"It is not really, enjoy the valley"

The trek up the mountain,

A challenge welcomed

When all can be prayer.

This title is another Bhutanese road sign. I make no promises that it is the last title I will steal from them. In the past two days, I have gotten to hike to Buddha Point, just above Thimphu, and all the way to Taktseng, or Tiger's Nest, monastery outside of Paro. These two pilgrimages capped an incredible week of learning, meeting officials, and shopping for supplies.

In the past week, I have had the great honor of meeting high ranking Bhutanese officials: the Minister of Education and the head of the Royal Civil Service. We have also been briefed by the Education Monitoring Support Service and Department of Curriculum Research and Development. All of our meetings and briefings have demonstrated the strongly held commitment to relevant and quality education. The way people talk about education here is the way I have always wanted to hear it talked about in the U.S. Perhaps it seems like our system is working and that we have good ideas, but I am far more impressed with the values set out by the Bhutanese curriculum (check out Educating for GNH). What floors me the most is that these officials are so grateful to us for coming and helping with education here. For my part, I am filled with gratitude. It is an incredible privilege and honor to be here to serve the students, teachers, and educational system of Bhutan.

In the vein of incredible, the hike to Taktseng monastery was that. Taktseng is where Guru Rimpochey (Padma Sambhava) flew into Bhutan on the back of tiger in 747 AD, establishing Buddhism. It is quite a sight, perched on a sheer cliff, and pretty much a "must see".

On Sunday, Karma arranged a bus to the base so we could visit this revered sight. The hike up was quite steep, and I was impressed by my fellow hikers: children, elderly men and women, people with flip flops. Not quite halfway we came to a large prayer wheel and a commotion of tourists, among them Ms. Universe Hong Kong 2008, who we had just read in the Kuensel (one of the newspapers) was visiting for a few days as the guest of a teacher. The monastery peeked into view numerous times as we climbed, reminding us of our goal. At the monastery, we left our bags and I took my pearl prayer beads and incense inside. There are some rules to visiting monasteries, so the Bhutanese people were all in kira and gho (national dress). Before entering the altar rooms, you remove your shoes. Incense, food, and money are offered, and there is usually a monk who pours holy water in your hand, which you sip, then put on your head. After visiting several of the inner altars and soaking in the blinding bright sunlight on the veranda, I made my way back down. We stopped for tea and biscuits at the cafeteria at the halfway point and then scampered behind Karma as he led the way down even steeper shortcuts. At the base again, we drove to Paro for a glorious lunch with masala chai (the best I've had so far, and I've had a lot).

Reflecting on the week and what's ahead, I feel inspired. There will be challenges, there have been already, but I am ready to trek through them and use them to teach me. Challenge shows us our edges, where we are inclined to take to habit instead of push ourselves and grow. Hiking always offers the body a challenge, but accomplishment and beauty are the gifts received for surrendering to the difficulty. All things pass, including challenges. So I find again the lesson of being present with whatever is in every moment, especially when the moments are full of immense beauty like I experienced today. Again, "it is not really, enjoy the valley".