On Sunday the master trainers had arranged for a big trip to see some of Bumthang. For several of them this was also their first stay in Bumthang, which is considered the most holy place in Bhutan, because this is where Buddhism first came into the country. There are so many holy places here that it would take more than 6 months to visit them all, they say.

Both Aksel and I wanted to come along and visit some of the places, so we were picked up by the Institute's bus at 8 o'clock Sunday morning, we then picked up the master trainers and started our trip into holy Bumthang.

We had to pass a mountain top (of course) to come to the biggest town of this area, Chamkar, where we had a short break to buy some incense and chips bags to give as offerings at the monasteries. We then drove off to the first and most holy place where the great guru first stayed when entering Bhutan with Buddhism. There were several rooms with altars and every time we entered one of them we had to take off our shoes and all the master trainers were on their knees and hands touching the floor with their foreheads several times. Afterwards they gave some money on an altar (every time!) and often there was a monk present who would offer us some kind of blessed water. There were lots of Buddhist paintings, carvings and statues all over and it looked very nice. In one of the rooms they had a picture of a woman's body and on it many temples were drawn. The story was that a demon had followed the holy man to Bhutan and to neutralize her bad influence they built 108 temples - in one night. I took a picture of her :-)
At this same monastery there was a holy spring - there is no water at all around here but the great guru had used his wooden staff and poked a hole into the mountain and voila: a spring. They say that in the winter the water becomes warmer and warmer and in the summer colder and colder. Of course I had to pour holy water on my hair and hands and to drink from it also!
The monks were very kind and invited the whole group to have a cup of tea and a biscuit. Luckily the master trainers warned me that I should probably think about it as a soup and not a tea. And it certainly tasted more like soup than tea! It is a special kind of tea called butter tea made out of butter, salt, tea, and cardamomand it was very filling!

After this temple or monastery we visited 3 more and the process was almost the same every time: Bowing to the altar, offering money and getting holy water from a monk. In one of them we found something different though. In the basement they had a heavy chain and people were supposed to carry it on their backs for 3 rounds - maybe 3 - 4 minutes for each round. This would purify us and lift our sins away. Did I do it? Of course! But I only went one round ;-)
In one of the other monasteries we found another holy spring and everybody washed and filled their water bottles - we were also offered tea in this place - this time normal tea.

I learned that every time you pass a holy thing you always pass it on its left side. Both Aksel and I forgot it a couple of times though, but in the end we remembered. Every time we came to a holy place there were small cones placed on the cliffs and in small caves. We asked what they were and were told that when people die a small bone is taken from their foreheads, it is crushed to dust, mixed with some clay and formed into cones, which are then placed close to holy places. I took a picture of some.

The last holy place we visited was "The Burning Lake" which is not burning at all. The name comes from one time when the great guru dived under water with a burning butter lamp and came up with it - still burning. The place is very holy and the path leading down to it was extremely narrow, steep and slippery. The master trainers were very careful and helped us all the way - they were afraid of us falling far down into the lake I think ;-) Last year a tourist had died here - a man from India. He was smoking a cigarette and threw the rest of it down into the holy lake. This was really a bad thing to do and he was pulled down into the lake somehow. One of his friends tried to help him and jumped in to get him but he couldn't. The friend got out of the lake but the offender was found somewhere down the river a couple of hours later - dead.
Here in Bhutan people are not allowed to smoke in public areas - we thought nobody smoked but it turns out that many of them do! They just go into toilets and other private places to do it. Cigarettes are expensive here - the government has put 100 % tax on the cigarettes and it is difficult to buy them in the whole country.

We returned to the institute at 7.15 pm and Aksel and I stayed till 8 to use the Internet. After that we were taken back to the resort, had some dinner, and I worked till 11 pm preparing for Monday's class. What a busy day - I slept very well at night ;-)