Bhutan 2016
Kurjey Tshechu, Bumthang, Bhutan. The Dance of the Sixteen Fairies (Rigma Chudrug). The aprons of the dancers are made of ornamental carvings from yak bones, linked together.
Kurjey Tshechu, Bumthang, Bhutan. The Dance of the Sixteen Fairies (Rigma Chudrug).
Kurjey Tshechu, Bumthang, Bhutan. As the tshechu wraps up, a monk pauses with an incense urn.
Between Bumthang and Phobjikha on the Lateral Road, Bhutan. Ghostly trees ascend the slopes in the mountain mist.
Between Bumthang and Phobjikha on the Lateral Road, Bhutan. The jungle is tall and the mist thick here on the eastern side of Dochula Pass.
Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan. A young monk on a village road.
Bayta Primary School, Gangtey, Bhutan. A student pauses during her work.
Bayta Primary School, Gangtey, Bhutan. A contemplative student.
Bayta Primary School, Gangtey, Bhutan. A student pauses his work for a portrait.
Bayta Primary School, Gangtey, Bhutan. A playful pair of students mug for the camera.
Bayta Primary School, Gangtey, Bhutan. One of the older students.
Gantey Goemba, Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan. A festival attendee joins in a discussion with others during lunch at the temple.
Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan. A pair of monks heads toward a hillside cluster of prayer flags.
Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan. A trio of monks on a rural road above the valley.
Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan. A rainbow over the valley.
Along the Lateral Road between Phobjikha and Punakha. A grey langur in a roadside tree.
Along the Lateral Road between Phobjikha and Punakha. As demonstrated here, grey langurs are part of the leaf-eater category of monkeys.
Along the Lateral Road between Phobjikha and Punakha. One of a troop of monkeys along the road.
Paro area, Bhutan. A bridge across the Paro Chu (river) provides access to a farm. The bridge is supported by several parallel chains consisting of massive metal links. Modern chain link mesh overlays those chains.
Thimpu, Bhutan. A particularly elaborate phallus painting. The painted eves and window frames are typical for Bhutan.
Motithang Takin Preserve, Thimphu, Bhutan. Bhutan takin, the national animal of Bhutan. Legend has it that the first takin was created when the great saint Lama Drukpa Kunley, the Divine Madman, combined the head of a goat and body parts of a cow after he had feasted heartily on the two animals.
Motithang Takin Preserve, Thimphu, Bhutan. A takin.
Below Taktsang (Tiger's Nest), Bhutan. A horse feeds below the monastery. Horses like this one carry tourists or other loads up the trail towards the monastery.
On the trail to Taktsang, Bhutan. Dense woods along the trail include many trees with fern growths like this one.
Taktsang, Bhutan. The monastery's altitude is about 3100m (over 10,170 feet), but this part of the access trail is higher and provides an expansive view of the monastery and its mountainous environs. The trail to the monastery includes the stairs that are visible in the lower left of the image.
Taktsang, Bhutan. The monastery complex is built into and supported by an indentation in a massive vertical cliff. The Paro valley floor is 900m below. For scale, check the people on the stairs going up to the building; they're at the mid-left edge of the image.
Taktsang, Bhutan. This is Bhutan's most famous monastery. Legend has it that Guru Rinpoche flew to the site of the monastery on the back of a tigress to subdue the local demons and then meditated here for three months. The day of our visit was an especially auspicious one for prayers at the monastery and the number of Bhutanese visitors was particularly high.