Put Mum and Dad on the plane this morning. Yesterday we hiked up to Taktshang – the monastery in the cliff. Well, Mum and I did. Dad and Brady bonded at the cafeteria half way up.
Late in the day, I took them to Drukgyel Dzong, the one place in Bhutan I never tire of visiting. It’s the ruin of a castle guarding the approach from Tibet and carries the atmosphere of centuries. From its walls, on a clear day, you can see as far as Mt Jomolhari, but this wasn’t the day.
Tunnels lead down the hill from the castle to tower outposts. Apparently the castle was too vulnerable to seiges and these tunnels gave access to water when it was too dangerous to leave the walls.
The irony for me is that they needed to guard from Tibet at all. The same Tibet who claim sympathy from the world for being conquered by China has been trying to invade Bhutan for at least three centuries. Bhutan isn’t any better, having conquered a smaller country in its south.