Punakha Dzongkhag

Visited the Gangtey Gonpa Monastery this morning and watched part of the monks prayers. The complex is also a school so the boys there are either in junior high or high school.

After that, we headed to Punakha where we visited a nunnery and the fertility temple. It was really interested visiting the nunnery and asking questions. Most of the religious stuff goes over my head but I was curious about the cultural aspect considering we’d learned that girls inherited the assets before. This nun had 2 sisters so it wasn’t an issue. We also learned the king visits this nunnery as well as his grandfather was cremated there.

To get the fertility temple, Chime Lhakhang, we walked through a village with rice paddies and phalluses. The phallus is the symbol of fertility here in Bhutan and there are numerous shops where you can pick phalluses of various sizes and colours. Some are even carved with faces.

Our hotel tonight (River Valley) is located by the river and each of the rooms has a fantastic view. Across the river is the town that we’ll hopefully have time to visit tomorrow afternoon.Les mer