Today we had a wonderful breakfast before leaving at 9 am for the Big Buddha.

Great Buddha Dordenma is a gigantic Shakyamuni Buddha statue celebrating the 60th anniversary of fourth king Jigme Singye Wangchuck. The statue houses over one hundred thousand smaller Buddha statues, each of which, like the Great Buddha Dordenma itself, are made of bronze and gilded in gold. It is 54 metres tall and is dedicated to bringing peace to the world.

In addition to taking off your shoes, hats and sunglasses no photos are allowed inside. We loved this temple and the others we visited because they are so colorful which brings a sense of joy and peace to us.

We learned about some of the rituals, such as the bringing of fresh water daily, the donation of Buddhas and money, and the like.

While we enjoyed the temple we found it a little large and maybe a bit commercial.

The views down in the valley were outstanding.

The National Memorial Chorten was our next stop. It is a whitewashed Tibetan-style stupa built in 1974 to honor the third King, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. Located in the city center, it is a focal point of daily worship, known for its golden spires, intricate religious paintings, and large prayer wheels, rather than housing human remains. 

It is know as the "most visible religious landmark in Bhutan," it serves as a monument to peace and a representation of the Buddha's mind. Locals, particularly the elderly, spend their days circumambulating the chorten (doing kora), spinning prayer wheels, and lighting butter lamps.

Here we made a circuit, always clockwise, turning the giant prayer wheels, and then completed a walk around the stupa. It is fascinating seeing so many people, mainly elderly but also some younger people, going round and around the stupa. The level of religiousness here is astounding.

As a side note, David observed an old women wearing traditional garb spinning the prayer wheel but as he walked by he saw her open her Tick Tock account. Tradition and modern come together frequently here. As we did our hike in the peaceful woods we saw several people talking on their phones (yes reception was good everywhere).

There are a lot of traditions and rules. Men and women must wear traditional garb to enter into temples and government buildings. In addition, men must wear an additional scarf in order to enter government buildings. There is a lot of effort to retain the traditions of the country.

We drove into the main city enjoying all of the Bhutanese architecture. The buildings must have red or green roofs, and all the buildings, even those newly built follow the same general traditional style. So there is a congruent feeling in the town. Most are painted white and have colorful decorations painted along the walls, while the eves are very colorful. While we might encounter architecture in other countries that exhibit similarities to these designs, no where do we have the same design so ubiquitous throughout the community.

We drove by the clock tower, our guide comparing this to Big Ben in London as the local landmark. We then drove by one of the 2 “Dancing Policemen¨ in the town. Currently there are no traffic lights in the country and these policemen control traffic with their wild gesticulations. Very entertaining.

We visited the Royal Takin Preserve next. The Takin is the national animal. It sort of looks like the head of a goat and a body of a cow. There is a lot of mysticism around how these animals came into being. They are endangered so are being protected here. They are lazy, slow animals and they really blended well into the rocks in their habitat.

Druk Wangditse Lhakhang the "Temple of the Peak of Conquest" is located high on a forested ridge to the south of Tashichho Dzong overlooking the whole Thimphu valley. It was established in 1715 as the seat of the 8th Druk Desi, Druk Rabgye. It is one of the oldest temples in Thimphu, and considered an important heritage site of Bhutan.

We parked below and hiked for about 45 minutes to reach the temple through the pine woods. Some of it was up so not particularly easy at this elevation but most was relatively flat and manageable. Our guide said he was impressed with our pace and believes we are ready for the Nest!

The views were great and we could see the Dzong (fort) and Parliment from the top. So it was worth the hike. (We also saw the Ministry of Happiness building- every economic proposal must be approved by this department as it must enhance the happiness of the country).

And before I forget to mention it, Bhutan is a carbon negative country and the constitution requires at least 60 percent of the land to be covered by forests.

Next we rolled into town to a Six Senses lounge and had a snack, though for us it was plenty of food for our lunch.

Then we went to the Dzong. Tashichho Dzong is a Buddhist monastery and fortress on the northern edge of the city of Thimphu in Bhutan, on the western bank of the Wang Chu. It has traditionally been the seat of the Druk Desi (or "Deb Raja"), the head of Bhutan's civil government, an office which has been combined with the kingship since the creation of the monarchy in 1907, and summer capital of the country.

Tashichö Dzong (meaning Fortress of the glorious religion) has been the seat of Bhutan's government since 1968. It presently houses the throne room and offices of the king, the cabinet secretariat and the ministries of home affairs and finance. Some other government departments are housed in buildings to the south of the Dzong, and others in new buildings in Thimphu. In 1953 the royal family took up residence in the newly built Dechencholing Palace which is next door.

Here we visited the temple, which again didńt allow for photos. It’s not as large but it is just as colorful if not more so. It has a lot of colorful clothes hanging from the ceiling which is very joyful. The King and the Head Monk (also known as a King) pray here and have a thrown to sit upon when they visit. We really enjoyed being here.

We walked around the courtyard but as the government offices are here parts were restricted. David turned a few of the prayer wheels, but our guide and our driver started at the far right and turned all of the wheels along the entire wall before we left.

We visited a weaving center afterwards. Unfortunately the demonstration area was under renovation (most of the work is done at the womeńs homes) so we admired the beautiful work (and of course bought a couple of small pieces). The itinerary included a few other craft visits but as it was Sunday they were closed. No worries. We have enough!