Bhutan Journal

There, Bhutan, it’s all ways that there is something out there, in the distance, nestled in the hills, contained on some distant ridge, crag balanced, escarpment carved, some powerful — magnet — that draws me (up) there.

And the answer is always yes (“you can climb up there, but not many do…here’s how you must go…”) — and, here’s what it is, here’s the history and story behind it — now, how to get up there? But there was plenty of exploring that was unguided — and unknown, unanswered.

This is an example.

Climbing up, the field above the lodge, there was this gathering of prayer-flagged poles — but there was something unusual about it. There was something to the assembly that was more symmetrical in character, rather than the seemingly randomized assembly of poles and flags. This one was structured — it was arranged in a way that suggested tiers.

These groupings usually are set as a reference to a passage of a person. There are, as well, usually 108 poles — each pole to the individual prayer bead, on the string on the mala.

Beauty full.

Just that, climbed there, explored the site, found the toppled Manjushri swords lain there abandoned, and brought some of those back from throughout the trip, for installations elsewhere…