Kings One Through Five

This morning, we walked for one hour along a muddy trail to our put-in on the Po Chu (Father River.)  This river was new to all of us and we were excited! The plan was for me to ride in a raft with a group of Bhutanese Teenagers.  Three rafts were distributed among eighteen 14 to 16 year olds.  My mom and dad, on the other hand, would kayak.  By the time we were almost to the put-in, we were running a little late, so the raft group picked me up from the trail.  My parents continued their walk to the put-in.  The water was not very intense if one was riding in the raft, but it was a little too hard for me to kayak.  Before, on our hike, I had  been dreading riding with a raft full of teenagers.  It was not very fun, but I think it was better than I had feared.   

After Rafting, we journeyed up to a temple on a steep hill by the Mo Chu (Mother River.) ,This temple was built ten years ago by the current king’s mother, for her son and for the people of Bhutan.  The current king came into power two years ago, when his father handed over the throne.  The current king is the fifth king in the history of Bhutan.  Before the first king (1907), Bhutan had only small rulers in individual valleys.  After the current king came into power, he established a parliament so the people of Bhutan could vote on governmental issues.        

We drove to a bridge over the Mo Chu, where the hike began.  We crossed over the bridge, walked through rice terraces, passed cows, and turned onto a trail leading us up the hill.  Soon, we saw a the top of a temple peeking out of the tree branches.  We walked a little further, and saw a gateway leading up into a garden.  There were stupas, statues of Buddhas, and beautiful flowers.   At the end of the garden, stood a huge, beautiful temple adorned with gold and darkish red decorations.  At the door to the temple was a monk wearing red and yellow robes.  He unlocked the door and let us in.  Before going inside, one must take off one’s shoes and hat in a sign of respect.  The temple had many floors.  On all of the floors we saw figurines of Buddhas and statues of protectors.  We continued all the way to the roof where there was a walk way around the top of the temple and we had an excellent view of the countryside.  After visiting the temple we drove to the same hotel as last night to publish my blog for tonight. 

Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!