Math Returns (Help!)

This morning ended my good luck of no math for the past week.  After I ate breakfast with my parents, they left to kayak a river too hard for me.  I was left to do math and reading until they got back.  Mom had a REALLY bad run and was super grumpy when she got back.  I was previously in a bad mood from all of my school work, and mom's attitude did not help.  However, Mom and I got out of our funks once we decided we were going to visit a fortress called the Punakha Dzong.  This fortress was used to control and protect the Punakha Valley before the time of the Bhutanese kings.  Today, the Punakha Dzong is used as a monastery.  It is a holding place for sacred Buddhist relics and it is the winter home of many Bhutanese monks.



We arrived in the Dzong parking lot and found an amazing view of the fortress.  In order to enter, one has to cross a bridge beautifully decorated in gold and other colors.  Crossing the bridge, we met two Bhutanese ladies.  They were very nice and I got some amazing pictures.








After crossing the bridge, we walked into a maze of buildings with a lot of history.  It was built in 1637 - 38.  It was used as the central government of Bhutan until 1955, when the capital moved to Thimpu.  We went into only one building, and sadly, I could not take pictures inside because the relics are sacred to the Buddhist people and they do not allow photos.  At the back of the room there was a wall with several golden statues of Buddhas in many forms.  In the middle, stood the biggest statue.  To the left of the giant Buddha, was a smaller figurine of the "Buddha of the Past" and to the right, was the "Buddha of the Future".  All the Buddhas sat on golden thrones and stared down at me with serious, enlightened expressions. 










We exited through the maze of beautiful rooms and back to our car in the parking lot.  Sadly, from the fortress we had to drive to the same hotel lobby where the blog is published.  I was still happy that I was getting a early start on my blog so I could have the rest of the night free! 



Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!