Bhutan Day 3 - Paro Festival

We were really lucky and just happened to be in Bhutan during the Paro Festival! This festival occurs once a year therefore we made sure to be in Paro for at least part of it!  We left Timphu early in the morning and drove straight to the Paro Dzong where the festivities were going one!  EVERYONE was dressed in their fanciest, most colourful traditional clothes!  We felt very drab in comparison but it was so beautiful to see!

Paro Dzong in the background.

Everyone sitting on the hill to watch the performances.  

The main event was the tapestry they unravel just for this one event a year.  It is hundreds of years old and is very sacred to the Bhutanese.  It was hung up at 3am!!! We did not get there in time to see it being opened but we did get there in time to see it and to see them put it back away and parade it out!

everyone was running in to try to touch it for good luck! Even just seeing it is supposed to give you luck for the year!

There were also lot's of dance performances, and singing... not exactly the type of dancing we were used to but watching A dance was interesting.

and the march of the monks... All the pictures below of people parading in is for the march of the monks.  The monks marched in at the very end.

here are the monks! 

 We loved the people watching!  so this is just some writing to break up the pictures really but below are just some examples of  the people we saw in the crowds. 

Karma and Chencho (our driver and guide). 

The girl on the far right is a famous Bhutanese actress! 

After the festival we were driving to visit another Dzong when we came across an archery tournament! Just a casual one but it was still fascinating to watch!  The Bhutanese are famous for their archery.  They do not use weights and are able to hit targets 120m away.  They are some of the sharpest shooters in the world!  

It is so far away you can barely even see where they are aiming! (120m away if you were wondering) 

See how small the target is!

Last part of the day we made it to one last Dzong to roam around.  We also walked around the town of Paro looking through some of the stores.  Mainly the touristy ones with the "traditional" gifts to buy to take home... did buy a couple post cards but that was all.

The tree behind us had 2 different colours of pink flowers! Unfortunately it did not come out in the picture but it was very impressive!  This was the last Dzong we visited!