Monday 31st August, 2026
A quick drive across town took us to the Big Buddha - the 2nd biggest sitting Buddha in the world. Great position on the side of the mountain and a huge number of steps leading up to it. It is 51 metres tall, gilded bronze statue filled with 125,000 miniature statues. It was originally made in China and transported to Thimphu in pieces to then be put together.
After our lunch stop, we visited the Thimphu fresh food market which was very clean and well presented. It had separate areas for vegetables, fish, spices, meat etc. Following this we had some free time to spend in the town main street as part of our orientation of Thimphu.
Next was a visit to the Memorial Chorten, being one of the most prominent religious structures and a popular part of the local Bhutanese daily prayers, but also acts as a social gathering for them as well. They spend a long time there walking around the Chorten always in a clockwise direction, spinning the prayer wheels and meditating at this place.
We then had a break before heading to the Tashichho Dzong, originally built as a military fortress, is now a shared administration centre and monastery. It was originally built in 1216. We were lucky enough to see Ban I Moon (former Secretary General to the UN) leave the premises after he had been meeting with Bhutan's Health and Agriculture Minister. We were even more lucky to then witness the monks training in the courtyard for an upcoming festival. The building and setting is also quite remarkable and its architecture is nothing like we have seen before !
A dinner at a local restaurant (Zambolo 2) and a nice walk back to our hotel. Unlike the previous 3 tours where only a few meals were included in the package, all 3 meals each day in Bhutan were included.
Rhythm and coordination are apparently not Buddhist Monk strong suits.