We take a break from the riding and went for a hike around Bumthang today.  It was a nice walk up the valley- we visited a 15th century temple that is a family temple of Tsering, the local organiser of our tour.  It was founded by a blacksmith, and he had a made 20kg chainmail coat that each member of our group walked around the temple with to get rid of any bad karma!  Amazing that such an artefact has survived over 600yrs in perfect condition, and was free for our group to try on.

After visiting the temple it was a pleasant walk through farmland to an even older temple- Bhutan’s oldest temple built in the 7th century, Jambay Lhakhang.  It was built during the same period as 108 temples across the Himalayas from Tibet to Bhutan, said to pin down the body of a demoness by being built on her body parts.  We arrived as a group of monks were doing an annual ceremony at the temple, so were very privileged to join in as they circled the temple.

We had a game of darts at a guesthouse before lunch, with Simon not giving up despite the rain setting in!  The group then split in two, with some visiting the local brewery whilst most of us went to Wangduechhoeling Palace, which is the former home of the monarchy that had been restored and converted into a museum. It showed a fascinating insight into the Himalayan Kingdom and culture. 

A number of riders in our group learnt how to make momos and the famous chilli cheese with our hosts at the hotel, as she ran a cooking class. Needless to say, the results weren’t quite the same standard as our expert hosts!