Saturday, September 7, 2019 - The Jowo Temple of Kyichu is one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, originally built in the 7th century by the Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo.

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It is considered to be one of the 108 temples he built to control the Tibet border.
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Stupa in the temple courtyard.
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A stupa on a hill near the Jowo Temple.
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An angry lion.
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A delicate iron lattice outside the temple assembly halls. There were two rooms for the devoted.
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Prayer wheels - with many little stupas surrounding them.
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A stupa next to Jowo Temple.
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Druk Choeding is the Paro town temple. The main statue in the temple is of a seated future Buddha. There is also a statue of Gyenyen, considered the local protector, surrounded by a collection of old Bhutanese shields and weapons.

The temple was built in the year 1540 by Ngawang Chhogyel, who was one of the princes of Ralung in Tibet.
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I love the corner dragons on the temples - this is still Druk Choeding.
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The detail on a window of Druk Choeding.
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We then drove to the end of the road running along the Paro Valley north. At the end of the road is Drukgyal Dzong.

Drukgyal Dzong was a fortress and Buddhist monastery. The dzong was probably built by Tenzin Drukdra in 1649 to commemorate victory over an invasion from Tibet.
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Our guide's father used to come this way with pack mules into Tibet through the mountains to trade - then return back to Paro.
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The valley into the Himalayas and Tibet.


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