Chris goes to the giant Buddha statue

 Today was the first real day of touring.  It is not easy to get to Bhutan. 

The fist stop was the giant Buddha at Buddha point overlooking the capital city of Thimphu. 

It's big. Very big.  170 feet high with a three story temple inside of it.  The inside is very ornate with statues depicting the life of the Buddha and of the masters who brought Buddhism to Bhutan and who united the country.  There are also over 100,000 smaller Buddha statues inside the temple which people bring as offerings.  I was not allowed to take pictures inside. 

After touring Buddha point, we went on a 2 hour hike in the surrounding nature preserve.  This was challenging because it is at 8,000 ft. We were supposed to go on a much longer hike but it was rainy making the other trails too slippery.  This was fine because, you know, 8,000 ft and all.  

Thimphu from the mountains

We then had a traditional Bhutanese lunch.  The food is similar to Sri Lankan food. Many bowls of things that you mix with rice to eat. They use a lot of cheese and chillies. 

We ended the day with more temples and a visit to the postal museum. The postal museum is fun because they take your picture and then make actual stamps that you can use to mail a postcard. 

The hotel is very nice with a staff which is almost too attentive. Tomorrow is a day of biking and more Bhutanese culture.