 The
mountains above Paro are spectacular, rising to 6000 meters around
the valley. The tallest mountain in Bhutan, over 8000 meters, is visible
in good weather. |
 These prayer flags are everywhere. Printed with different prayers, with every flap of the flag, the prayer flies up to heaven and adds to the goodness and ease of the person in whose memory the prayer flag is raised. |
 LThis alter in a private home (a farmhouse lived in for many generations by the Wangchucks) is typical for a well-to-do farming family. Every house has one, but this is more elaborate than most. |
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Lunch was in the farmhouse. Bill left to make friends with the local cats and the owner, and we had the favorite Bhutanese dish - hot chilli peppers and cheese sauce - much too hot to eat by itself. They use chilli powder at every meal as a basic flavoring. It ranges from really hot to blisteringly hot!! The drive to Thimphu (one lane road, many trucks coming the other way, hairpin turns and thousands of feet of sheer dropoffs) was further enhanced by the assorted pedestrians and animals (in one case a group of 12 donkeys in the middle of the road run by the military).
Our driver is very competent (translate: he didn't run off the road this time).
The furniture factory and paper making factories in Thimphu (the capital) were interesting to us. We also found there are no photos of Bill, since he is taking all of these photos!! We will try to remedy that tomorrow.