from South Africa and the blending and aging was done in Bhutan. Whatever, it was tasty and they let us bring it in for our dinner (note: okra is called ladyfingers in Bhutan).
We ate well with Rinchen joining us this time and then headed back to the room to read and sleep. Another group from India called WOW (Women of wandering) were yelling and screaming like 12 year olds but gave it up by 10 o'clock.
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| From our visit to the market, this is all cheese. |
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| Self- explanatory. |
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| Choose your weapon! |
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