To continue – I really must get some sleep at night. The dogs! I really have to laugh – though if I can’t sleep tonight I’ll cry! I think they are on some route that brings them to the street right in front of my windows every hour to hour and a half barking – loudly! This lasts 5 minutes, just enough to wake everyone. Then they either leave or stop barking – for about an hour to an hour and a half. Just enough time to get back to sleep – maybe – only for this pack to return. Shades of Africa.
We begin a very busy day at the National Memorial Chorten – immediately across the street from the hotel (Tashi Yeodling). Jamyang is a wealth of knowledge, and certainly speaks well on the history of Bhutan, Buddhism in Bhutan, and the faith as well. We chat easily as we circulate around the memorial. There are always people here it seems – walking and praying with prayer beads. The stupa is closed to tourists until 9AM and again after 4PM. This allows for praying Bhutanese to come without tourists about. BTW – the lawn is perfect. There are 2 men sitting and weeding slowly by hand.
To the textile museum. The exhibition of pieces from the royal household is quite lovely. All brocade pieces, though not too elaborate. The exhibition on Bhutanese weaving and styles of dress by area is very good. There are also some lovely silver pieces used to fasten clothing and necklaces of coral and turquoise. Quite stunning pieces.
There is a weaving room where 4 women are weaving using sitting looms I think called back looms. The first two we stop to observe are very good, using synthetic dyes which are not so appealing to me. The fourth is doing a style where small threads are knotted into the pattern. This results in the back of the fabric having thousands of loose threads. I am not sure how this is later resolved in a garment. But the 3rd weaver is using beautiful natural dyes and raw silk to make a scarf. She also has a jacket of cotton with a lovely small design at odd intervals. Well, after a good half hour or more I have commissioned Rema to make me 2 pieces. They will eventually need to be mailed to me. One will be a raw silk scarf, about 20″ wide and 2 1/2 meters long. There will be a wide swath of pattern at each end, and the centre a solid colour. The second piece will be cloth, similar to her jacket. This will be wider, as wide as possible on this loom, and again about 2 1/2 meters long. I will make something from this – a skirt or jacket. Not sure. I was so excited to meet a young weaver, see her work, talk with her (thank-you Jamyang), and know that when I wear this work in the future I will have known the weaver and have all those lovely memories.
Next the enormous Buddha statue on the top of a mountain. The size is startling! The first sight is with the base of the statue in the clouds and the head high in the clouds. And such an amazing location. Again Jamyang speaks so well of the statue and other elements. Inside there are traditional paintings covering the walls. With hundreds of years of stories and faith there is so much! I do so enjoy coming to see this, though the overwhelming devotion is quite something to take in.
Lunch in town. Next stop is the general post office for post cards and stamps. Bhutan has beautiful stamps. Beautiful! and so many. But I need 30 NU ones so a limitation. Also they have some that will be just too large for a post card. What a visual delight.
To the Craft Institution. This is a government college devoted to training in the traditional arts and crafts of Bhutan. And as such the skills are to produce these in their traditional form. It is really interesting to see the students at work and to speak to some instructors. The crafts are: painting (which includes drawing); clay sculpting (which includes making masks from clay faces); weaving; embroidery; tailoring; and metal work (we see copper though it includes silver and gold). We have quite interesting conversations with a few instructors (well I ask a lot of questions) mostly with the instructors for painting and clay sculpting. The painting for me is quite something, as it is the training to be able to reproduce predominantly religious images, in intricate detail, faithful to the traditional detail and style. I have to laugh, as when we leave I notice a sign we did not see on the way in, with the Do s and Don’t s for visitors, including don’t ask questions. Jamyang says rules are there to be broken.
Next, yes next, to the hand made paper factory. The process is astounding, and likely hasn’t changed in hundreds of years: soaking the bark; shredding the bark by hand; grinding the bark; then this fiber into a large sink to be a fine slurry which is raised up on a screen in a thin layer that will be a sheet of paper; stacked up in what you would think would just become one huge lump; then pressed tightly to remove the water; sheet by sheet hung on a slanted wall to dry; then removed by hand and stacked. All of this in a single building with wet concrete floors, water everywhere, low ceilings, poor light, confined spaces to work, and for sure women at work. The vibe of this place is positive industry. I would be overwhelmed!!
But on to their store. Someone sure has a great sense of taking an old tradition, that produced plain sheets of writing paper, into a delight! Beautiful packaging (made of hand made paper) for cards, folded paper, or paper and envelopes. Oh but back up – for these, small natural elements have been added to the paper – leaves, flowers, twigs. And sheets of paper (about 24″ x 20″) with even more natural elements – seeds pods even. These are to be decorations – wall hangings or windows for light. So many other things – journals of course – all made here! And in another room a full wall of dowels with sheets of paper, some dyed colours, others with natural elements. I asked the store manager what type of pen to use. He said anything, and that the plain A4 paper could be computer paper! I want to take it all home. Most especially the full sheets with amazing elements like seed pods! But I do settle on paper packages with note paper / cards and envelopes for gifts and also A4 writing paper and envelopes. I leave without the sheet paper, as I am worried about so much to take home.
Next stop – currency exchange. We see the famous traffic director. His hands and arms are ballet! You have to see it. Joy!
Back to the hotel. A bit of a nap. I am tired. I want to sleep. I just have soup for dinner – enough food for 1 day.
Joy. That is it – joy.
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