Proof of a Great Guide
Christopher Wilmot-Sitwell, Destination Expert.
09h30 - Where are all the people?
Beautiful day. Bright and clear. Sonam is a great guide but he is really going out on a limb here. All of the published festival calendars say that the tsechu in Ura is next week. Sonam insists it is today. Two hours of bumpy roads...the village is beautiful, ancient, tranquil....where are all the people on this, the biggest day of the year?
11h00 - Relief. The people are congregating
After breakfast in an old farmhouse with a cousin of Sonam's..complete with a slug of his home brew, a bit early even for me, we witness the streets filling up and families gathering beneath the painted windows of the ancient painted dzong which dominates the village square.
13h00 - The dancers come and come
The tsechu is in full swing. The dances are very clearly structured and seemingly passed from generation to generation as are the ornate costumes. But the onlookers are relaxed and treat the whole thing as a social gathering. I wonder what it's like at the big tsechus where most tourists go in Thimpu and Paro?
