Bhutan is a highly religious kingdom with more than 90% Buddhist. The monks in their crimson robes are everywhere.
As you can see, most enter the priesthood as small children.
In Kathmandu we boarded a Drukair (Royal Bhutan Air) charter for the flight to Paro, Bhutan. As it turns out, there are only eight pilots in the world certified to land in Paro. We were soon to learn why. The flight was fantastic, we flew within twelve miles of Mount Everest. The pyramid shape is unmistakable.
From Mount Everest we banked north and began our descent. We dropped down into a tight winding valley with mountains above us off both wing tips. As we got closer to Paro, we had to look up to see passing monasteries and houses. At the last moment, we banked sharply to the starboard into a valley perpendicular to our approach and were almost immediately over the end of the runway. Wow, we all thanked the grinning Bhutanese pilot as we exited.
We visited several monasteries. Fascinating. The senior monk sits on a slightly raised table. Flanking him on both sides, seated on pillows and rugs are more monks with elaborately painted drums and long, intricately carved horns. The smell and smoke of incense creates a dreamy, other- world aspect as the monk chants prayers accompanied by the rhythmic beat of drums and the occasional accent of the horns. When we entered, they rolled out a long rug for us to sit on. As we sat, monks brought us butter tea to drink and bowls of rice to eat. One evening, we were fortunate to speak with a lama. He is the lama to the king and very educated: advanced degrees from several countries. He spoke quietly and slowly, pausing between each word as if he was considering what he wanted to say. He talked about the deliberations before opening Bhutan to the outside world, how they studied other countries to decide how to move forward. He spoke of the changes coming to Bhutan, how they couldn't remain isolated but they wanted to preserve as much of their culture as possible while at the same time incorporating the good from western society. He talked of his Buddhist beliefs and the difference between rebirth and reincarnation. I asked him to explain karma, especially his reference to cause and condition. He explained karma to me using a wonderful example of an apple seed. A truly wonderful evening and experience.
One of the areas Bhutan is incorporating from the West is health care and education. Both are free. Education includes college and advanced degrees. I met a young women working on her family's small (several acres) farm. She had a bachelor degree in computer science. She prefers farming and no longer works in a computer job. She lives in a five hundred year old house with eight family members. The ground floor is used to stable the livestock. We climbed steep, almost ladder like stairs to the second floor where the family lives. The largest room is a grain bin holding the rice harvest. At the top of the stairs bacon hung from the rafters drying. She served us butter tea and three types of dried rice that was very good. The center of the home was the temple, taking up half of the area of the house. Several rooms were used for sleeping with low, platform style beds.
The highlight of our stay in Bhutan was our trek to the Tiger's Nest monastery. The climb starts about 7,500' and winds up a mountain to 10,500 to an amazing monastery clinging to a cliff.
The climb was steep and a good challenge so we toasted the day with friends.
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Location:Palau, Micronesia
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