We are squared away at a beautiful hotel with magnificent views after enjoying a fine dinner of beef and chile and the national dish, chile with cheese. Ben had some rice. He is lean and mean. After 6 months of leading, planning, researching, grovelling, and wheeling/dealing we are in someone else's care and LOVING IT! All we have to do is show up and prepare to have our world rocked. Of course, you can't do Bhutan as an independent traveller. You have to have a guide and a driver. This place does things in it's own way. TV wasn't allowed until 1999 (take that Arlene Simon), there are 7 peaks over 20,000 feet that folks are pleading to climb. The government says "no, we revere those peaks as our gods. You may not climb them." When I mentioned that Bhutan is one of the poorest countries in the world. Benjamin and Clare said, "are you sure? it doesn't seem poor." It makes sense that the government's significant statistic of measurement is Gross National Happiness. The government has banned the sale and use of all tobacco products so people do not smoke. There is a big dragon on the national flag. 98% of the population is buddhist so there is a lot of compassion in the air.
We went dzong hopping today. At some point I was bending down before a lama in red robes who gave me a blessing with a magic dagger. i felt that magic right in the center of my chest. We have had a number of opportunities to watch the monks performing rituals. Very hard to put the specialness into words. Speaking of special, here are a few shots of our fearless leader.
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