Today concluded the festival visit part of the journey. On the last day of a festival, the focus is on rituals and giving blessings. We were offered holy water to wet our lips and head for purification and a small string to wear around our necks for protection.
The mantra uttered by the monk during the ritual had a strange part soothing, part exciting effect on me, almost felt like a form of ecstasy. It is no wonder how powerful religious ceremony can be. Where and when will I hear that again?
Today we dressed in Bhutanese gho and kira for a Bhumtang festival. Festivals are very important events to the locals for their religious meanings and everyone goes to the temple to see singing and dancing. Toi Sin did a great job being a Bhutanese lady and people thought the guide only had one client =P
After the festival, we had dinner at a family's home. When we arrived, we were served ngaja which is like indian chai. The food, especially the chili and cheese, was spicy and delicious. After dinner we had some ara (home made liquor from wheat that the family grow) and talked to the lady of the family and our guide explained how the ara was made.
These things combined made me feel like we are truely in Bhutan and I think I better understand what their lives are like.
Toi Sin appreciated that people in Bhutan still consider tourists as their guests, even if it means bringing them inconveniences, such as unstable electricity. Living in Bhutan is more than survival but is also to care about life. When life is important, respect, trust and peace come automatically among the people and life becomes a little simpler and a little bit more worth living.
This is the view from tonight's hotel room, overlooking the Trongsa Dzong, built in 1644. As a dzong that cuts the only trail that connects the east and the west of the country, it was strategically built to take control of the area and unify Bhutan.
To catch the festival in central Bhutan tomorrow, we were in the car for 7 hours today going eastward. Trongsa is two hours away from Bumthang, where the festival is.
The drive is long for the need to ziczac through countless hills because Bhutan is extremely (if not entirely) mountainous, a large part in the Himalaya. When we saw our hotel across the valley seemingly five minutes away, it was an hour later when we arrived it.
Our hotel at Thimpu, the only capital in the world without traffic light because Bhutanese found them too impersonal. They prefer being directed by traffic police.
After a few days of eating and shopping and seeing people, we are now heading to the next destination.
Weather report says Bhutan is raining everyday. Romantic.
A little bit of ferry riding, a little bit of hiking and a lot of seafood eating with family, finished with card games playing with my brother and sis-in-law made a satisfactory day.
Tonight, we are the first sleep over guests at my brother's new home in the country side. We will sleep well on the 43rd floor with a beautiful view outside.
Nice to be home even if it is 27C at 6am and I am sweating like a doggy as soon as I came out of air conditioning.
