So, not surprisingly perhaps, given the combination of Dom
Perignon and the finest Bhutanaese Takin Red Wine, I wake to find myself
enjoying a mild hangover. Ugh. Take a quick shower to attempt to get myself
going and head down to breakfast which, disappointingly, is mediocre. The service wasn’t really there and the food
really wasn’t all that great. The food
at the Uma knocks this place into a hat, easy.
Anyway, after breakfast, it was time to head out for our
hike to Tango monastery. Brilliantly, as
of last Tuesday, every Tuesday has been declared to be “Pedestrian Day” in Thimphu which means that the use of
private vehicles within Thimphu city limits between 8am- 6pm is banned! Only buses, taxis and ambulances
allowed!! Fortunately, Michael had a sign reading “on tourist duty”
which is also allowed, so we were golden!!
Licence to drive and no traffic!!
Booyah!! (as a side note, the
same sign read “Happiness is a place” -
nice tag line - I wonder who Bhutan’s ad agency is?). To add to the general suckiness of Tuesdays
in the Land of the Thunder Dragon, its also a dry day in the Kingdom, so I’dve
been shit out of luck with my DP-fest yesterday. Glad my birthday was Monday.
So, today’s fun involved a hike up to Tango monastery. It was actually just the job to chase away my
mild hangover, so a bit of yomping uphill for an hour was just what the doctor
ordered. I think I probably went a bit
faster than I would have just to prove to Michael I wasn’t in the least
hungover (why do I do this to myself??) and he was huffing and puffing far more
that I was. Not bad for an old lady.
Here’s what my itinerary says about Tango monastery (and no,
Loopy, they don’t make the fizzy drink there):
Tango Monastery
The Tango Monastery is a Buddhist monastery located about 14
kilometer away from Thimphu- the capital of Bhutan. The monastery was
established in the 13th century AD by Lama Gyalwa Lhanampa. The monastery is
dedicated to the wrathful Hayagriva form of Avalokiteshavar. According to
legend the monastery is closely associated with the origins of Drukpa Kagyu
School of Buddhism.
According to a prophecy Phajo Drugom Zhigpo the founder of
the Drukpa Kagyu School, saw an apparition of Hayagriva on the cliff and told
him to establish a monastery at the site. He also told him that he will marry a
Dakini and establish the Druka Kagyu School. Later in the 16th century Tenzin
Rabgaye expanded the monastery to its modern day size. It is also said that in
1616, Shabdrung Nagwang Namgyal meditated in its cave before embarking on his
historic campaign of unifying the country. This was refurbished by the Queen
Mother Ashi Kesang Wangchuck in 1977 and then later another one in the 1990’s.
The monastery is also the home of the 7th Tri Rinpoche, who is said to be a
reincarnation of Tenzin Rabgye.
The monastery was as beautiful as I’d come to expect and,
again, I was pretty much the only tourist there. One of the highlights of this particular
monastery visit, though, was sneaking into the back of the temple and seeing
all the young monks in their lessons! If
it weren’t for all the maroon robes and holy texts in front of them, I could
have been back at Sir Jims Secondary School in Camelford, the feeling was the
same! We caused a bit of a stir when I
wandered in (despite my being extra quiet!) with lots of turning round and
staring and whispering – it was a fab experience!
It didn’t take long to scamper back down to the car, so we
were back in town pretty early. Lunch
today was at this fantastic place in town called Bhutan Kitchen – really really
tasty local food, actually much better than the food at the Taj. After lunch, it was back to the hotel by
12.30pm and a couple hours of before meeting back up again at 2.30pm to go
shopping. In the intervening couple of
hours, I finally managed to talk to Loopy via Skype, so she could wish me a
happy birthday and I could marvel at how much of a skinny minny she’s
becoming!! 
So then, off out to check out the local shops at
2.30pm. Unfortunately, the raft of shops
directly behind the hotel were closed for the day (apparently, if you cant
drive to work or drink at all, then a lot of people just write the day off and
don’t even bother to come in!!), but we went round a few shops in town instead. I gotta say, stuff is EXPENSIVE out here –
well, at least the tourist prices are!
In amongst all the chotkes and crap, I did see a couple pieces that I
liked (a cool dragon, for example) but they were crazy priced!!! So, I didn’t buy anything in the shops
until we finally went to the National Handicrafts Emporium where I bought some
masks, similar to the ones I’d see at the Padtselling festival. I also found this pennant hanging thing, but
it was the wrong colour, so I decided to mull it over until I could check out
whats in the little huts tomorrow. 
After exhausting all shopping possibilities for the day, it
was back to hotel just after 4pm. On a
whim, I decided to check out the spa services and, to my utter delight,
discovered that they were super-reasonably priced – 3.5hrs for $180?? – I’m
IN!!
Duly energized and excited by this bargain find in amongst
the overpriced souvenir craziness, I decided to treat myself and go for the
full monty, the Sukha (Bliss) which promised to soothe my senses and pamper my
body. I spent, in total, about 4hrs in
the spa, including both the treatments and the pre-amble of sauna, steam room
(that was HOT!) and shower, as well as post-amble fruit platter and relaxing by
the pool. Bloody marvellous. So, the Sukha consisted of a body scrub and
wrap, a massage and then a facial – 3.5hrs of complete pampering. Somehow I managed to struggle through
it. First up, the therapist washed my
feet (brave lady) and massaged fragrant oil into them. Then, it was time for my coconut scrub and
wrap – it smelt amazing and I wondered whether it would be bad form to start
eating my treatment. But I refrained and
spent a happy hour smelling like the mallow coconut biscuits I remember
troughing down as a kid. Bliss,
indeed. After a quick shower to (sadly)
wash the coconut away, it was time for my massage – holy crap. My therapist, though tiny in stature, has
steel for fingers. OOOOOWWWW!!! She got right in there, getting jiggy with my
shoulder muscles – I don’t think they knew what hit them. And at one stage, she had hopped on to the
table and was just standing completely on me, working her elbows (of which she
seemed to have more than the requisite number) into all the achy, tight muscly
bits – it was kinda weird but felt really good, so whatever works, right?
After the massage came the facial – I’m always amazed with
facials just how many different treatments they can dream up to rub in your
face, such that the whole treatment takes the full hour. I mean, you clean it, tone it and moisturize
it, right? How long should that
take? Anyway, it took a good hour and
the cool thing about this facial is that they were using raw ingredients you
basically find in your kitchen, so after the coconut body wrap, I find my face
being slathered in mango. Again, I had
to stuff down the urge to lick my own face, but I did smell damn good. I think I was distracted by my therapist
proceeding to massage my eyeballs!!!
I’ve had one or two facials in my time, but I think this was a first
that my therapist got in there and squished my occipital orbs!! Anyway, here’s the full blurbage about each
treatment:
Narikela Scrub (house favorite) – Coconut, a household
ingredient in India, has many uses to its name.
As a natural skin softener, it has been used for centuries. We will gently exfoliate your body with
a mix of ingredients. This all-over treatment has a cooling effect
on the body.
Pehlwan Malish massage – Warrior Massage. For centuries, Indian wrestlers have taken
powerful massages. Experience this
traditional vigorous massage with either our signature aromatherapy oil or
mustard oil, which is extremely good for the skin and relieve aching, sore and
tense muscles.
Anana Lepa facial – Many Indian women use homemade recipes
passed down from mother to daughter to nourish their families and their
skin. Following this custom, we use
fresh all natural ingredients straight from the kitchen. Our
facial will also include a face massage that tones and nourishes the skin,
making it healthier and leaving it with a natural glow.
After the treatments were finished (happy sigh), it was time
to sit out on a lounger by the pool with a fruit platter, and slowly try and
come too. After a few mins sitting
there, it was time to get dressed and head to dinner. I ate in the main restaurant, a cavernous
space, and again – it was OK but not great.
I had some fishcakes to start with followed by a lamb curry – the lamb
was pretty chewy, so it was really quite underwhelming. I had a molten chocolate cake for dessert
which was nice but not spectacular, so I called it a night (no bar hop stop for
me tonight) and went back to my room.
I’d been in my room no longer than 5 mins, when there is a knock at the
door and it’s a little chap delivering some birthday stamps with my face on
them! The picture they took while
presenting me with my cake yesterday had been transferred onto their stamps,
which was awesome!! So, the food may
suck at this hotel, but I have to say they certainly know how to spoil a girl
on her 40th birthday and make her feel special!
So, finally its time for bed after another fantastic day –
all that was left to do was ponder the pillow menu and decide which pillow,
from the 10 options available, would be enjoying the pleasure of spending the
night with me. I plumped for the
Tranquility pillow which, with its genuine Tibetan and Himalayan herbs,
promised to relax and soothe the body, and contained mind-purifying incenses to
clear away past tensions and put the senses at ease. A big ask for a 5 inch square green silk
pillow. Lets see if its up to the job….
No comments:
Post a Comment