From Punakha to Bumthang

 

Festival dancers

Sarah and I attended a second festival in Punakha. People came from far and wide, in their nicest traditional dress, to watch the dances. 

The Bhutanese children are adorable.

The phallic symbol is never far away to ward off evil spirits.

After the festival, we went on a hike in the pine forests (there are leopards and bears) and then Sarah put up her prayer flags. We also saw sone black necked cranes, an endangered species. 

We hiked through these forests. 

Sarah and Pema setting up her prayer flags. 

The weather wasn’t great but we hiked anyway. 

Black neck cranes

We went back to the Gangtey Lodge for dinner. It was quite cold but we are now above 3000 metres. 

The next day we drove five plus hours to Bumthang, another djonghag (1 of 20 districts in Bhutan). We passed a local weaver making scarves and traditional dress. 

Some children in a Buddhist school. 

Our hotel in Bumthang was the Six Senses, a lovely hotel (part of the chain) made up of 8 rooms. 

More hiking tomorrow!