Before getting underway we stopped to see the longest suspension bridge in Bhutan. The bridge connects the Punakha Dzong to villages on the banks of the Po Chhu river, and is where two rivers converge.

Views of the Himalayas on the way to Paro

We arrived in the afternoon with time to visit the National Museum and the Paro Dzong. (our guide told us that some people are “dzonged out” by the time they get to Paro, but not us).

At the Museum we watched a film about the elaborate dances performed at festivals across the country at various times of the year. Each of these dances serves a particular purpose (suppressing demons, honoring holy men) and people come not simply to be entertained, but to pay their respects to the gods and receive blessings. Most of the dances date back to the Middle Ages.

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Of course, I was most interested in the Bardo Dance, also known as the Dance of the Judgement of the Dead.

From a guidebook:

“When all beings die, they wander in the intermediate state (Bardo) waiting to be led by their merits into their next destination until the ultimate goal of Nirvana.”

The Bardo Dance, which  lasts over two hours, colorfully portrays this ultimate drama of human existence.

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Our guide’s father had died within the last year, and he and I had a chance to talk about death related rituals in Bhutanese culture. They are hugely important – more important than, for example, weddings.

All in all it was a relatively easy day physically, which was a good thing given what lay in store for us the following day.

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