Dunkhar, Bhutan

Michael was right about the leeches. When they bite, you tend to bleed a lot - I'll make a point to be extra careful about midnight bathroom runs in the future. They are all over the ground where we are camping because it has been raining quite a lot in Dunkhar, which is pretty much the end of the road in Bhutan. Our guide, Sonam, is from here as is the King's ancestral family - but it is a small, little visited village near the Tibet border. Now I'm back in my sleeping bag, and I am surprisingly clear headed after all the locally brewed ara (moonshine) and Bhutanese whiskey that I drank last night. The villagers that came to greet us last night welcomed us with some very sweet  woman's songs, sung in a circle with swaying and shuffling of feet. Our group responded with attempts at songs that everyone might know, which was mostly limited to Amazing Grace, and Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog.
The following day, the process repeats, with the villagers coming to welcome us, sing songs and offer ara, but we are able to add Row, Row, Row Your Boat to our repertoire under the rising full moon that illuminates the snow on the high peaks near us.

On our way here, we traveled about six hours, first along the main (only) East - West  road which  is one lane and little trafficked but then we turn north along a smaller road that follows a spectacular river valley North to our campsite. Long stretches of the road are paved recently,  but the unpaved sections are ... interesting.

Everyone that we meet are sweet and considerate,  and the Buddhist premise of living a compassionate life seems to permeate the country.

Auspicious Number

108 is an Auspicious Number. Our guide Sonam explains that the number is important in Buddhist culture - Sonam's name actually means Auspicious. There are 108 verses in the teachings of Buddha.  A family will erect 108 tall white  prayer flags to commemorate the death of a family member. At he the top of a mountain we pass  we visit 108 white stupas that were erected by the king's mother who was actually visiting them also while we were there.

Today we set off to visit local holy site. We drive, but then start to walk after our bus has difficulty navigating a washed out bridge workaround. The walk turns into a hike and finally into a climb to find a cave that was once a shelter to Guru Rinpicne when he brought the reform form of Buddhism to Bhutan maybe a thousand years ago.  Once we reach the small temple erected in the cave, Sonam leads us in a chant of 108 repetitions of the guru's mantra. He keeps count on his prayer beads, which has 108 beads. As we repeat the mantra, thunder echoes outside. In the land of the Thunder Dragon - heavy stuff.

Later, traveling on the bus, someone starts a round of 108 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, but enthusiasm fades quickly.