Back to Bhutan: the chortens

Not really up on my Buddhist terms, but I think these were the chortens. They are some kind of memorial to dead people.

They came in various sizes, and the biggie here had something like 108 of the individual things in the giant big thing, which was that lucky number.

This one, and I forget where we were, was at some pass, around 10,000 feet high. It was about the chilliest day we had, and up at that altitude, it was just exhausting and cool to have to climb up a million stairs to get the view of another temple.

And it was foggy, which meant we really couldn’t see the Himalaya, which was a bummer, but still. You’re there, and really, that’s awesome enough.

When a Buddhist comes across a chorten, they’re supposed to walk around it three times clockwise. It has something to do with luck, or something like that. Again, I wasn’t in it for the lessons in Buddhism. But I really liked the look of the old rock.

 They were everywhere, in several different styles. Inside the chortens, they have these little vial things that are filled with ashes of loved ones. Cremation things. It was really kind of gross when you thought about it, but very poetic at the same time.

We saw one on a little hike. It was a fairly cloudy day, but I noticed a sunbeam coming down. I snapped one photo and then realized if I backed up a bit, I could get it coming down on the chorten. I lined it up and took the photo and I swear it ranks up with the best I’ve ever taken.

It really did come out like I planned it, and that so rarely happens.