Yesterday we took a trip up a nearby valley to view yet another monastry and get some last minute altitude acclimatisation. On the way we encountered this bit of buddist graffiti. They had even chipped it out of the rock.
We also got our first views of some snowy peaks, no idea which ones 
… on our way down it decided to snow on us anyway and all the hills around the capital where dusted.
To finish the 5 days of Paro festival they hold a pre-dawn ceremony involving a “Thangka”. This is a giant appliqued tapestry the height of the temple. Hopefully you can see how big it is in the piccy. We had to get up at 2am this morning to drive an hour to the temple just so we could get these photos for you. Luckily simply being in the presence of the Thangka absolves all of our sins and guarantees myself and Keren will forgive the early morning start. All the high ranking monks from the area arrive in force and have to contend with hundreds of pilgrims pushing forward to be blessed.
We start our 7 days of trekking on Sunday and probably won’t be able to blog until we get back. Lots of snowy mountain shots to come in a weeks time.
Tags: Thangka
March 23, 2008 at 8:15 am |
Looks like a lot of fun.