Land Of The Thunder Dragon

by Dave Williams

  “I hope you don’t get car sick,” the King said, “This is a very windy road and we must travel fast.” He turned the key, and the car roared to life. While the car was very shiny and black, you could tell that it was old from the outside. But hearing that engine fire up gave me the impression that what was under the bonnet was another story all together. The King slammed the shifter into first gear and dropped the clutch which caused the rear wheels to spin on the dirt until they gained traction and we lurched forward, accelerating quickly. The King shifted into third gear and continued to accelerate as we approached the first bend in the road, he didn’t back off.”

  “All the while he was looking back at me, talking to me more than the others, I decided that I really liked this man. I asked him about his accent, it was not as I expected.”

  “He explained to me that he was educated in Australia, in Adelaide, as an anonymous Bhutanese student. Once he had finished University and it had become public that he was in fact a prince, he joined the Bhutan government’s programme, where several Bhutanese citizens are put through training in the Australian Army. He and one other achieved entry to the Special Air Services academy at Swanbourne, near Perth in Western Australia. “That’s where I learned to drive like a mad man,” he laughed, “and of course the other person to gain entry, but many years after me, was our good friend Sanjay.” He floored the accelerator once again as we rounded a bend that gave us our first view of the capital Thimphu, and at the head of the valley, an amazing building, not unlike some of the temples that we had seen as we crossed the mountains. This building was much larger though, painted in Red, Gold and White, I realised that this must be the Royal Palace. It was a grand spectacle, a vast spreading building with several smaller outbuildings of similar design.”

  “As we approached, Grandfather and the King discussed the state of the war. I learned that the Ethiopian Patrol that was hunting us had split into two, one following the communicators left with the Yak Herders. We all laughed long and hard at that, Grandfather thought himself very clever. The remaining 12 patrol members split up and headed for the three other passes, South of Mount Jomolhari. The Bhutanese Mountain Guerrillas intercepted them at the passes and prevented them from continuing on further. The North American Alliance had lifted the ‘No Fly Zone’ the previous day. All in all, we were very happy with the success of our ruse, which got us safely to Thimphu healthier, fitter and stronger than when we had started.”

  “We drove quickly through what looked like a rear access gate and the King said, “Welcome to Dechencholing Palace my friends.” He stopped the car in front of a small door and suggested that we head inside with some haste. “We have much to do, but first we must eat, you must be very hungry.”

  “Two men dressed in traditional ‘Gho’, robes made of heavy Yak wool, and beautifully coloured, exited the narrow doorway and stood to each side to guard them.”

  “The king ushered us through, directly into the palace kitchen, where we sat down at a long rustic table to a magnificent spread of food of many types. All of us, the King included, fell upon the food as if it was our first meal in weeks. There were traditional Bhutanese dishes as well as many western dishes as well. I craved the very freshly cooked bread and tucked into that with a big tub of butter, it was the best thing I have ever eaten.”

  “A lovely looking woman dressed in the traditional ‘Kira’, a long skirt that looks like a heavy Sarong, entered the kitchen. With a beaming smile, the woman approached Grandfather and gave him a huge warm hug and said, “Jack, it is so good to see you. I prayed every night for the three of you to be delivered safely to us here, and I am so happy to see those prayers answered.”

  “She moved on to Sanjay who looked severely uncomfortable, but smiled broadly as he received just as big a hug.”

  “She set eyes on me, while letting go of Sanjay. She approached me and said, “You must be Jack Junior, and don’t think for one minute that you can escape a hug from the Dragon Queen if she decides that you are going to receive one.” With that she launched herself at me and grabbed me with two slender arms and wrapped them around me with the force of a mechanical crusher. How could such a finely built woman have so much power I thought to myself.”

  “Your Royal Highness,” I began to say. With that, she half pushed me away so that she could look at me. “Enough of that ‘Your Royal Highness’ bullshit Jack, from now on you call me Sercho young man. I am to be your second mother at any time you need me, Understand?” she said in the most amazing, loving, loud voice I have ever experienced.”

  “Without letting me go, Sercho turned her head and yelled, “Guards, lock up all the young girls, this one is very good looking, he won’t stand a chance.” She laughed so loud at her own joke, kissed me on the cheek, turned and whirled from the kitchen in a flurry.”

  “I was left standing in the middle of the room, obviously dazed from what had just happened, while the King, Grandfather Jack and Sanjay laughed so hard, that I just couldn’t help but join in.”

  “The King said, “Well young Jack, you’ve just been introduced to Bhutanese women, the happiest most loving women in the world. And you thought you were in danger running across the mountains from an Ethiopian Death Squad? Good luck young man.” There was another round of raucous laughter and then the King turned to my Grandfather and said, “Jack? It may be time don’t you think?”

  “Oh no, most definitely not.” Jack declared half-heartedly as he noticed the King edging slowly towards the refrigerator. “It’s too strong, and after so much time at altitude, it can’t be good for us.”

  “But it is young Jack’s birthday tomorrow. And by Royal Decree, I announce that all young men, who have evaded Ethiopian Death Squads, while trekking ‘The Snowman Trek’ before reaching their twelfth birthday should sample ‘The Druk’ on the eve of their birthday. So There.” announced the King. “Sanjay, please have that decree noted in the palace log.” As he pulled three long brown bottles from the fridge.”

  “I was worried now, as I had learned that ‘The Druk’ is in effect, the Bhutanese term for the ‘Thunder Dragon’ of Bhutanese mythology. What was the king going to make me drink? Was it Dragon Blood? I was feeling very nervous.”

  “The King removed the top from the bottle, picked up a glass from the table and poured a sparkling, frothy, dark amber liquid into it. “Just a small sample Jack,” as he poured more generously into the three other glasses. He passed them to Sanjay and Grandfather, raised his glass and said, “To the brothers of the Thunder Dragon.”

  “I raised the glass tentatively to my lips, I smelt it, I was relieved that it wasn’t Dragon Blood. I sipped it, and was pleasantly surprised and sipped it again. Meanwhile, the King, Sanjay and Grandfather were beaming smiles at me. I put the glass down, wondering what was going on. I must have looked confused and looked at Sanjay as if to ask if I had done something wrong.”

  “Oh no.” Sanjay said, “Do not be alarmed young Jack, you have just been given the most auspicious honour. To drink Druk Beer from the same bottle as The Dragon King is His Royal Highness offering Himself to you as your brother. There is no greater honour to be had in this land.”

  “I asked, “How many Brothers of The Dragon King are there?”

  The King stood, raised his glass, took a long swig and smiled as he looked around the room before saying, “Only three.”

  Chapter 13

  “The Tiger’s Nest”

  “I woke suddenly as the Queen, Sercho, burst into my room and threw the curtains open, flooding the room with light. I felt like I had never before been so comfortable, or slept so well.”

  “Young Jack,” Sercho said. “Good Morning, it is a most stunning day to have a birthday.” She pointed towards a door and suggested that I shower before coming down for breakfast. There were laughs from the next doorway, where Grandfather Jack stood with two girls around my age.”

  “And don’t take too long Jack,” said Grandfather, “I have two Princesses here w
ho are very disappointed at not being able to meet you yesterday after you rudely fell asleep in front of The King.”

  “With that I leapt out of bed and raced to the mirror on the night stand and looked into my eyes to see that the colour had changed, One Green, One Blue. There were shrieks of laughter from the Princesses and their mother. A feeling of dread swept over me as, while still looking in the mirror, my eyes slowly looked downwards. My face turned several shades of red as I realised that I was standing in the middle of a room full of female Royalty, stark naked. My mind screamed at me to run, to cover up, but somehow I remained calm, and realised that I was now the Brother of The Dragon King, and just walked normally towards the bathroom for my shower.”

  “The Queen laughed outrageously and said, “Well I suppose if you are going to wear anything on your birthday, it should be your ‘Birthday Suit’. Jack Matson, I think I am going to enjoy knowing your Grandson.”

  “I heard the bedroom door close as I turned on the shower for the first time in nearly three weeks. And then I realised that someone had to have undressed me and got me into bed the previous night. I blushed again, wondering who it was.”

  “By the time I returned to the bedroom, my faded and tattered trekking clothes had been returned, clean and folded ready for me to put on. At least they smelled a lot better now. There were a pair of light runners where my boots should have been, so I put those on and headed out of the door looking for breakfast.”

  “Waiting outside my door were the two Princesses who introduced themselves as Pema and Sonam and offered to take me to the breakfast room. They both took an arm and guided me through the palace, chatting non-stop in stereo all the way to a bright sunny room where everyone stood and wished me a happy birthday as we entered. I couldn’t help but feel as though everyone was looking at my eyes, to confirm to themselves that it was indeed true. Jack Matson Junior’s eyes had changed colour overnight, the prophesy must therefore be true.”

  “Pema and Sonam guided me to a seat at the table and sat either side of me. They both very quickly started piling different foods in front of me as if it was a competition to see whose selection I would eat first. I felt under quite a lot of pressure as I didn’t want to disappoint either of them. But what I really wanted was a piece of toast with real butter on it, and then I saw it, the jar of every Australian Boy’s breakfast staple, Vegemite. I just had to have it on my toast. The King, who was sitting opposite me, saw what I was looking at and passed it across to me saying, “Here jack, I developed a love for the stuff while I studied in Australia.” I unscrewed the lid and the pungent aroma filled my nostrils instantly. The Princesses both screwed up their noses as I spread it very thickly on my toast and bit into it. Pure Nirvana, imagine not having Vegemite for three weeks, never again I said to myself.”

  “Pema piped up, “Papa, will Sonam and I be able to accompany Jack to the Takstang Monastery with you today?”

  “I looked to each side of me at the Princesses pleading look that they were giving their Father.”

  “I am afraid that as much as I would love to make this a wonderful family excursion to ‘The Tiger’s Nest’, we believe it may be too dangerous. We can only go as far as the three water prayer wheels anyway, after that it is a journey that young Jack must make on his own. It is written, ‘No man may accompany the disciple on his journey to the Tiger’s Nest’.”

  “My worried look must have alarmed Grandfather as he spoke up quickly, “Don’t worry Jack, The King has had his men watching the monastery and the surrounding area for days. No-one who doesn’t belong there is getting within five kilometres of the place today. And after what you have just achieved in the last few weeks, the journey will be easy and on a well marked trail.”

  “Sonam said sternly to her Father, “Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, Pema and I are not men, which surely means that we are the ideal candidates to accompany Jack to the monastery.”

  “Lowering his voice, The King suggested that this was not the intention of the Prophesy, and that it would be so much safer for Jack, if he set off on the trail looking like a local Bhutanese boy making the trip up the mountain to the Tigers’s nest than being a sitting duck as part of a Royal Excursion. “My decision,” he paused sternly, “Is about Jack’s safety as my primary priority.”

  “With that, he stood and suggested that it was time they prepared for the journey to Paro, we must speak with Jack alone before we prepare.”

  “Everyone left except for the King, Grandfather, Sanjay and the Queen. A door slammed, presumably the Princesses.”

  “The King looked across at his wife, as if he was waiting for her to leave also. The Queen responded to the look, “Don’t you be laying that secret men’s business look on me Namgyel. Young Jack’s second mother will be staying right where she is. He needs a woman’s protection right now, and I’m that woman.” She winked wickedly at me.”

  “The King continued. “Right. Jack, we are all going to blend in out there today. For you, that means we are going to dress you as a young monk. I hope you don’t mind, but it means we will have to shave your head. And then you can head up the mountain with a group of other young monks and it will take a keen eye to pick you out of that group. It also means that you won’t be as alone as you thought you might be.”

  “Sercho said, “If you agree to this Jack I will take you now and prepare you as required.”

  “I nodded and stood up to leave. Sercho put her arm around me and led me to an adjoining room to get ready.”

  “You will not be alone on the mountain Jack, while I trust Namgyel, Jack Senior and Sanjay with my life, a little extra assistance from the women of Bhutan will not go astray. I won’t tell you now who that will be, but trust me, if the need arises, help will be close at hand. The King does not know about this extra help, so please keep this knowledge to yourself.”

  “We left shortly after that in a public bus that just happened to make a diversion through the Palace grounds. The four of us, The King, Grandfather, Sanjay and myself got on. The bus got back out onto the main road and the driver changed the bus destination display to Paro, a town two hours’ drive away from the capital, Thimphu.”

  “Surrounding us in the bus were a group of about fifteen young monks all with shaved heads and Saffron coloured robes, just like me. There was lots of noise and excitement from them about the trip ahead, although I couldn’t understand most of what they were saying. Just occasional words that I had picked up from villagers along our way in the past two weeks. Their excitement was infectious however, and that helped to lift the feeling of impending doom that hung over my newly shaved head. Besides, it was quite fun looking at The King, Grandfather and Sanjay, also with shaved heads and monk’s robes, the elders in charge of the young Buddhist monks.”

  “We drove the winding mountain roads for quite some time, being overtaken constantly by crazy truck drivers with blaring horns and nearly having several head on crashes from trucks coming the opposite direction, overtaking on sharp bends.”

  “Somehow, we made it alive, and as we were coming into the outskirts of Paro, we passed alongside an airport runway. The King explained that this was the only flat enough place in the country to build a small airport and this arterial road needed to use the same valley as well. They had to build the runway virtually right alongside the road with only a chain mesh fence in between.”

  “A large commercial jet was taxiing down the runway as we drove by. It then turned at the end and had the engines roaring as it took off back down the runway. It passed us, and as soon as the wheels left the ground, the pilot banked hard to the right, the wing almost touching the ground. It had to do this in order to gain altitude up the Paro valley, rather than crash into the massive mountain at the end of the runway.”

  “We passed through Paro, past classically styled Bhutanese homes and public buildings that sort of looked all the same. Cows roamed free around the streets. That seemed a little unusual at the time.”

  “We
followed the Paro river out of town on the other side and before long, stopped on the side of the road in a valley with big, forest covered mountains on either side of us. “From here we must walk,” the King whispered in my ear, “Try to blend in with the others Jack.”

  “We got out of the bus and finally I could look up. Perched on a cliff high above the valley floor sat a golden roofed building that just seemed to hang off the cliff. This was the Takstang Monastery, or “The Tigers Nest.” It was a stunning sight, but as we headed into the forest, we lost sight of it, just catching occasional glimpses of it through the foliage.”

  “We came out onto a small clearing. There was a creek and the sound of bells clanging in a steady rhythm. Built over the creek were three quite large structures that as we approached, we could see that they were massive prayer wheels being turned slowly by water flowing gently along the little valley. There were three different tones, each wheel had its own, and they turned perpetually, as long as the creek flowed, which Grandfather explained that it never stopped.”

  “The idea of prayer wheels and prayer flags is that they are loaded with Bhuddhist prayers and when you turn them, or allow them to blow in the breeze, those prayers are put out there on your behalf as if you had recited the mantras yourself. The most common mantra used is Om Mani Pad Me Hum, which is, in essence, the practice of the path to enlightenment.”

  *

  “I pause here to warn you, that I said I would share everything. What I am about to tell you will shock and alarm you, but it will also explain why I failed in my task.”

  *

  Grandpa Jack continued.

  “We milled around the water powered prayer wheels for a short time, taking in the scenery, but especially the sound of the wheels turning, as the sound they made reverberated through the little valley.”