Bhutan Day 5

March 19, 2018

Today was a moving day as we left Punakha and traveled back across the mountains to Paro.

This is Tenzin loading the luggage on top for our journey.

Heading out of the Punakha Valley we got a final glimpse of the nunnery sitting on the ridge.

The skies were clear and we could finally see the Himalayan Mountains that had been covered with clouds until today.

One of the hazards while driving is you might encounter cattle standing in the road. They roam freely.

We also came across some monkeys playing in the road.

I figured out the blessing that we received when visiting the fertility temple a couple of days ago. It was for great weather (Whew! Dodged the bullit on that one!) We couldn’t have asked for any better weather.

  

At Dochula Pass we enjoyed a cup of tea while taking in the beautiful view.

 

  

Arriving in Paro we went for lunch. This is the downtown area.

 

After lunch we headed up to the Rinpung Dzong (fort) of Paro. As is typical with the dzongs, it houses the administrative offices of the district and serves as a local monastery. It was established in the mid 1600’s.

 

The main entrance 

Buddhist Wheel of Life 

 

 

Beautiful painting adorned the walls.

You could see the old timbers. 

 

 

 

 

Pema, our fearless team leader.

The foot bridge over the Pachu river.

 

We had some free time inParo to wander through the shops before heading out to our hotel. It’s located directly across from the Tiger’s Nest Monastery. It’s an old monastery hanging on the side of a cliff about 3,000 above the valley floor. Look at the pointed peak of the center mountain and look at the bare cliff side to locate the monastery.

Using my zoom lens, here’s a closer look.

And even closer. It is around a  2 mile hike up the 3,000 feet. It’s supposed to take about 2 1/2 hours to reach. I will let you know tomorrow how it goes.

Our hotel is located directly across from the cliff.

Early morning start so we can do the climb. I’m extremely excited about this opportunity.