Art, Sports and Food

It was our second day in Thimpu today. The day started with the visit to the art and crafts college. The building itself was a piece of art. There were students involved in wood-crafting, embroidery, weaving, pottery, among other forms of art. There was nothing like a man's job or a woman's job. We saw men folk doing embroidery and women working with a chisel and hammer on wood.

Other than that, the day clearly belonged to sports and food. We skipped the visit to the local zoo and asked our driver to take us to places where we can get more of the local flavour of life. He took us to this private monastery that belongs to one of the richest person in Bhutan. It was cloudy afternoon with a mild drizzle...and in the courtyard of the monastery, a game was on. A game of dart...it was match between the monks and the civilians. Each team was on 15 members. When each one of them have attempted a shot at the target, it made a game. They were playing a match of 25 such games. The target was a good 50m away from the shooter. The dart was not the one that we see in clubs. It was big and heavier. I was not sure whether I can reach anywhere near the target, let alone hitting the bull's eye. But these guys were good. I saw quite a few of them hitting the target spot on. And each time they did, they would perform a traditional dance of victory around the target. It just stood there with the camera around my neck, and watched them. Photography was not on my mind. When we left after about 45 mins or so, they were probably tied at 2 games each. It would probably take them the rest of the afternoon to decide the winning team.

Next we moved on to the local stadium, where fortunately, an archery game was going on. Archery is the national game of Bhutan and people take this sport pretty seriously. The game was between Bhutan and Sikkim (a north-east state of India). This time, the target was 150m away from the shooter. My eyes were not even able to follow the arrow. Soon after we reached, the Sikkim team hit the target a couple of times. I jumped with joy and cheered at the top of my voice...only to realize that I am the lone supporter as the locals stared at me with curiosity. Later, I happened to talk to a Sikkimese archer, who was quite happy to find some support in the foreign soil.

The lunch was the best that we had during our entire stay in Bhutan. We went to a place called "Bhutan Kitchen" in Thimpu. We were greeted by a large hall with low tables and stools and pretty Bhutanese waitresses. We were told that there's no menu...rather, they serve a standard set of dishes for lunch. I found the idea very interesting and rather than enquiring anything further, I totally surrendered myself to their disposal and ask them to serve whatever they think is the best for us. What followed was an assortment of cheese-based curries, beans, rice and spinach. Our tummies were full but we still couldn't have enough. This was clearly one of the best lunches I had in a very long time. Before the lunch, they served us "aara" - a local spirit. Mrs Adda sipped a couple of drops and then gulped down glasses was water to wash the taste away :) I did finish my drink though and didn't find it bad.