What I Did On My Summer Vacation, Part I: Chamkar & Tang, Bumthang

Bhutan's history is peopled with foreigners who have had a lasting effect on the culture here. Canadian Jesuits are responsible for bringing public education to all of Bhutan beginning with Sherubtse College in the far eastern dzongkhag of Tashigang; the Swiss, happily, brought cheese and imported Jersey cows and established bakeries in Bumthang, now known as 'the Switzerland of Bhutan" for its wide, green river valleys surrounded by rolling, misty mountains. Buckwheat is the main crop, versus wheat, rice and maize in other parts of the country. The cows surely help define the landscape: honey colored bovines bred for their fatty milk.

The Tang Valley in central Bumthang

Rounds of Bumthang gouda

How grateful were we Bhutan Canada Foundation teachers, after two weeks of invigilating (proctoring) and scoring exams, to be whisked away for a three day retreat in Chamkar, Bumthang? We were coddled at the River Lodge, a small European style hotel near the Bumthang Dzong just down the road from Tharpaling Monastery, one of the most important Nyingma monasteries in Bhutan. On our arrival, we were greeted with gin and tonics with ICE, wine, cheese and salami and crackers--all provided by BCFs friend and former BCF teacher Mark Laprarie, now the World Bank rep in Bhutan. We danced the night away, keeping the three hapless hotel employees awake far past their bedtime. It was the first time the two groups of BCF teachers--those from the east and those from the west--had seen one another since our orientation in Thimphu in January. It was a very happy reunion, followed by hot showers (oh, how we love hot showers!) and comfortable beds. A delicious beginning to three days of sight-seeing and reflection on our Bhutan experience.

The River Lodge

Early the following morning, we were driven to the Tang Valley, said to be the most beautiful of all the valleys in Bhutan. On the way, we stopped to visit the sacred Merab Tsho, or Burning Lake, visited by pilgrims from all over Bhutan. 

Heather Robertson crossing the bridge to the lake

Senge La meditating by Mebar Tsho

We were headed to Ugyen Choling, the preserved estate of one of Bhutan's great religious and feudal families that is now a museum. It is also the home of Kunzang Choden, a highly respected author and historian. She is a direct descendant of the original family that established the estate.

Entry to Ugyen Choling, looking into the courtyard

Kunzang Choden, author, historian and
owner of Ugyen Choling

Main house from the side--the house is
too big to fit into one frame from the front

The history of Ugyen Choling is worth retelling. In the 1300s, one of the most important Nyingma Buddhist rinpoches, Longchempa (rinpoche means 'precious one'; it is a title given to reincarnated high lamas, also called Tulkus, or to very highly regarded Buddhist masters), built a small retreat on the land that is now Ugyen Choling. A hundred years later, one of his followers, Dorji Lingpa, also settled there and is said to have discovered many significant Buddhist treasures in the area (thus he is known as a Terton, one who discovers texts or religious implements or sacred places that were deliberately hidden by previous Buddhist masters for him or her to discover). He and his descendants are credited with spreading Nyingma teachings throughout Bhutan.

In the 19th century, 15 generations removed from Dorji Lingpa, Trongsa Penlop Tshoki Dorji built the house that still stands at the top of a hill overlooking the Tang Valley. The villagers, who used to be the serfs and servants for this family, still refer to the house respectfully as "the dzong" and their families continue to populate the small village just below the house.

When we arrived at Ugyen Choling, Kunzang Choden herself welcomed us with an introduction to the estate. We spent a few hours exploring the many rooms that have been kept as they were in the 20th century (which to western eyes look like the 15th century).

On the property is an impressive lakhang (temple) that is still used by the villagers. Inside it, a very old, nearly blind monk was reciting prayers as we prostrated to the three imposing statues of Guru Rinpoche ("the second Buddha"), Buddha and Chenrezig, an emanation of compassion. The artwork on the walls and the altar seemed to me to be purely Tibetan in their artistic expression, untouched by Chinese and Indian influence.

The Lakhang at Ugyen Choling

Blocks for printing the house's library books

A collection of hand made bamboo and hemp baskets.

A reading bench and seat.  Religious books are still made this way--
they are printed on both sides on long rectangles of hand made paper and
then covered with cloth and tied with cotton rope.

The mask collection.  These are ritual masks used in religious rites. These masks are very commonly used
today, and are made by hand by artisans trained at the National Institute for Zorig Chusum 
(the 13 Bhutanese Arts--google 'Zorig Chusum'; it is fascinating).

Doesn't this look remarkably like a Shaker style box?

After we had all completed the tour of the estate, we were treated to an impressive Bhutanese lunch in the yard overlooking the valley. We ate piles of khuley, the heavy buckwheat pancakes slathered in Bumthang butter the area is known for, potato curry, ema datse (of course), and a number of other homemade Bumthang dishes. We posed for a group picture in front of the family chorten, surrounded by prayer flags.

Matt Stretton and Heather Robertson at lunch 

Lunch at Ugyen Choling

Bhutan Canada Foundation contingent, 2013

***

The next day, Matt Stretton, Lucy Hopkins, Bob Chisholm (all Aussies), Senge (U.K.) and I hiked from Chamkar to the mountain ridge that parallels the Chumey Valley and then across to Tharpaling Monastery. The trail was nearly vertical, topping off at 10,000 feet. Crazy Bob Chisholm, whose wife teaches in Bumthang, got it into his head to be the first human to push a bicycle up to the ridge and there is no reason to doubt that he was.  He carried it down the other side to the beginning of the road at the gate to Tharpaling and rode it home.

Matt, Senge, me and Lucy pre-hike

It's steep! (And there's Crazy Bob Chisholm with his bike!)

A moment to savor the view from the ridge

Lucy goes over the top

When we reached the prayer flags and the statue of Longchempa above Tharpaling, Bob's family and BCFer Heather Robertson and her husband Rob, visiting from Canada, met us with a welcome picnic. We all hiked down to the monastery together. The buildings are being renovated to provide more warmth in the winter; sitting in meditation for hours on end in the cold can take a toll on your average monk. [We left Senge at the monastery; his summer vacation, after three days of partying with the BCF crew, was spent meditating and "monkeying around" as he calls it, at Tharpaling and Gangtey monasteries, two of the most important Nyingma sites in Bhutan.]

Tharpaling Monastery
(I did not take this picture)

A note about Nyingma Buddhism: There are four 'schools' of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school is the oldest; in fact, the word itself means "old school." Each branch of Buddhism is associated with a lineage of teachers who all had the same religious objectives but who followed slightly different paths to reach those objectives. Longchempa and his followers/descendants, such as Dorji Lingpa who established Ugyen Choling, are the lineage holders of the Nyingma school. The other schools are Gelug, Sakya and Kagyu. Most of Bhutan's lakhangs and monasteries are Druk Kagyu (the Bhutanese version of Kagyu). The most well-known and fascinating of the Kagyu rinpoches are Drukpa Kinley (the Divine Madman) and Milarepa, one of my personal heroes. Their stories are well worth reading (see The Life of Milarepa by Tsangyon Heruka, translated by Andrew Quintman and Divine Madman translated by Keith Dowman) ! The Gelug school is associated with the Dalai Lama and followers of Gelug practices can be found only in eastern Bhutan. The Sakyas are found mostly in India.

Milarepa. Note the hand to the ear, and the green skin
(from living only on boiled nettles)

"Mila Repa, Drukpa Kunlek and other poet saints of the Kagyu-pa order are depicted sknging and holding their right hands to their ear.  The same gesture is characteristic of the epic hero, when identified with the bard or when receiving revelations from the gods.  The gesture expresses both religious and poetic inspiration in the saints' case, too, at the same time symbolizing their receipt of the oral transmissions" (R.A. Stein, Tibetan Civilization).