Page 18 - BHUTAN 2007

easiest part of the trip, hiking the next least problem, but going down steps
was a misery because my ankle was weak and very painful on the

downgrades. As I was to learn to my sorrow, so much of sightseeing in

Southeast Asia is climbing up and down stone stairs—to visit temples,

monasteries, museums, ruins, hotels, restaurants, getting into boats. It

really was an inconvenience of the first water, but it could have been so
much worse—like a fracture. So I didn’t complain and refused to let it stop

me from going anywhere and everywhere anyone else did.

ARCHITECTURE

We were surprised to see how different the building style in Bhutan is

compared to what we had seen in Nepal, Tibet and India—the nearest

influences. Typical Bhutanese homes are two or three storeys, made of

bamboo, mud and bricks with an overlay of stucco. The houses are usually
white or beige and often have complicated paintings of mythical animals,

phalluses, demons, and flowers decorating the outer walls. All the houses

exhibit elaborate external window and door treatments, with enlarged

frameworks surrounding the openings. Those frameworks are wooden

constructions of angular design and bright colors. The uniformity of this
architectural style is quite striking; the impression is quite unlike our

country, where you might have a log cabin next to a colonial, or a federal

style sitting close by a rancher. Each Bhutanese home, whether old or a just

built apartment dwelling, will have a room or portion of a room dedicated to

a chapel where statues are displayed, prayers are said, and offerings are
made. Another curious discovery we made was that each dwelling place,

even those without indoor plumbing in the country, have a little anteroom

which is a latrine area—however, it is used only by lamas, priests, monks,

nuns, and other religious figures when they visit for the annual blessing of

the home or if they are summoned because someone is ill and needful of
blessings and prayers.