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Day 4, February 26, Trongsa to Mongar - an auspicious day:
We left early and went to Thangkur for breakfast. More momos, rice and chilly's. Bhutanese people eat rice and chilly's three times a day. And A LOT of it! Thangkur is a major cultural center in Bhutan. Until 2 weeks ago the town was full of little wooden shops selling textiles, garments and all other forms of Bhutanese artisanry, but unfortunately, a fire burnt a large part of the shops down. The same had occurred a year ago. I have some photos of the town.
After breakfast we headed to Burning Lake in Bumthang. Burning Lake is one of the most sacred places in Bhutan. The story goes that in the late 15th century Pema Lingpa found a treasure - a sacred text at the bottom of the lake. He returned from the water with the text and the still burning butter lamp in his hand - hence the name, Burning Lake. The water is holy - people throw money into it as a wish, or stare into the water to find their "calling". It is sight of pure serenity.
As we continued our car journey we passed through the highest peak in Bhutan - the Jonshigar pass. Due to a roadblock we could not continue on to Mongar, so we camped out in an outlook post that farmers use during harvesting season, looking out over the rice paddies to scare away wild animals. We arrived late that night in Mongar.
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