Our hotel is the Hotel Gangtey Palace. The hotel sits high on the side of a hill overlooking Paro and the valley. It was built over 100 years ago by the Uncle of the first King of Bhutan and is still owned by the same family. It was converted to a hotel in 1995. The construction and the rooms were original and very Bhutanese. We had a good view of the Paro Dzong directly across the valley.
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| Front of our hotel |
Paro Dzong from the hotel
Paul and the group went to see the Kyichu Lhkhang Temple in the morning while Mary rested her knees in preparation for later hikes.
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| Prayer Wheels and a ubiquitous dog. |
Next was the Paro Dzong. The views of the valley from the Dzong were lovely. You could see from one end of the valley to the other. The royal compound is in the right-middle foreground, a very simple three story residence and separate meeting rooms.
Pointing to Royal compound
Royal residence
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| View of our hotel from across the valley. |
We watch a plane land. Paro is a difficult airport to land at, requiring making a couple of hard turns around mountains, in sometimes bad weather. There were only 8 pilots certified to land at Paro airport.
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The watch tower above the Dzong was undergoing restoration.
Near the Dzong:
Bridge over river to Dzong
Gathering leaves
Mary joined the group in time to go to a Thanka shop where the Thanka’s are hand painted by masters. Thankas are intricate hand painted prints that tell a story. We were able to watch work being done on a piece and the process is fascinating. Some of the pieces take several months to paint.
We had lunch at the restaurant owned by Tshering and her
husband. Her little boy had a great time with the silly tourists.
Afterwards we went to the National Museum of Bhutan that is located in a renovated Dzong. It was one of the best small museums we’ve visited. Bhutanese art displays included masks, bronze work, armor and pots. There was also another very interesting large room with much information on Bhutan and it’s wildlife and plant life. We learned that Bhutan is only 180 miles long and 90 miles wide but it seems so much bigger because travel is so slow within the country.
We then adjourned to an archery range where Tara again quizzed one of the archers extensively. We then moved to our own range where Tshering’s husband provided us with a bamboo bow and arrow. The targets were ridiculously close together and no one was able to hit the target.
Afterwards we went to the National Museum of Bhutan that is located in a renovated Dzong. It was one of the best small museums we’ve visited. Bhutanese art displays included masks, bronze work, armor and pots. There was also another very interesting large room with much information on Bhutan and it’s wildlife and plant life. We learned that Bhutan is only 180 miles long and 90 miles wide but it seems so much bigger because travel is so slow within the country.
We then adjourned to an archery range where Tara again quizzed one of the archers extensively. We then moved to our own range where Tshering’s husband provided us with a bamboo bow and arrow. The targets were ridiculously close together and no one was able to hit the target.
On the way back to the hotel:
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