Our trip has been blessed with good timing. In addition to being in Gangtey for the Black-Necked Crane Festival, we also managed to get “stuck” waiting for a procession of important monks and the High Abbott en route to their winter home at Punakha Dzong. It isn’t really appropriate to photograph monks, especially important ones, so you won’t see a bunch of photos of them. The excitement of the locals waiting to be blessed was really the high point anyway. That and lining up with them to receive my own blessing.

Waiting to get bopped with the High Abbott’s holy stick

Entrepreneurial ladies roasting very tasty corn

Some of us have it harder than others

Punakha Dzong

This little boy was entertaining himself while waiting for his older brother to finish monk training for the day