Puppies

We see dogs all the time here, in various levels of adorableness. These ones are right near where we live, and I am so sorely tempted to take one home.

Morning hike

I went for a couple hours walk today up to a nearby low ridge and gardens. Here's some of what I saw. View of a monastery across the valley:

Butterflies! I think this one is an Eastern Courtier:

Azure Sapphire:
Okay, this guy is from a couple days ago, but I love his look:

Dragonflies

And finally, the dragonflies were amazing at the site, in colors I'd never seen in dragonflies before. Who wouldn't want to make this beautiful valley their home?

Thick mist over the river in the early morning:

Bugs and sun-lovers

This lizard was a daily guest at the site:

Have you ever seen a red grasshopper before?? I sure hadn't.
This is not a leech, but I did get a few leech bites on one of my long hikes in the area.
First what is this??
Second what is this??? It has wings and pinchers, at least 3 inches from top of bottom.

Butterflies!

I indulged in my childhood love for chasing butterflies in the Punakha region. Thanks to a couple local publications, I was able to identify many of the ones I photographed. I easily saw more than 30 species in the week I was there. Here are a few.

Common Hedge Blue:
Dark Blue Tiger:
Golden Emperor:
Not sure about this one:
Staff Sergeant:
Indian Fritillary (male):
Indian Fritillary (female) and the white one is a Grey Pansy:
Either a Common Peacock or a Paris Peacock, not sure which:

Views, villages and bridges

I went on several couple-hours hikes while in the Punakha region, savoring the warmth and surprising amount of sun for monsoon season.

Here is one of several suspension footbridges over the Pho Chu, with a morning cloud hanging low:

Here is a "pipe bridge." Really a water pipe, but also used as a bridge.
Working the paddy fields:
A picturesque village nearby where I was camping:
A view of the beautiful river valley:

Hike up and up and up

Last week I went on a hike with a friend up from river level at 1250m (4,100ft) to a peak at something over 2000m (6,560ft). 6+ hours to the top, 4+ return. By the end of the way back, my friend and I were dragging our feet. We left our camp at 5:30am, and the first hurdle was crossing a footbridge that had been heavily damaged by the surging river just two days before. Definitely the scariest part of the whole hike. I wanted to take a video, but you had to hold on for dear life to the cable in certain sections to get across.

Since we left so early, we got to see an amazing early morning views of the rugged mountains over the paddy fields:

This is the top, a 100-strong monastery.
We saw all sorts of interesting things along the way, like these jelly mushrooms:
We had to climb over numerous recent landslides on the hike:
The gorgeous view from near the top:

Insects

I spent last week in the subtropical climate along the Pho Chu river near Punakha, camping at a field site. Elevation 1250m (about 4,100ft). Cactus mix with palm trees, and the forest is full of butterflies, dragonflies, and insects I have never seen before. This is the first of several posts about my time there. First up: insects. Any help on IDing these would be appreciated!

This guy was easily 2 inches long.
This one just shy of one inch long:
Notice the super long antennae on this guy and a red stripe on its back:
I achieved a certain peace with spiders for the first time in my life on this trip. Really, I had no choice. This was a particularly beautiful one with red, yellow, white and black.
This one blends in really well with the grass:

Haa Summer Alpine Festival

Last weekend we attended the first-ever Summer Festival in the Haa Valley, about a three-hour drive from where we live. This was one of my best experiences in Bhutan so far. Just walking down the street, kids would come up and befriend me. These next few posts are the highlights.

The festival started with a procession through the town of the different groups involved, unlike any I have seen before.

The festival

The festival was fantastic. In addition to traditional dances and singing, booths were filled with flora and fauna of the region, handicrafts, and local food.

This tiger came into a nearby village a couple years ago during broad daylight, so everyone knew there was something wrong with him. They brought in vets from Thimphu, but he was too far ill to save.

On Day 2 of the festival, there was an archery match.

Suspended

This suspension bridge spans the Haa River.
We ran into some traffic as we crossed.