Paro | What's it like to meet the King on a trip to Bhutan?

| What's it like to meet the King on a trip to Bhutan? One of the most important parts of a trip to Bhutan is going to the Paro Tshechu, and the luckiest thing was meeting the King of Bhutan and saying hello to him. - Tshechu is arguably the most important festival in Bhutan, established to celebrate the birth of Padmasambhava, who brought Buddhism to Bhutan. Padmasambhava is so revered in Bhutan that Bhutanese people call him the Second Buddha, so his birthday is celebrated for 3 to 4 days in a row, with men, women, and children from all over the city dressing up to participate. - The first 3 days of the Paro Tshechu are filled with non-stop mask dances and performances from morning to night, and on the morning of the last day, a giant thangka of Padmasambhava is hung up, because everyone hopes to pray for blessings on this day, so the whole hillside is full of people. - I arrived at the scene at around 6am and was lucky enough to get a commanding spot, and then I saw the King of Bhutan coming to pray and offer incense (first photo). After the King left, I also left the high ground to take pictures elsewhere. I didn't expect to meet the King leading the team back to the Dzong after a while. When he saw foreign Travelers, he greeted them and said, "Nice to meet you." Because I had a return flight in the morning, I had to rush to the airport after joining in the fun, so it was a pleasant surprise to end my trip. - Tshechu is held in different regions in different Bhutanese months. The more important ones are the Paro Tshechu in mid-April, the Thimphu Tshechu in early October, and the Punakha Tshechu in early March. If you are interested, you can check the dates in advance 📆. - In the next post, I will post the mask dance 👺 I took at the Tshechu~ -