Temples, Nunneries, and Monasteries

 What else would one visit in Bhutan?

We visited the Kuenga Rabten nunnery where the nuns talked to us about their unique life.  There are approximately 170 nuns ranging in age from 8 to 80.  Parents sometimes send their daughters to the nunnery for their education, but no one has to stay who does not want to.   As near as I could tell, the nuns' primary activities are prayer and study  The nun who spoke to us had been there for 30 years and was a teacher.  I asked her what she taught and she replied:  philosophy and poetry.  I don't think she teaches the same philosophy that I once studied.

Kuenga Rabten sits on top of a mountain with a beautiful view but the buildings have developed cracks and are no longer safe.  The recent construction of a hydroelectric dam involved building tunnels under the mountain.  So the nunnery is now in the process of building on a new site a few miles away.

Jambay Lhakhang is one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, dating back to 659 CE.  (Lhakhang is another name for a Buddhist temple in the Himalayas.)  At that time, a giant demoness had laid down across Bhutan to prevent the spread of Buddhism, so King Songtsen Gampo ordered that temples be built over her various body parts which somehow allowed Buddhism to flourish.  Jambey Lhakhang was built over her left knee.  The inside, like all of the temples we have visited, has a giant Buddha in front flanked by smaller Buddhas, and the walls are painted with murals.

At some point later, Guru Rinpoche came here and meditated for years, curing the illness of the king.  So a short walk from the temple, we visited Kurjey Lankhang, a monastery that houses the cave where Guru Rinpoche meditated.

Jambay Lhakhang is most famous for the four day dance festival that is held on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month each year, and our visit was timed to attend this festival.  The dancers wear colorful costumes and masks on their heads.  We attended on the first evening of the festival for the fire ceremony.  First, the performers dance around a bonfire in the courtyard of the temple.  Then, the entire crowd goes to a field where a wooden archway is set afire and people run through it, trying not to get burned.

The next day we did not return to the large festival but attended a smaller one at Prakhar Lhakhang.  As we approached the temple, we were met by costumed performers who seem to be clowns.  They walk among the audience joking with people, and also wander among the dancers.

Before the performance began, we went inside to watch the dancers preparing their costumes by draping their masks and hats with interwoven ribbons of material.  The sacred Cham dances impart moral lessons, cleanse negative energy, and celebrate the triumph of good over evil.  They took place in a small courtyard that we could sit in for a front row seat.

First, the two ox dancers "cleansed" the courtyard.  The famous Black Hat dance reenacts the death of the anti-Buddhist King.  Finally, the dance of the Eight Manifestations of Guru Rinpoche.

While we were watching the dances, we were served tea, water, and food.

On our last day in central Bhutan, we traveled to the Ura Valley to visit the Sombrang Monastery.  Founded in the 1200s, this monastery is headed by a hereditary Dungzin.  The current Dungzin, Sonam Nyenda, was a scholar and professor who was working on a PhD at the University of Virginia when his father died.  He came back to head the monastery although he is not a monk.  Sonam Nyenda talked to us a great length about his background and the work of the monastery.  He also demonstrated the monastery's collection of dance costumes and masks, and a second collection of relics from previous Dungzins and lamas.

After the Dungzin's talk, we were treated to lunch in the courtyard.

Dzongs

Centuries ago, local areas in Bhutan were controlled by fortresses, or dzongs, usually built on hilltops.  These dzongs are impressive sites from a distance, and even more impressive inside.  The Punakha Dzong, the second oldest and second largest in Bhutan, sits nears the confluence of two rivers and is now known as the Palace of Great Happiness.  It was the seat of government of Bhutan until the capital moved to Thimphu in 1955 and is still the site of the coronation of the kings.

The inside was just as impressive.  A passageway leads to a large courtyard.  Then you continue to a second courtyard and a third courtyard, each more elaborate than the previous one.  Apparently the third courtyard makes this very special as most dzongs have only two courtyards.  In between the courtyard are the monks' quarters and at the end is a huge and very ornate Buddhist temple with the story of Buddha painted on the walls.

At certain official and religious sites, men must wear a ceremonial sash over the traditional gho that they wear daily.  Our guides, Karchung and Tsering, donned theirs before entering the dzong.

After our visit to Punakha Dzong, we had lunch at the home of a local family.  The father was a professional chef, and the family maintains a large vegetable garden, so that virtually everything they served to us had been grown by them.  (Little of which I ate but I heard it was very good.)  Every panel of every wall in the house had a hand painted design on it, and both the inside and outside had elaborate carved designs.  The outside front of a typical house:

After lunch, we took a long walk through a farming village.  The land is covered with terraced rice fields and it is the middle of harvesting season.  We got a little lesson in threshing and producing rice.  I continue to be amazed at the variety of plants that grow here.  Potatoes are a specialty of this region, and peppers grow in abundance, so most of the food is heavily spiced and they warn us about every dish:  spicy, not too hot, not spicy.  They also grow beans and eggplant and pumpkins!  We have pumpkin soup for every lunch and dinner.  In flower gardens, I have seen marigolds and hydrangeas still in bloom.  Our walk included a stroll across a people and animal suspension bridge - the longest one in Bhutan.

Later we stopped in the town to walk around the various shops.  Apparently, a cow had the same idea.

Today we had a long drive from eastern to central Bhutan, crossing a 10,800 foot mountain pass.  Along the way, we stopped at one of the ubiquitous stupas that dot the countryside.  There are four distinct styles of stupas, and this one is a good example of a Bhutan stupa.  In the narrow section near the top, each of the four sides has two eyes on it.  We also saw two different kinds of monkeys during our drive - golden langurs and rhesus macaques.  Who knew there were monkeys in Bhutan?

Finally, we reached Trongsa, home of the largest and oldest dzong in Bhutan which was first built in 1648.  Because of his central location, it was a local chief in Trongsa who conquered other local chieftains, and unified Bhutan in the sixteenth century.  A dynasty of Trongsa chiefs ruled the united country for over two centuries.  The last one (whose name is unspellable and unpronounceable but is highly revered) successfully resisted British attempts to "help" grow the economy, and eventually became the first king of Bhutan in 1907.  He was apparently popular with both the people and the ruling class, but the impetus for becoming king came for the British who were far more respectful of monarchs than generic leaders.

The watchtower of the Dzong has been made into the Royal Heritage Museum.  A short movie explained the history of the country and monarchy, while the exhibits contained historical and religious artifacts, ceremonial robes, and dance costumes.

Our hotel lies across the river from the Dzong, giving a spectacular view of it, with the watchtower above and behind it.

Bhutan: Still not in Kansas

    Our trip was timed so that we could visit the dance festival at Dechhenphug Lhakhang, a fortified monastery dating to the twelfth century.  The dances featured the masks that had been explained to us yesterday, and are dedicated to the guardian Buddhist deity Gay Ngyen Jakpa Melen.  There was also a long explanations of how the various colors, costumes, masks, and dance steps symbolized the deity's defeat of various demons and cleansing of sins, but I could not begin to follow it.  So I just enjoyed the pageantry.

A mask wearing clown walked through the crowds joking and taking selfies

        After lunch, we were invited to the home of the director of the crafts institute where we enjoyed a meal prepared by his eight daughters.  (It did not sound like his four sons helped.)  Then the daughters demonstrated the production, dyeing, and weaving of nettle fabric.  Nettle is one of Bhutan's oldest natural fibers; it is a little rough, but they make jackets, scarves, and other items from it.

        Finally we were treated to a lecture and demonstration by a renowned musicologist, Sir Jigney Drukpa, on Bhutanese instruments and music.  He played half a dozen instruments for us, ranging from recorders to stringed instruments, and he claimed that he could play any musical instrument.  After listening to his virtuoso performance, I believe it.

    

    Today we took our first long drive out of the capital city of Thimphu.  Our route took us over the Do Chula pass, a 10,000 mountain pass from which we could see snow covered 20,000 foot Himalayan peaks in the background.  On top of the pass are dozens of stupas.

Simtokha Dzong

The  scenery along the drive was beautiful.  We passed by small villages dotted through the countryside, and fortresses (dzongs) atop the mountains.  I could not believe the variety of plants that grow here.  Agave cactus in the Himalayas?  Rice paddies?  Over 250 varieties of orchids?  We never saw any animals but the forests contain more than yaks.  There are Siberian tigers, black bears, takin (a large goat-antelope hybrid) and even a species of rhinosceros.   We did see several animals - cows.  They wander free here and drivers have to avoid hitting them as they stroll along the road.  Cows are not sacred to Buddhists, but neither are they not killed for meat.  Rather, they are dairy cows and they are allowed to die of old age.   In fact, neither beef nor chickens are produced in Bhutan.  Rather, meat is imported from India.

       

        Another interesting site along the road were the many farmer's markets.  A few sold corn, but most sold apples, which grow in abundance in these hills and are exported to India.  We stopped at one market which sold apples and walnuts.  The long strands of white squares hanging down look like blocks of tofu but are actually yak cheese.  The cheese is very dry and nearly impossible to chew.  Our (American) guide said to soak them in boiling water before trying to eat them, but the local seller said you can just pop one in your mouth and keep it there for hours until it becomes tender enough to chew.  

We ended the day at the Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Lhakhang Nunnery where young, shaven headed girls as young as ten years old learn how to become nuns.  We watched one group loudly debate about their lessons while another group was learning to play the musical instruments that all nums must play.  While we watched, they took turns playing an instrument that looks like and sounds somewhat like a shofar, but it is not made of a ram's horn;  rather, it is made from a human femur bone.  Earlier we had seen people on the riverbank scattering ashes and were told that there is no burial in Bhutan, only cremation.  So where do they get femurs? I asked.  Dismember the body before cremation?  No, they get them from India.  Why and how no one was able to explain to us.

 

Not in Kansas anymore

 

    

    The airport in Paro, Bhutan is like none I have ever seen, inside or outside.  That was the first thing I noticed.  The second was the number of men wearing identical "uniforms."  The Bhutanese are required to wear the national dress while in work, school, or a government setting.  I only noticed the men at the airport as they are the drivers and greeters, but later I saw that women wear similar clothes when at work.

    The architecture of the airport was typical, not unique.  Every building we saw, from stores to office buildings to apartments, all share this architecture, making even the cities interesting to see.

    And the last notable feature, although not at all unique:  they drive on the left side.

    Since we were all sleep deprived from our 5:00 AM flight from Bangkok, we made only one short stop at the National Textile Museum where we were treated to a guided tour on the restoration and preservation of traditional costumes and tapestries.  There was also a permanent exhibit on the current king of Bhutan who is, by all accounts, beloved by the people.  He has said that he is not interested in the gross national product (GNP); rather, he cares only about the GNH - gross national happiness.  The well-being of the Bhutanese matters to him more than business.  What a concept!  He also initiated the process of writing a constitution and turning over government to a democracy.  He said that a constitution should be given in a time of peace and not imposed on a recalcitrant ruler.  What a concept!

    

    Today we visited one of the highlights of Bhutan - the Buddha Dordenma, the second largest Buddha in the world.  Unfortunately, the scaffolding prevents a really good look, but here is the view from the valley below.

    

    We spent the afternoon at the School of Crafts, where students study one of a dozen different traditional crafts including, painting, wood carving, embroidery, clay sculpture, and weaving.  So interesting.  All of the buildings have carved wood decorations and I could not believe that could be done by hand.  But today, I watched them do it.  Incredible.

    Finally, we had a lecture on Mask Dancing - the significance of the various dances, costumes, masks, and colors.  This was in preparation for the national dance festival that we will be attending tomorrow.

    Finally ... a taste of home.

The Jews of Singapore

On Friday morning I decided to visit the Jews of Singapore Museum, even though the website says you have to make a reservation three days in advance.  I wore my Magen David necklace and took my passport with me to the very secure entrance.  First the guard said I could not come in without a reservation and told me to go online to get one.  I told him I could not get a same day reservation but could I please get in.  He asked if I was Jewish.  Yes.  Then he asked for a copy of my passport.  Done.  Then he asked if I was a member of the Jewish community in New York.  (Maybe because my passport says I was born in New York?)  I told him I lived in California.  He asked if I was a member of the Jewish community in California.  I told him we didn't have much of one but I was.  (Okay, maybe that was a stretch.)  I recognized his accent and asked him in Hebrew if he was from Israel which of course he was.  I said (in Hebrew) I thought so from his accent.   And I got in.

It was an interesting one room museum with a kosher store and restaurant upstairs.  The display explained that the first Jews in Singapore were Baghdadi merchants trading in India in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who just continued east.  Next, when the Europeans came, there were Jewish traders among them.  The community grew together somehow, but the museum did not explain how the Ashkenazim and Sephardim merged.  In fact, it referred to modern practice as Orthodox Sepherdi, a phrase I have never heard.

Much of the museum focused on the Japanese occupation during World War II.  Unlike Shanghai which was one of the few places in the world that took in European Jews during the Holocaust, by the 1940's, there was a long established Jewish community in Singapore and and while many left for Israel and the West after the war, many stayed.  The Japanese occupation was brutal but not particularly anti-Semitic.  If anything, the Chinese were treated worse than the Jews.  After the war, the Jewish community rebuilt and now has over 2,500 people.  Since Judaism is one of the ten official religions in Singapore, I was told that there is no anti-Semitism here.  Also, Singapore apparently has the only Jewish community in Southeast Asia.

I had a few questioand so I asked to talk to a docent, and I was referred to the Rabbi upstairs, interrupting him as he was writing his newsletter.  He happily (I think) answered all of my questions, mostly about how the Ashkenazi-Sephardi merger works and what Orthodox Sephardism is.  Much of Ashkenazi "practice" is cultural, I said; the Sephardim do not have bagels or gefilte fish.  He assured me that they all get along in one community and when I was still dubious, he invited me to Shabbat services and lunch as his guest so I could see an Ashkenaz-Sephardi service.

So the next day, I brought Peggy with me to the synagogue next door to the museum, but I forgot to bring my passport again.  Once again security asked us a lot of questions and I told him I was a guest of the rabbi.  So the guard dragged the rabbi out of services to verify me and we were allowed in.  Whew.  The synagogue is named Maghain Aboth, which I would spell (in English) Magen Avot.

The synagogue itself was familiar and mostly Sephardi: prayers led from a central bima, Sephardi cases for the Torahs. From their dress, hats, and tzitzit, many of the men look Ashkenazi.  I could sort of follow the service, but it was all chanted, not sung, so I did not recognize a single tune.  The sidur said on its cover that it was a Sephardi sidur.  Most mystifying to me: before and after the Torah reading was something that sorta looked like the priestly (cohanim) blessing.  Several men and boys went onto the front bima and covered themselves, including their heads and hands, under their large tallits.  The chanting, which seemed to be responsive with the congregation, went on for much longer than the three line priestly blessing that I know.  The rabbi did give a dvar torah after the torah reading.

A little digging turned up that about 180 of the Jews of Singapore are descended from the original Baghdadi Jews and the rest are Ashkenazi ex-pats who came much later.  So I am still wondering why the service seems so Sephardi.

After services, everyone went next door to the museum building and walked up five flights, or took the Shabbos elevator, to the dining room. Or should I say, banquet hall.  There was no herring and gefilte fish.  There was no buffet table with long lines of people who ran of the services fast to be first to the food.  Rather, there were elegantly set tables for ten or more with white tablecloths.  On each table were very sephardi looking appetizers - falafel, chopped salad, and something that looked like baba ganoush.  Waiters walked around with trays of cans of soda.  It was clear that this was going to be much more like a wedding reception - a long lunch with plated entrees and who knows how many courses.

I got the picture but did not want to sit for two hours at the awkward table where you don't know most of the guests.  So we left.  I still have a few questions but I was very impressed with the Jews of Singapore.

Singapore

On our last day of the cruise, we sailed down the Strait of Malacca from Banda Aceh and stopped at Malacca in Malaysia.  The Strait of Malacca is a 550 mile long narrow waterway between Sumatra (Indonesia) and Malaysia that turns out to be one of the world's most heavily trafficked shipping lanes, carrying three times as many ships as the Suez Canal.  Who knew?  It is the key link between the Middle East and East Asia.

Lying on a shipping route, Malaysia and Indonesia were trading posts for India, China, and other countries long before the Europeans finally arrived in the sixteenth century. Then the Europeans came and "claimed" the lands since no one lived there, fought wars over them, and traded them back and forth in various treaties related to wars in Europe.  First the Portuguese came to Malaysia but they somehow lost it to the Dutch, who had to cede it to the British after the Napoleonic wars. 

We took a walking tour of the historic part of Malacca starting at Red Square.  No, not that Red Square.  On the right is the Dutch Statehouse that was later used by the British.  There is, of course, a church and a clock tower as well as a fountain dedicated to Queen Victoria.  We went to an interesting museum showing the history of Malacca, and walked the same route taken by Queen Elizabeth when she was here in 1948 and again several years later.

The next morning our cruise ended in Singapore, the city at the end of the Strait of Malacca, and which is one of the busiest ports and trading centers in the world.  We started with a walk through Chinatown and lunch at one of the 1,500 hawkers centres here.  I guess you could call a hawkers centre a food court on steroids.  Each centre has dozens of stalls serving every type of food.  The centre can be contained in one huge building or on one or more floors of a modern office building.

The next day I took a bike tour to get oriented to the city.  Singapore is surprisingly rideable despite being a huge, crowded city.  Seven million people live in Singapore but the city only allows one million cars.  If you want a car, you pay $150,000 for a permit to own a car for ten years.  When your name gets to the top of the list, you can then buy a car.  Ten years later, when the permit expires, someone else can buy a car and you have to apply again.  So not as much traffic as there could be.  Also, like Japan, everyone obeys the traffic laws and no one jaywalks, so riding here is pretty easy.  There are bike lanes all over but the coolest thing I saw:  a bike lane that went through a shopping center.

They claim that Singapore is the most diverse country in the world and I believe it.  The vast majority of the population is ethnic Chinese, but there are many Malaysians, Indians, and Europeans.  There are ten official religions and four official languages:  English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil.  Government business is conducted and schools are taught in English.

What makes Singapore work:  authoritarianism and, if I believe what the guides have told me, total lack of corruption.  When Singapore became independent in 1965, the government decided to impose strict fines, jail time, and yes, caning, for various infractions.  Jaywalking, vaping, littering - each of these can cost you hundreds of dollars.  Groups of more than four teenagers being rowdy - jail time for disturbing the peace.  Protesting without a permit - jail time.  Meanwhile, the prime minister is paid like a chief executive of a company so he does not need to get rich on "gifts," bribes, and kickbacks.  His salary is $1.5 million.

Another interesting thing about Singapore is its commitment to remaining green even as it constructs more and more high rise buildings.  So each building must be green.  The architecture is imaginative.

Singapore's Gardens by the Bay has two huge greenhouses, one with flowers and one with over a million plants from every continent except Antarctica.  They also have a grove of eighteen Supertrees with elevated walkways.  At night we saw a beautiful sound and light show from under the Supertrees.  Then we walked to the Bay and saw an incredible sound, light, and water show unlike anything I have every seen.

On Friday afternoon, we took a walking tour called The Past, Present, and Future of Singapore.  And, of course, we saw the iconic sights of Singapore.

The Merlion - half fish, half lion.

A three tower hotel with a ship across the top that contains restaurants,
 an observation deck, and a swimming pool.

After the tour, we went to Lau Pa Sat, another hawker centre which Barbara Ullman had recommended, as did our guide.  He told us that at night, they close the street to cars and the hawkers set up grills to make satay.  We also followed the guide's advice and chose the stand with the longest line.  After fifteen minutes, we ordered and they took our money.  Then they gave us one of those beeper things and said "forty minutes."  Forty minutes?  Look at the other orders we have, they said.  They had our money so we waited.  It was worth it.

If you eat in a restaurant or cafe, they add a ten percent service charge which goes to the business, not the servers, and a ten percent tax.  And tourist restaurants are a little pricey.  But in a hawkers centre, it is hard to spend more than ten dollars for a meal and you can easily eat well for under five dollars.  (These prices are Singapore dollars which are about twenty percent less than US dollars.)  That is why there are over 1,500 hawker centres.  Everyone eats there.  Office buildings often have hawkers centres in them or nearby, and they are packed at lunchtime.

So one more afternoon in Chinatown for a little shopping and a last meal at a hawker centre, and the trip is over.  I will leave Singapore on Sunday morning at 10 AM and arrive in San Francisco on Sunday morning at 9 AM.  Go figure.

Waves

We have been sailing up the east side of Sumatra without setting foot on land there.  Rather, we have visited the small islands off the coast.  Several of these islands have small, rather isolated populations, but many are uninhabited with beautiful sandy beaches, coral reefs, and tropical fish.  Yesterday we stopped at Pulau Asok which is part of the Banyak Islands, and it had all of those things.   In the background you can see several other islands.

I have been on many islands in the Caribbean as well as Hawaii that have beautiful sandy beaches, but they also tend to have hotels, restaurants, roads, and lots of people.  It was amazing to be on a completely pristine, unspoiled island.  And we could see many more as we (sadly) sailed away.  Even more sadly, when we returned to the ship, we had to turn in our snorkel gear because we would not need it again.  

The reef was full of tropical fish:  angel fish, zebra fish, schools of baby fish, and a blue-green species I don't the name of.  We were warned not to touch the poisonous spiky starfish which is even more dangerous to reef life.  I don't touch anything when I snorkel, but I saw a beautiful sixteen armed something with bright blue/purple stripes on each arm.  I thought it might be an octopus, but it turns out that starfish can have more than five arms.  I was lucky enough to see (but not touch) a crown of thorns starfish.  Beautiful but deadly.

The next day we finally landed on Sumatra, visiting Banda Aceh, the city at the far northwest of Indonesia.  On the day after Christmas in 2004, there was a 9.2 Richter underwater earthquake off the coast of Aceh that did a lot of damage.  But the real damage came afterward when a tsunami devastated all of the coastlines of the Indian Ocean, killing over 200,000 people in fourteen countries.  Banda Aceh got the worst of the tsunami with waves over one hundred feet high only a few minutes after the earthquake since it was so close to the epicenter.

We visited the museum dedicated to the tsunami as well as a 2,600 ton boat that was torn from it mooring at the port and carried five kilometers inland by the waves.  The boat, which landed on and destroyed an entire neighborhood, has also been made into a museum.  Finally, we visited the central mosque which was the closest building to the sea to survive.  Clearly, a sign.

And that was our last stop in Indonesia.  After one more day at sea, we will stop at Malacca in Malaysia, and then arrive in Singapore.