May 5-8 Settling into McLeod Ganj Life

May 5 Day 79
Woke up, had breakfast etc. and headed into town before lunch.  Had a good thali and met a friend from the day before and met someone new.  We've only been in town a few days and can't go up temple road without seeing a familiar face.
We walked towards the waterfall, which looked like a nature hike on our map but really wasn't.  After heading out of town another similar town quickly started up and the traffic was heavy with Indian tourists.  We found a swimming pool full of Indian men and two Tibetan women wearing t-shirts and shorts for their swim. 
The path to the waterfall had no motor vehicles but was a concrete path busy with people.  The stream all the way up was full of people bathing or sunning, with only men swimming and women going in to their ankles.  Many of the walls were made of laid shale with no mortar, so someone working on the landscaping had some expertise.  The waterfall itself was small but nice enough.  The cluster of cafes and shops at its base meant that you couldn't kid yourself that it was a nature walk.
The walk back was a little less busy as people went home.  We checked out the local gym and did some shopping before returning home.  After dinner we worked on our lesson plans for our first class on Monday and then went to sleep.
May 6 Day 80
Meg was sick in the night and morning but rested for a lot of the day and was able to hold food down by lunchtime.  Thus, most of the day was at home.
The first day of class went really well.  Most students were willing to talk, they liked the name tags, they requested direct grammar instruction and time went quickly.  No one handed in their book report and only a few indicated they had even heard of Gilgamesh, the work they had been studying for the last two weeks or so.   The Gilgamesh play I had prepared thus had less meaning for them but they worked away at it anyway.  Our friend Firoz helped out as well.
One observation is the chips here aren't as good as they are in southeast Asia.  Spanish spicy tomato is ketchup flavour, and India's Magic Masala isn't very tasty.  Maybe I'll find better flavours in the future.  The other food is awfully good here. (Note: American sour cream and onion is like back home, chile limon and Hot and sour punch are good flavours.  Mr. Chipp's spicy treat has a sulfur taste that makes them inedible.)
May 7 Day 81
After breakfast we took a cab to LHA so that Meg didn't have to deal with the hill.  We sat in on Ashish's beginner's class which was conversationally based and very active, with quite skilled students.  We spoke with him afterwards and he offered to rent his apartment too us.  It was a little bit more expensive than where we were staying but much brighter, larger and nicer so we got to work on that.
After a rest and lunch at our place we headed back to the office and Wangdue said it was okay if we left the LHA apartment.  Meg made it up the hill and to class, which was the first one with the requested grammar by the students.  They were receptive and seemed engaged.
After class, the one ATM that has been working for us was under repair, which left us short of money and in a tight space to pay our debts.  We had tea with the little money we had left and spoke with a woman who came to various parts of India for months of every year and was enjoying the cooler weather in McLeod Ganj.
Back home, ate, worked, relaxed, enjoyed the view.
May 8 Day 82
After attending to day's class we found out that Assiz' landlord wouldn't let them sublet.  Dorji, the Lha director, offered us the room next to the kitchen, which we took.  It was nicer and had a private balcony, the only problem was our bathroom was off of the shared kitchen.  Had dinner out with Wangdue and Meg offered to help him apply for his phd.  We then shifted rooms and went to bed.

The waterfall, not so far away from civilization.

Goats and a stupa close to the waterfall.

The cultural show at Tibet World.

May 4 - Meeting Volunteers and fellow travelers

May 4 Day 78.
We woke up and puttered around the apartment puttering about with whatever needed doing until 11:30, when we had our volunteer lunch right at Ahimsa house where we were staying.
When we went down there were only a few people but they trickled in as the afternoon wore on.  There were Americans, Canadians, Indian, French, Germans and Italians.  Many were here because of the Buddhist presence and the conversation skewed towards the spiritual, which was interesting.  Many people had gone on long retreats, some quite extreme sounding.  The food served was very good and the conversation went on well into the afternoon, a very interesting group of people.
We rested for a bit before heading out to get some errands done.  While we were getting our simcard we met a couple from Colorado who were there for trekking and got on nicely so we arranged to meet them for dinner.  The simcard itself was no easy get, Meg had to go get passport pictures to apply for one.  At the picture place we saw a pile of radios for sale for the Dalai Lamas teaching that we applied for.  He speaks in Tibetan but you can hear the translation in your language through the radio. 
Our simcard was in process but would not be ready for activation until Monday evening.  We walked along the road to find the local Anglican Church and check out the service times on Sunday.  It was a nice church in the woods with tourists milling about but the English Service times had a piece of red tape over it and something illegible scrawled on the tape in black marker.  None the wiser about Sunday, we walked back along the traffic-packed road.
On weekends, Indian tourists pack McLeod Ganj and so the traffic is even worse than usual.  We braved the streets to pickup laundry and then waited in Tibet Kitchen for  our friends to show up.  They were out of almost all drinks but fortunately they had lots of food.
Our friends brought someone else they met and we had another spirited conversation about travel, things to do and spirituality.  The food was enjoyed by all and we exchanged e-mails, phones not being functional yet.
On the way back we saw our fellow volunteer Firoz in a restaurant and joined him for tea.  He showed us a few places of interest as we walked afterwards and showed us another way to get to Ahimsa House.  Unfortunately, this way was very poorly lit for walking back at night and was less busy, meaning that the drivers went faster as they sped by in the dark.  We used the flashlight app on our phone to get back home.
Once there we looked through some materials for our class and went to bed.

May 3 - More Orientation

May 3 Day 77
We woke up well rested had had a fine breakfast with fresh banana.  We spent some time trying to research other places to stay but the internet only gave us ridiculously expensive places.  We decided that even if our room was overpriced at $400 a month, we could afford it and the organization the money was going to was a good one. 
We met Wangdue at LHA and headed out for more orientation.  We went to the Tibetan library, which had a large bookshop mainly in Tibetan but with some English and a detailed museum upstairs.  The curator gave us lengthy descriptions of the history and meaning of many pieces.  They had mainly come from Tibet, brought by the Dalai Lama or carried by other escapees.  They had a powder mandala which we heard about from Werner Herzog's Wheel of Time.  They also had an elaborate, three dimensional wooden mandala, the likes of which we had not seen before and an incredible wood cabinet meant to represent multiple techniques in Tibetan woodcarving. 
On the way down Wangdue mentioned that the curator loved to talk, but I'll bet that he doesn't get a lot of visitors and likes the company.
We then went to the Tibetan Parliament in Exile and joined a tour with a Russian group.  We heard a bit of how it functioned and saw the main room, but everything was very functional and plainly decorated.  Apparently no country has had the nerve to recognize its authority so its power is limited.
We then headed to the Museum of Tibetan Medicine.  The director gave us a detailed tour of the downstairs, which featured herbs, minerals, pills and tools used in traditional medicine.  They had metal rods for curing tumours and insanity and arthritis and everything else.  The pills were the same, multiple claims of healing for unrelated conditions.  The pills are to be taken in conjunction with astrologers and urine observation.  We were told that all pills are more effective if you pray to Buddha first.  We were relieve to hear that some particularly gruesome tools meant for cataract removal were no longer in use.
On the second floor were dozens of illustrations taken from ancient texts of Tibetan medicine.  They had the development of the fetus, body channels, internal diagrams, instructions on body fluids and many more.  After describing a few of them to us, the director said that she couldn't go over all of them or we'd have completed and entire medical course.  They had a few on display downstairs and he illustrations were interesting.  We held our tongues about their claims, which probably added to a good visit.

We were going to visit another large centre but we asked if we could take a break as we were visited out and hungry for lunch.  On the way back, Wangbui showed us where to line up to register for the Dalai Lama's teaching the next week. 
In the line we met another LHA volunteer and Meg talked to an Italian couple.  We had to show our passport and get our picture taken, generating a card that would get us in, all for 10 rupees.  We had a fine lunch at Tibet Kitchen and then went back to our room to get our laundry together.
After dropping off our laundry we attended Sean's final class, writing down ideas of what we could do with the group and wondering how we were going to mark their book reports on Monday, neither of us having read Gilgamesh.
Afterwards we had some tea and pastries at a local cafe, got some food and supplies for our teaching premiere on Monday and headed back to the apartment.  We cooked our first meal there, improving pots and pans and going downstairs to get lids and a sparker to light the burners.  Dinner was good (we found a store that sold anchovies!) but was accompanied by beer instead of wine.  All of the wine we could find in town has been super-sweet stuff often in peach flavour, so beer it was.  We saw a notice on the wall saying there was to be no alcohol in the lodging, but it also said no pets.  Since the director lived there with her three dogs, we decided to be discreet but not worry too much about it.  After dinner, reading and bed.  Figuring out a new place takes up a lot of energy!

Outside of the parliament in exile.

Looking down on McLeod Ganj.

May 2 - Local Tour

May 2 Day 76
I woke up at about 6 to see the Dharmshala post office.  I knew that McLeod Ganj, where we were going, was close so I stayed awake.  30 minutes later we were there.
We asked an Indian family if we could use their phone, got ahold of our contact and waited for him to come.  While we were there we talked with an Albanian guy who was there for a lengthy meditation course and was very friendly.
Wangdue showed us and dropped us off at Ahimsa House, where we would be staying.  Meg caught up on sleep and I unpacked and putzed around until Wangdue came back at 11.
He took us on a walk up to town.  There are two main streets in McLeod Ganj and we had a steep walk up to the main square from where we were staying.  Cars and bikes were honking incessantly as we went, missing us by a small margin but at least there were fewer of them than in Delhi.
We were in the mountains so the weather was in the comfortable 20s.  The road mainly had street vendors selling tourist stuff on one side and a mixture of businesses in buildings on the other side.  Some people spoke to us but no one was hassling in a touty way.  We got a tour of the centre and met everyone, Meg frantically writing down names as they were given to us.  The centre was alive with activity with students, instructors and organizers going every which way.  We left the centre and were dropped on in a great little cafe for brunch which had real French press coffee.
Wangdue then showed us where various shops were in the town and walked us back to the centre.  We found out that we would be teaching two classes of English students.  This came as a surprise to us as we had read that unless you had a multi-month commitment you probably wouldn't get your own class.  LHA had two teacher departing in the next week, however, and so needed the help.
Wangdue and the staff answered a lot of questions and we were discussing our payment when we mentioned that we were not met at the airport.   He was surprised by this and mentioned that this was the most important part of the orientation package.  He discussed it with one of his colleagues but hasn't mentioned it again since.
We looked at some material in the library and then went to the Dalai Lama's temple complex for a quick tour.  These buildings seemed utilitarian after the ornate temples of Bhutan and Thailand but were rightfully revered by visitors.  There were many monks in the courtyard challenging each other with logic exercises by clapping forcefully after each question.  There were some Vietnamese monks visiting, some in grey robes and others in shorts and t-shirts, which surprised us.  One thing we've noticed is that even in the temples, flashing and glittery lights are used around pictures of the Dalai Lama and Buddhist deities.  My western upbringing makes me think that this glitz is tacky but it is obviously reverent here.
We also saw the Tibet Museum, which documents the history of Tibet, mainly the Chinese atrocities committed since the invasion.  It had the feel of a holocaust museum for obvious reasons but was well laid out and you could just move on if you didn't want to look at specific exhibitions.
Back at LHA we sat in with Sean on his advanced class which we would be taking over on Monday.  He was doing Gilgamesh and had several routines for the students.  There were about 12 of them, most coming in late and trying to settle at the back.  when they had to read, their decoding was excellent but getting them to talk was like pulling teeth.  He was very relaxed with them and they were all motivated to be there, no mandatory attendance was enforced.  Whenever they were talking or looking at their phones it was about the assignment (there weer only four photocopies of the text so most students took pictures of the copies and read them off their phones.)
The room was basic, a whiteboard and some markers that kind of sometimes worked.  There was a tv screen that could show youtube (and other websites, I assume) and most students had pencils and paper.  There was a resource room with many British workbooks and a library of novels but scant materials such as glue, scissors etc.
After class we sat in the resource room grilling Sean.  He had been teaching in China but was fined and had to leave a few days after he taught his students about what was really happening in Tibet.  He was quite self-critical and wanted to focus on other things he was doing here.  We generated a lot of possibilities about the class and planned to sit on Friday's class as well.  We also met Coren, who was staying where we were and was helping to work on the monthly newsletter.
As we walked back we did some basic food shopping and were pleased to find that even small shops had reasonably good selection of products and prices.  The prices were printed in rupees on every product, so we didn't have to haggle over every item.  We picked up some basics and headed back to our room.
We went out to dinner and couldn't find the restaurant we were looking for and so went to a fancier place overlooking the square.  We had a nice wine and i had an excellent biryani but Meg's pizza was a little sweeter than we like.  Meg obsessed over a group of your men with big coiffs who were hugging and holding hands, speculating that they were gay prostitutes by the way they hassled cabs and tried talking to passers by.  Apparently India is very conservative about such stuff and they were just hanging out.
Most places were still open as we walked back in the dark.  The street was generally well lit and there was a little less traffic than during the day but we still wish that we brought a light.  Back in our room we had some tea and went to bed under the fan (not because of the heat but to dissuade mosquitoes that Meg worried would get us in our sleep.)

The view from our balcony, note the high Himalayan mountains in the very back.

May 1 - Quick but eventful tour of Delhi

May 1 Day 75
We got up, had breakfast in a nice cafe and reorganized and repacked all of our stuff.  We left it at the hotel and went to book our afternoon tour.
Tsering was there, looked at our list and got us a driver for the afternoon.  he went over the instructions with the driver, who didn't have much English and we were off.
The streets of Delhi (or at least the ones we were on) are usually tree-lined and have planters in the middle of the boulevards.  For a city with such a reputation for pollution it seems as if this should lessen the problem somewhat.  The driving, however, is like a video game.  Lanes mean nothing, vehicles sometimes go in the wrong direction and cars are constantly changing lanes, looking for some advantage.  Everyone is often crammed together with only a few centimetres separating them with their horns constantly going to tell others to get out of their way. 
Our driver took us to a random location and asked where the Gandhi museum was when we refused to leave the car.  He then took us to the right place and we entered the museum just as a large school group was leaving, good luck.
You start by entering the room he was living in before he was shot and then there are two long hallways with pictures and information in English and Hindi.  Much of it was on his last day but they did cover his life and philosophy, which was very progressive towards women.  We watched the end of a long film on his life which felt like it was made by bureaucrats.  It long on pronouncements and footage of people walking and short on actions and implications.  It also used flowery language usually reserved for propaganda films ( "the bullet from the deviant assailant entered the pure flesh of his breast" or some such stuff) and had a clear dislike of Muslims and Pakistanis.
Much easier to appreciate were two rooms of elaborate dioramas of events in his life with costumed dolls in emotional poses.  Even batter was the upstairs where a personal guide took us through rooms with multimedia presentations of his story.  There were videos activated by clutching walking sticks, a train model that could show you video of different places, a tree trunk that lit up when participants joined hands and many other gizmos that kids would love.
We were there for almost three hours and so looked for a washroom before getting back to our taxi.  On our way back a guide told us we could not leave before seeing the most important part of the museum.  It was a lawn with a chair on it and a mural behind, I guess it was the spot where Gandhi was shot.  He kept telling us he was a volunteer and insisting on taking our picture but we smelled tout and quickly got out of there.
Our driver was waiting and off we went to another wrong place.  He had written Hindi words next to our itinerary but that didn't help much.  The whole time he was driving he was on the phone getting directions from someone before dropping us off at the National Museum and insisting it was the National Art Gallery.  I got out to check that he was wrong before insisting he take us to the right location.  He eventually asked some official looking people on a sidewalk and got us to the right spot.
We paid to get into the four-story gallery that covered Indian art from early colonial times to now.  We started at the top, meaning that we saw the art go back in time and probably should have gone the other way.  There were some great woodcuts and appropriations of stiff European style paintings of very Indian subjects.  The ground floor had installations based on  Gandhi's salt march and recently discovered sketches of participants made by someone who was in jail with them.
As we left we were tole that there were two more buildings to visit but we wanted to get moving.  Our next destination was a shopping area so we could pick up an India guide book.  Our driver said he needed dinner so we gave him more than half an hour, which we needed.  In the third book shop we visited they said they could get it in 5 minutes and we just had to wait.  Twenty minutes later it arrived (carefully wrapped) and turned out to be an edition behind.  Not knowing where else we could get one and conscious of the time we got it and got back to our car.
We asked our driver if we had time to see Hanuman's Tomb and get back by 6:30 and he said he could but started driving even more aggressively than before and making tsking and clucking sound the whole way.  At least he knew where the place was.  He said he was going to get his dinner there as the last place was closed down, but told us that we had 30 minutes, not an hour and kept us coming back to the car as he kept shouting new and difficult to understand instructions.
Hanuman's Tomb is a wow.  t has many side temples and gardens but as you walk through the main gate you see the structure and pool layout that was a run-up to the Taj Mahal.  Apparently more than 100 family members are buried there but the grounds, building and water come together for an extremely impressive effect.  We walked around it and entered the inside which had collections of tombs in areas covered in elaborate shadows made by the Arabic-style carved window screens.  We had to rush because of our tight timeline but were very impressed and wished we could have lingered in one of the surrounding squares and just enjoyed it for awhile. 
Back at our cab the vehicle smelled of curry and our driver was enjoying a smoke.  He kept clucking at the traffic and driving like a maniac.  At one point he pulled over and got a foil packet from a guy at the side of the road.  He then had both hands off of the wheel as he mixed the packets while he drove and then dumped them into his mouth, bit by bit.  After this he kept opening the car door to have a good spit until angry glares from Meg made him just spit out the window.
This stuff is paan.  It can contain tobacco or betel paste (or rarely neither) and gives a head rush and makes you do big spits.  Our already erratic driver was possibly on a betel nut high and we were glad when we got back to the Tibetan refugee area of town.
Tsering wasn't there so we grabbed our bags and had a quick dinner at The Big Apple before heading back to the office.  The Visa machine wasn't working so we were told we could pay for the tour in McLeod Ganj.  Tsering seemed surprised and concerned about our driver's behaviour.  His helper walked us to the bus pick up area but when it appeared that waiting might be in order he quickly gave us our tickets and teamed us up with another woman who would be on the bus.
She was very nice and helped us get sorted.  Apparently 7 or more buses go from Delhi (a stop a short walk from the Tibetan refugee area by the side of the road) to  Dharshala/McLeod Ganj every night.  The bus had almost fully reclining assigned seats, a/c and a movie screen, but no washroom.  We watched Aquaman with Hindi subtitles (I don't think English ones would have improved this turkey) and drifted off to sleep. 
We had two overnight roadside stops to offset the lack of a washroom.  Our driver drove like a cabdriver and was on the horn and jamming the brakes all of the time.  Most of the passengers slept or at least were considerate except for a young monk, of all people.  He played loud techno on his phone during our 3 am stop and then played noisy video games.  Fortunately, earplugs and an eyeshade were in my bag and so I slept well even if Meg didn't (the opposite of what usually happens.)

A Gandhi diorama.

Hanuman's Tomb, predating and inspiring the Taj Mahal.

Inside the tomb.

April 30 - Into India

April 30 Day 74
We got us well rested and with plenty of time time to get our act together before our 9:40 departure to the airport.   Unfortunately, the hotel staff didn't have their act together as wen we went downstairs they said that they had a buffet breakfast but we had to wait awhile to find out that it wasn't close to being ready yet.  Later it was ready but they hadn't wiped the tables and we weren't told that we could ask for eggs, we just found out from watching another table.
We got packed and picked up and said goodbye to Rinchen and Tswong at the airport.  Rinchen had changed half of the money we were owed into Indian rupees, which was a big help. 
Apparently, the government strictly controls new buildings to make sure that they follow traditional structure.  The airport has to be one of the nicest anywhere, as it is colourful and set up like a large Bhutanese home.
Security was no problem and we had a good view of the mountains on the way out with just a bit of heavy cloud.  The flight stopped in Kathmandu on the way out so we had a snack and a meal on our trip and other than a bit of turbulence, it all went well.
The heat of Delhi met us as soon as we got off the plane but once in the airport we were fine.  Delhi airport has signs saying it won airport of the year and I believe it, as it was modern, not crowded and comfortable.  Our bags came very quickly and we were at our door in no time.
The instructions from our charity were clear not to go through gate 6 as we would not be able to re-enter he airport and many scammers would be waiting for us.  There was someone waiting with a sign we couldn't read so we asked an army guy at the door if he could help us.  The sign wasn't for us but the guy holding it was able to call our emergency number.  Our contact didn't seem to know about us and asked us where we were staying, making us reply with, "you're supposed to be telling us!" 
There was talk of a taxi and we ended up being given an Uber to our location.  The pickup site was well marked and people around us were helpful to get in the right vehicle, so we got there.  Our Uber actually played the best local music we had heard in some time, as all of the stuff we heard in Thailand and Bhutan were tinny songs played on cheap synths with drum machines.  In the car we had spirited music with real instruments. 
The ride took us down many streets, mostly wide boulevards with trees and plants and not many buildings visible.  We went through one small slum area with shacks, people lounging on sofas on the sidewalk and kids relieving themselves on the street.  The traffic was insane, but the city itself didn't look bad from the window of our Uber.
Once in the Tibet Travel office we were told that they were busy and forgot about us, which didn't help our morale or our trust in the organization.  We were tole to wait to get our ATM money and simcard in Dharamshala and so changes our remaining Canadian money for rupees.
Our hotel was right across the street.  The room was decent but weird.  The tv gave a double image after watching it for awhile and there were strange brownish-yellow grainy piles under the bed that we hoped weren't insect eggs.  A few wasps came out of the ceiling and wasp corpses almost blocked the light coming from a few of the ceiling lights.  the room had modern amenities but teh lack of proper cleaning was noticeable.
We ate at The Big Apple, a strange name for a Tibetan restaurant.  They had nice momos (although I didn't like the cream cheese in them, probably because of my traumatic Chilean sushi experience) and tasty lassis.  After eating we used their wifi to research the best sights in Delhi and then went to sleep.

April 29 - The Tiger's Nest!

April 29 Day 73
We got up early to get ready for our hike to Tiger's Nest Monastery.  This is the most photogenic place in Bhutan and was intentionally the last big visit of our trip.  It was about a 20 minute drive to the crowded parking lot and a 2 hour hike each way.  We went really slowly because of the altitude.  The path was wide but very crowded with hikers.  We occasionally had to move off to the side as people taking horses came by and riderless horses came down.
At the bottom of the hill it was too misty to catch a glimpse of the monastery but as we headed up the hill we could see it from time to time.  There was a teahouse halfway up that gave us the first really good view but we didn't pause for long (about as long as the line to the women's washroom).  Meg made a bunch of friends on the way up, particularly amongst those who were going slowly but steadily, her chosen pace as well.
As we got close to the top we could see buildings above us and at the second viewpoint the lookout was crowded with selfie takers.  We needn't have worried, for at this point we were almost directly across from the monastery and so great viewpoints became abundent and Richen showed his usual ability to pick great spots to take out picture from.
The whole thing burned down about 10 years ago from a butter lamp accident and only one statue remained.  They rebuilt the whole thing and improved the steps, as before they were so dangerous only a few people could actually visit the monastery.  The place still has an ancient feel to it, with lots of ups and downs and spectacular views of the countryside over every railing.
We saw several temple areas, one in which monks were performing a ceremony but the sheer number of people rendered the small rooms very claustrophobic. From the outside, the place was fascinating as mountain outcrops were integrated into the temple and nooks and crannies were everywhere with bits of the temple sticking out above you where ever you looked.
We lit a butter lamp for good luck (ours didn't burn anything down) and I had trouble finding a shoe.  Meg and Rinchen had started this brother/sister thing of trying to fool each other.  It got to the point where both of them had to raise their hand when they were telling a joke.  Rinchen had taken one of my shoes and it was lost until a passing monks took my missing one and a pair of someone else's and slid them down a rock.  At least I didn't have to go down the mountain in my socks.
On the way back Meg and our Bhutanese friends decided to pick up garbage on our way down, leading to some perilous hanging over safety railings to get a stray juice box.  The mist had lifted and we often paused to look back at what has to be one of eh world's most beautiful temples.
We had lunch at the teahouse with the sort of bland vegetarian dishes that vindicate carnivores.   Fortunately, Bhutanese hot sauce can make even the most tasteless food catch your attention.
On the way down Meg decided to get way ahead of the rest of us and met a Vietnamese woman who had studied in Toronto for a month.  There were no horses (they stop selling tickets up at 1 pm) but the path was smooth and dusty in areas so we had to be a bit careful not to twist an ankle.
On the drive back we went through our list of errands and Rinchen said he would try to change our Thai money and get stamps for posting our postcards.  That gave us some time off in our room to prepare for leaving the next day.
We only could get one night in our palace hotel and our new one had less character but was more modern, with the best wifi we had all week.  The staff was a little disorganized, though, as our welcome tea never did show up.
Rinchen met us at 6 to take us to our farmhouse experience and had a surprise.  Bhutan allows you to put your own pictures onto stamps and had made a page of them from a picture he took of us.  He had e-mailed the picture to his wife in Thimpu, she had printed out the page and he had been waiting at the taxi stand for them to be delivered.  Very cool.  Anyone who got a Bhutanese postcard from us, check it out.
Our Thai money had been changed but there was a miscount so we would get he balance of teh rupees the next day.  This wasn't a problem, as we had enough to cover our farmhouse trip.
The whole farmhouse experience seems to be a going concern in Paro.  On our way to the monastery I noticed many roadside signs advertising farmhouse homestays with genuine food.  The one we went to was building a new wing and had a busload of tourists just leaving.
We had a quick look around the outside of the farmhouse before getting ready for our hot stone bath.  This is where river stones are heated in a fire of aromatic wood and herbs, quickly cleaned off and then used to create hot baths for people to soak in.  The guy with the stones walks us and down the central core of the structure with bathing rooms on either side.  He knocks and asks if you want stones to heat up the water (or cold water to cool it down) and if you say yes he outs the stones in a slot from the central core that connects to the wooden tubs in the bathing rooms.
We had a room with two tubs with herbs floating in the water.  I took the hotter one after Meg complained about it and soaked for half an hour, with my bad knees submerged in the water to take full advantage of its healing power.  I was fine the whole time with water hot enough to make the non-submerged part of me sweat like I was in a sauna.  Meg asked for a new rock and had to evacuate early as the water can get uncomfortable quite quickly.
We dried off and felt completely relaxed as we toured the main farmhouse.  The ground floor was used for animal shelter, the main floor had storage and bedrooms.  The third story was an open area under the roof used for basement-type storage (and had a great view) but the second story is where we settled.
We met our host  who had excellent English.  We chatted for awhile and then Rinchen and Meg brought out their magic puzzles for the group to try figuring out.   Dinner was excellent and we finally got to try chili cheese, the Bhutanese national dish.  It's essentially dried chili peppers cooked in cheese.  They're a bit much to gobble down straight but if you cut them up and use them as a condiment for other dishes, yum!
After dinner we toured the rest of the farmhouse and saw a house temple that was worthy of  public one, with large Buddha figures and a painted wall.  Richen explained that this family was quite wealthy and most families and smaller shrines.  I guess that the farmhouse thing is doing well.
On the way back we found a tourist shop willing to give us money for a Visa charge an so got some cash before heading to bed.  Rinchen gave us both gifts, both of us getting yaks' wool scarves and Meg with earrings and me with a brass figurine.  A very nice ending to an excellent day.
 I credit the hot stone bath for barely being able to keep my eyes open after getting into bed and having a solid sleep.

Tiger's Nest Monastery from down the hill...

...and after two hours of hiking

The hot stone bath setup.  Rocks are on the other side of the wall, just knock for fresh ones!