Today has been quite an adventure! We are visiting our guide, Phurba's family farm and staying overnight here. It is high in the hills above Punaka and is a large rice farm with some cattle as well. It is a large but very basic home with a little electricity but no running water or plumbing. We arrived in time to have lunch with the family, all of us sitting crosslegged on the floor (Ron and I did some squirming, but the others looked totally comfortable). We use...

Today on our way to Punaka we stopped at the mad monk's temple. It's named after a carousing monk who defied all of the "acceptable" religious things to do and chased women and drank a lot. However, people came to revere him for the miracles he performed and for showing that religion is not just about "show". In the temple we were blessed with a bow and two penises - one wooden and one ivory. Baren women here believe that if they sleep in this temple with the t...

The highlight of our day today was a visit to the takin reserve. The takin is an endangered animal which is the national animal of Bhutan. It is only found between 5-7000 feet in altitude and has been hunted mercilessly for its medicinal properties. It is the strangest looking animal which apparently defies taxonomy. The reserve is used for breeding purposes and the offspring are returned to the wild.

A museum, 2 dzongs, an archery competition, a hand-made paper factory, a large fruit and vegetable market and a new city made up today's itinerary. We are now in Thimphu, the capital city of Bhutan, with a population of about 90,000. Here, two weeks ago, the handsome king of Bhutan was married to his beautiful bride amongst much pomp and ceremony. Their pictures are everywhere here and many people are wearing buttons with their photos on them. The dzongs we visi...

The most famous of all Bhutanese temples - the Tiger's Nest - was our destination today. It has an incredible setting clinging to the side of an impossibly steep cliff, 3000 ft above the valley floor. It's hard to believe that such a substantial temple could be built in such a precarious site. It is a significant hike to get to Tiger's Nest, first climbing up a very steep trail to one viewpoint, then descending into a canyon with a gorgeous waterfall, and up th...