Lunana Trek in Bhutan

The picture to the right is from the plane!!
 The mountains here are amazing! I've only seen a few so far, but they are very different than the mountains I am used to seeing. I look at the horizon for The Cascades and Olympics, but I have to raise my head significantly more...almost up to the stars to see these mountains. They are above the clouds they are soooo high. Almost hurts my neck looking up at them. :)



There are 12 of us in total, with one British guide and one Bhutanese guide. We have so far flown into Paro Airport, driven to Thimpu and eaten a lot!!!  I like the other people in the group. 6 are German, 3 are British, and 2 are Canadian. And me. I am also the youngest one, by far. In fact, I think I might be the youngest tourist in Bhutan!!!  Bhutan is VERY quiet, especially when compared to Kathmandu. The houses are all ornately designed and there are hills everywhere. The bridges are my personal favorites so far!!  Haven't seen much animal life, but honestly, even though we've been in the biggest cities, there haven't been that many people either. Only 100,000 people live in Thimpu!  Because I only have 5 minutes, I will try to put photos on instead of blabbering.... love to you all!!

Bhutan is an interesting country filled with things that seem to many westerners like contradictions. The monks walk around talking on their cell phones and driving huge SUVs. The cities are quiet and the pace of life seems slow, but there are many modern conveniences, like pizza delivery, for example. In Thimpu there are large freeways and a great trash removal system, but there are no traffic lights.  In the rural areas there is often no electricity, but because most people have cell phones, they all have solar panels to charge their batteries. 

 The traditional dress of the Bhutanese is seen below. This is a picture of our Bhutanese guide, Ugen, pronounced "Oogan". In may places in Bhutan the Bhutanese are still required to wear the "gho". In the larger cities you will see many more people wearing western dress, and it is not uncommon to mix them both. I saw many converse wearing university students wearing ghos. The women wear skirts called kiras. On the top they wear a silk jacket. I'm sorry, but I didn't take a picture of this, so if you are interested you will have to search for it.

  

The picture below is of the Punaka Dzong. It is a beautiful and very important dzong because it was an ancient fortress that was converted into a monastery. It is where in the winter the monks come to live, signifying to the people of Bhutan that it is now ok for them to wear stockings instead of just socks to add warmth to their outfits. It is not allowed to wear them before the monks move to their winter home in Punaka. They live in Thimpu in the summer.