HER MEVSiM GUZELDiR: [4_MEVSiM] *A TRIP TO BHUTAN*

Sangey, 6, reads during class at the Dechen Phodrang monastery, on October 18, 2011 in Thimphu, Bhutan. About 375 monks reside at the government run monastery that also doubles as a child care facility for under privileged and orphaned males. The monks average about 10 hours of study a day waking up at 5 am. Mahayana Buddhism is the state religion, although in the southern areas many citizens openly practice Hinduism. Monks join the monastery at six to nine years of age and according to tradition many families will send one son into the monkhood. They learn to read chhokey, the language of the ancient sacred texts, as well as Dzongkha and English.

A man in Bhutanese national dress standing at the site of a sky burial looking towards the Paro valley, near the Chilela pass situated between the Bhutanese valleys of Paro and Haa, on October 5, 2010. A Sky Burial is a traditional Tibetan funeral ritual, where the body is deliberately exposed to the elements, including birds of prey.

A man prepares food near a small cat in Jityang village in Punakha, Bhutan.

Buddhist monks stand inside the complex of Tashichhodzong, also known as the "The Fortress of the Glorious Religion". The Tashichhodzong was built by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1641.

Traditional paintings on part of a bridge overlooking the weekend market in the capital city of Thimphu, Bhutan.

Traditionally dressed students of Yangchenphug higher secondary school.

Prayer flags on the Chilela pass, between the Bhutanese valleys of Paro and Haa.

Novice Bhutanese monks Sangey, 6, Tenzin, 7, Tandin, 4, and Pembar, 10, rest after hours of prayer at the Dechen Phodrang monastery.

A hilltop monastery in the Haa valley, Bhutan, seen on October 2, 2010. Haa lies along the western border of the country and to the north is bounded by the Tibet autonomous region of China. This valley was closed to tourists as recently as 2002.