Up to the Buddha

Andy and I walked up to the Buddha. This is my third trip. They are still not done. However, there has been considerable progress:

They now have some information about the statue:

 

Truly massive. Gorgeous day, we walked up in our shirtsleeves. However, it was very windy.

As usual, I was distracted by sights along the way.

Here are some pinecones:

One of the local practices is to put devotional offerings in small caves or indentations in rock walls. This was on the trip up to the Buddha, on the side of the road:

I thought this was extremely cool. Look carefully. You can see where this chunk of cliff simply fell away. The top of the freestanding mound of rock and earth fits into the top of the surrounding space. It may be a little hard to see:

Finally, I saw this painting on the side of a mountain:

Tomorrow we go to Punakha. That will be a good trip.