hot stone bath

yesterday we drove back to paro and went up past takstang and stayed with a family and used their hot stone bath.......so amazing!  there are probably some people who don't know what this is, so i will describe it.....  a hole is cut in the ground and then the hole is cribbed with timbers. water from the stream is run into the bath which is by the fire,  river rocks are put in the fire until they are glowing hot and then they are dropped in the wooden tub full of water until it is boiling hot. the minerals released from the rocks are incredibly healthy and the steam rising of the water is divine!

last night there was a full moon and the air was crisp, it felt so relaxing.  the man would come out every so often and drop new burning red rocks into the water, and at times it was SO hot!! my mom and i just laid in the water and talked about how beautiful it was!  the moon was stunning over the himalaya.  the house was not very far past takstang monastery and my mom talked about how exciting it was to conquer her fear of climbing up mountains and being up there on top.....i told her that everyday i wake up i try to conquer one fear!  i never want to be afraid and i want to go for it until the day i die!

the family we stayed with were really wonderful.  the little girls were so sweet and they showed me their school books.  we were brought some really good food and lots of tea and whey.  i'm such a whey junkie!  and i sure get my fill of it while i'm here!

we had so many wool blankets on us that i could barely turn over in the night, but we woke up warm and toasty.  we waited for the sun to come up and we went outside, played with the kids and ate a whole lot more food before heading back to thimpu.

where we stayed last night is very close to the tibetan border and is on the way to cholmahari..

the mountain goddess.  this mountain is one of the most beautiful mountains that i have ever seen and a couple of years ago i hiked up into there with some good friends, it was a really incredible experience.  my good friend and i left the tent, which was right in the shadow of cholmahari, at 2 in the morning and walked up the mountain in the dark to hang our prayer flags as the sun was coming up.  that night will stand out in my mind until the day i die.  

as you are walking near to cholmahari you can feel the presence becoming stronger and stronger.  i remember at one point almost falling down and just needing to sit there and cry because the power had completely overcome me.  it felt a little bit like that last night and again i felt like escaping down the path and up into the mountains.  it's really hard being here and being around lots of people and not being up in those mountains.  obviously i will be back again soon........next time i just want to stay up in the mountains.