Himalaya Adventure: DAY 3 SUN. OCT. 5 THIMPHU

A lovely early morning boded well for us. We visited the huge and ornate Tashicho Dzong in Thimphu. This is one of the most important dzongs in all of Bhutan, not just because of its vast size and religious importance, but also because it houses many offices and departments of the Bhutan government. It is also the site of the Thimphu Tsechu, an annual festival in which elaborate songs and dance are performed to commemorate many events in the religious belief system of the people of Bhutan. We happened to arrive on the third day of the festival, which had me salivating for I'd watched these ceremonies on TV and in movies: "The Man Who Would Be King" comes to mind. The nice thing about this event is that it truly is for the locals. Thousands gathered in intense sun and gathering heat inside the public amphitheatre of the dzong to listen, observe, and meditate. They were all in their finest traditional dress: gho for the men and kira for the women. The ceremonies were long and strange to the handful of tourists, but to the Bhutanese, they represent important concepts of their beliefs and culture. The costumes, ritual dances and strangely hypnotic music were alien to us. But we enjoyed the combination of reverential devotion and joyful exhuberance that this family occasion brings.

In the hot afternoon, we hop-scotched around the capital. We visited a truly impressive construction site where a colossal Buddha, gold-clad and glinting in the sun, dominated from a hillside over the city valley below. We were introduced to the takin, a weird bison-mountain goat creature native to the Himalayas and Bhutan's national animal. We strolled the crowded and chaotic craft market, where so many people walked after visiting the dzong on this holiday, and where the weather started to change. And we visited the holy sanctuaries of a large stupa, a local nunnery and then back to the dzong for the dignified flag lowering ceremony. In the holy places, the peacefulness of the chanting seemed to clash with the ornate carvings and statues: not unlike what one would find in temples of other religions.

We learned that, until very recently, around 2008, Bhutan was a theocracy and a very closed nation. But the fourth king initiated many reforms designed to bring Bhutan into the modern world: albeit very slowly and carefully. The transition from theocracy to constitutional monarchy, from isolated, to welcoming visitors, from low tech to high tech, has been done in a relatively short time, with very little pain or difficulty ... or so it seems. The fourth king abdicated peacefully in favour of the very youthful fifth king, his son: this was seen as being symbolic of the changes going on in this fascinating land. Bhutan bears watching over the next few years to see how the reforms are going.