The view from our room is beautiful and expansive across the entire open valley. Since the center of the valley is a protective area for the cranes there is little development and the cows and yaks roam freely, and the view is open and wide.

On cows, apparently they are milked in the morning and then are set free to roam across the countryside—- and the roads. More than once we had to slow the car down to wait for a cow to decide they were ready to move and let us go by. And apparently as the sun sets they wonder home on their own. It’s funny seeing them march home without a human encouraging them forward. David even caught a glimpse of a cow climbing the fence to get back into her pen.

After breakfast we visited Gangtey Monastery.

The monastery was established in 1613 by the first Peling Gyalsé Rinpoche. There is now a 10 year old boy who is the reincarnation is currently at the school here.

The earliest historical background relevant to this monastery is traced to establishment of the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism, by Guru Rinpoche, who was instrumental in making Bhutan a Buddhist nation. The Guru, during his visits to the country in the 8th and 9th centuries, had hidden many sacred treasures called terma (images and scriptures), to avoid their desecration or destruction during troubled times, at various places in Bhutan to be retrieved in later years by treasure finders, to propagate the teachings of Buddha. These were retrieved at various periods over time and in the 15th century Pema Lingpa, born in 1450, considered an incarnation of Guru Rinpoche, prompted by a revelation of 108 treasure coves in his psychic dream revealed by his Guru Rinpoche. He embarked on the treasure hunt in 1476 when he was 25 years of age. He was successful in locating many treasures of images and scriptures related to Buddhism throughout Bhutan, which resulted in establishing many monasteries throughout Bhutan, and Buddhism took firm roots in the country.

We enjoyed our time here admiring the art and architecture.

Then we walked through the Gantrey “town” taking in all the sites of the small village.

At the end of the town we began a hike around the valley. The Gangtey-Phobji Nature Trail is about 4 km long at an elevation of 2900 meters. But it’s a level walk so the elevation don’t affect us much.

We walked through pine forests and around potato farms, the main crop of the valley. Everywhere there were views, views and more views.

I really enjoy the prayer wheels we are finding throughout the country. There are three types- those that move by human pushing, by wind, and by water. There is something so calming seeing the wheels move by water. I was able to capture a nice video of one in the valley on our walk.

Prayer wheels in Bhutan are cylindrical,often metal or wood, devices filled with thousands of sacred mantras, most commonly "Om Mani Padme Hum". Spinning them clockwise by hand, water, or wind is believed to release these prayers, spreading compassion, generating merit, and calming the mind.

After we came down to the valley floor we had some homemade apple juice and spent time watching the free roaming cows and yaks.

We then drove a short way to Shenchen Nunnery which is a school for nuns with about 35 living there. Generally the wind picks up in the afternoon and the location is on a promontory so was particularly windy and “fresh”. It’s a smaller square space temple but again colourfully decorated and enjoyable to see.

Later we spent time admiring the views from our room (much warmer than on our terrace) and each had massages before dinner.