Bhutan 2 – Thimphu and Paro
pierreo May 6th, 2012
I am not going to try to cover this trip chronologically. We made several passages through Thimphu and Paro and I will cover these as a separate topic now.
But still, this starts at the continuation of the previous post. After Chuzom, we headed directly into Thimphu where we had lunch in Clock Tower Square, the center of town. Compared to Paro, Thimphu is a very big city and growing quite fast. A short walk in the city gave us much more of an urban feeling that we had seen anywhere else.
After lunch, we headed for “Monk University”, or Tango Gompa. On the way there, we stopped in front of this huge rock painting of Guru Rimpoche. Guru Rimpoche is a very important character in the history and folklore of Bhutan – there is not always a very distinct line between the two. He is credited with bringing Buddhism to Bhutan and in his travels across the country founded several temples and monasteries. The painting is relatively recent but already a very important location as evidenced by the number of prayer flags that surround it.
Tango Gompa (as the name indicates – Gompa is only used for temples and monasteries that are located on the side of a mountain with steep climbs to get there) is reached by hiking up for about 1 1/2 hour. On the way, we see more rhododendrons in bloom. These are very different than the ones I was used to in Belgium.
We are now used to climbing at this altitude and therefore are able to do it relatively easily, but still breathing hard. It is very nice though when you finally get your first glimpse of your destination. Here is the final approach to Tango.
Before going into the monastery, Kipchu explains more to us about the history of this temple. It is a good opportunity for me to get a general view. Tango Gompa is the oldest and largest college for Buddhist Studies in Bhutan.
Lebo and Kipchu have once again put on their more formal attire and we are ready to go in.
The main courtyard is accessed through a rather narrow passage. The shoes are there because of a small temple on the left of the entrance – we did not forget to take ours off!



















































