October 22 - Bumthang hiking

In the morning,  I visited the Pelseling Goemba which is a monastery located very high up on the mountain. The trek was all uphill through a mix of forest and meadows but sharing candies and treats with the very young monks up top was a wonderful experience.

In the afternoon, we visited Janbay lhakang. It is believed to have been built in the year 659 by the Tibetan king Songsten Garripo on the same day as Kyichu lhakhang in Paro in order to subdue a Tibetan demoness.

It is here that Guru Rinpoche conducted his first sermon on tantric Buddhism for his host king Shindhu Roja the local ruler. Every year in October, the temple hosts a spectacular festival, the Jambay lhakhang drip. Two of the main attractions are the fire dance and the treasure dance or naked dance along with fertility blessings for the women. We attended the ceremony on the closing day and listened to the lamas lead the people.  

From Beth:

I took the day off while Jane did the hike with our guide, Sangay.  Instead I tried my hand once again at archery.  The range was right beside a monastery on the property, and there were a number of monks who took great interest in my instructor, Thomtom.  As we were shooting from one end a bushel of crab apples rained down on his head, follows by gales of laughter from the young monks who had been tasked with clearing them from the monastery roof.  

Jane returned from her hike and I could see that her guide had had to move much more quickly to keep up with this tourist than he was used to doing!