Our expedition to Bhutan began early in the morning in Bangkok.
In the airport we saw a monument depicting battle of deamons and demigods. From Bangkok we flew to Paro, where the only international airport of Bhutan is located.
There we met our guide and waited for the rest of the group.
Bhutan has opened its door to tourists not so long ago. One can only get here as a part of a tourist group booked with a local guide.
No need to worry about hotel bookings, organizing transfers etc — everything has be taken care of already. The guide will meet you at the airport on the first day and bring you back to the airport on the last day.
Paro airport entrance.
Directly from the airport we went to Tachog Lhakhang monastery.
This monastery was founded in 15th century by buddhist teacher Thangtong Gyalpo, who is also famous for building 58 iron chain suspension bridges around Tibet and Bhutan.
We saw one of these bridges on our way to the monastery, but it was closed for repair and there is a new bridge built alongside.
The confluence of two rivers and 3 stupas in nepalese, tibetan and bhutanese traditions.
From the monastery we drove to Thimphu, where we had a lunch in a local restaurant. Bhutanese cuisine has a lot of vegetables and chili.
Bhutanese people don't farm animals for food in their country, so all the meat is imported from India.
After lunch we went to Tashichho Dzong. Dzong is a buddhist monastery and a fortress usually serving as administrative and religious center.
Bhutanese government is located in Tashichho Dzong as well as king's working office.
Bas-relief of Dzambala, the Buddha of wealth.
Inner yard.
Arena where the lama dances are performed during annual festivals..
In the evening we visited the Great Buddha Dordenma statue. It is a gigantic Shakyamuni Buddha statue which is made of bronze and gilded in gold, its height is 51,5 meters. Inside the statue there is a temple, housing 100 thousands 20-cm high and 25 thousands 30-cm high Buddha statues.
At the altitude of 2,500 meters above the sea level, this is the highest statue of Buddha in the world.
Garuda and dakinis.
In the evening we arrived to the hotel, located right across the Thimphu Stupa. It was built in memory of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, 3rd king of Bhutan. This stupa is very popular among locals and tourists and is one of the main attractions of the city. People make koras (a clockwise circumambulation around the stupa) and meditate from 5 AM till 9 PM. We too made a couple of koras before checking in to the hotel.
