We just spent 2 days in Paro town so that we could go to the Paro festival (Tsechu) and the Tigers Nest monastry (Taktshang). Spending 2 days in Paro turned out to be a fairly luxurious affair. Carole had booked us into Gangtey Palace, which literally was a palace until 1907. It was an amazing old style building with the loft for drying your straw and chillies and a bar/restaurant with great views over the city. You can make a guess which we spent the most time in. Attached is a photo of part of our room, which was hand painted beautifully. I’m not quite sure what the Bhudda painted above the bed was intended to … improve … but I would hope they might warn guests if it is meant to grant triplets to all who sleep under him. I have no idea what his intentions for the deer and geese are either.
The Tsechu is a religious festival consisting of 5 days of ritual dancing and the unveiling of a huge likeness of Bhudda. It is also an excuse for people to meet from all over the country and catch up. We went along in traditional Bhutan dress, which is compulsary for all Bhutanese nationals attending. We got a very friendly reception much more than the other foreigners. Unfortunately the male standard dress is a “Gho”. It is kind of like a giant woolen dressing gown/ bath robe. It is also damned difficult to get it tied correctly. Even with the parents help we struggled and luckily the hotel staff came to the rescue. It took 3 locals to get it right! Keren wore the Kira (much easier to fit). About 60% of people wear these clothes as their standard around town clothes and all school uniforms are Gho and Kira. Of course I still didn’t get the special scarf that matches the Gho correct and since I obviously looked hopeless, more people came to my aid 
. see piccies.
We braved the crush inside and outside the Rinpung Dzong (read monastic fortress) in Paro.
We watched the long crazy dances, and wondered why they seemed to cage all the young monks. See piccy of dancing skeletons with monks gazing on. I think we were the youngest tourists there.
Afterwards we decided to climb up a steep valley 700m vertical to visit the most famous Bhutan building. The monastry called Taktshang – Tigers nest. This monastry is built over a cave about 200m up a cliff. Supposedly the Guru who brought Bhuddism to Bhutan decided that climbing a cliff and hiding (sorry meditating) in a small hole the size of an office cubicle would aid his enlightenment. Then some further enlightened monks decided building a large monastry, out of large trees and stone, over the cave on a tiny ledge, way up a cliff, would be a fine way to spend 6 years. So they did! Piccies attached. It is one of the most crazy pieces of engineering I have ever seen and the natural rock makes up many of the floors and walls.
Tags: Gangtey, Paro, Taktshang, Tigers nest, Tsechu
