April 7- A little more Thimpu, a lot more Buddhism

Today we drove outside of Thimpu a bit to trek up to one of their monasteries.  Before getting to the base of our hike, we stopped at this large painting of Guru Rinpoche that someone had done on the side of a large rock.

Our guide told us that everything in Bhutan is either up or down, there is no flat and this hike further proved it.  Thanks to Physique 57 my legs were completely up to the hike, however, my flat-lander-thick-blood wasn't so much.  However, arriving at the top was well worth it.  What a peaceful place.

I love old people.  And add old to monk and oh my goodness!  Moments after the second picture the older monk pulled out his apple juice box and had a drink.

After a tour of the monastery and a the hike back down we stopped into a traditional paper making company.  These women are separating the cooked and washed Daphne pulp to pull out the best parts.

After the paper place we went to the Semtokha Dzong, the oldest Dzong in Bhutan.  I have a few pics of the inside, but I loved this picture of a man sitting outside.  

Then a little journey over to the nunnery.  There aren't many nuns in Bhutan compared to the monks and this place was only built in the last 60 years.  Notice the dog in the left corner.  He was one of many hanging around.  Lots-o-dogs in Bhutan.

And our final stop for the day was at the Thimpu Dzong where half of the building is used for the government to work and half for the religious leader to work.  We were only able to tour the religious side.  Inside one of the temples on the religious side was a Buddha who was 25 feet high himself plus another 10 feet if you add the platform.

Before dinner, we attended a cultural show at the hotel.  Watch the end for special guest.  P.S. It would have been helpful to say "turn" or something- you know, for those of us who are new at Bhutanese dancing :)