Day 5, February 27, Mongar to Trashigang - my first traditional archery match:

The journey from Mongar to Trashigang (same as the reverse) is one of my favorite. The forested hills are made up with drier vegetation and the climate is a bit warmer. Cruising through the pine trees and temperate forests I feel at zen. Complete peace of mind - looking out over the roadside, far down to the river, which lies there, sparkling in the light of the sun. Every day of the road journey I find myself hypnotized by the pristine nature, the endless turns, the stillness and freshness.

In Trashigang I meet Sherab, my UNICEF co-worker, with whom I will try to see as many rural schools UNICEF is funding as possible. After yet another delicious meal, I am shown to my room, and left behind, alone, forced to fend for myself. I was happy to have some alone time, and ready to feed my curiosity by going out exploring. Like every other town in Bhutan, this one is not meant for a dense population, let alone for a modernizing population requiring cars. The "center" is extremely congested (see picture). I look for a quiet stroll in nature. I make my way down to the riverbed, and long the way, stumble upon a traditional archery match. Yes, Sunday is the day the men of the village have their sacred archery matches. The men split into teams of 10 and play from 8am till 5pm, heavily drinking and chewing Naan throughout the day. I am impressed, they shoot at the target from 145 meters away. I can barely see that far :p They explain to me the rules of the game and how the different colors strapped to the belts symbolizes the amount of points one scores (see picture). I am sorry to disappoint and inform you that the bows are not made with the traditional material, wood, but are instead, supermodern bows bought online on eBay and imported all the way from the U.S. of A. But it's beautiful to see how these men are so in to it. And the rituals that form part of the game. Whenever a team member scores a point a ritual dance is performed. With song and all. And at the end of the song, an intimidating face is made to the opponent team. It was very entertaining to watch. Not at all boring (like I had anticipated it to be in my head). I didn't have enough guts to accept my turn to shoot. Well, in all fairness, I had already tried to pull back the string on one of the bows, and didn't have enough force to pull it back even 25% of what it could. So really, I was saving myself from embarrassment.

Read Bhutan 2020 - this country is really touching on something profound…