Himalayas & China 2005: 16 - Phuntsholing to Bumthang Valley, Bhutan

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Shortly after leaving the Druk Hotel we came to the first check point. Unlike other countries there were no roadblocks, police or military - just a couple of people dressed in traditional clothing sitting beside the road. Sonam presented our documents and we were quickly on our way.

The twisting road did not follow the river valley, but was higher in the hills where it followed the contour of the land. Sonam pointed out wild marijuana plants that no one bothered to pick - it is no big deal here. Buildings in Bhutan must be built in the traditional manner, so the unique form of architecture is everywhere. Frequent waterfalls plunged from high cliffs into the canyon below.

We stopped at a small temple along the road to eat the box lunch Sonam had arranged, then climbed to 2,546 m (8,350') and back down, passed through another checkpoint at the turnoff for the road to Paro, and on to Thimphu, population 50,000. This is the capital and largest city in Bhutan. The whole country has a population of only 850,000.

Most of the road was good, but we had to tough it out through construction zones for a few kilometres. A new four-lane expressway for the last 12 km into Thimphu will be ready to go as soon as the last couple of bridges are completed.

We checked into the Jumolhari Hotel, and then traded rooms with Tim and Jeanna when we found the floor they were on required walking up 6 flights of stairs to our 4 flights. We had a suite that was very comfortable. I got some writing done before Marilynn & I met Tim & Jeanna in the hotel restaurant for drinks. We found out our friend Han Iluk was in the hotel so he joined us for a beer, and when Sonam got back he joined us as well. It was really great to see Han. It was the first time we had seen him in five years.

Eventually Sonam took us for a short walk to a Thai restaurant. It was a four-story walk up (no elevator) to the restaurant, but we had a superb meal with wine.

We had noted a lot of well-fed looking dogs laying around the street in Thimphu. Sonam says they are strays, and that everyone feeds them. Later at night we found out why they were tired - they run in packs, barking and yelping, for most of the night making one heck of a noise.

Monday, October 24, 2005

I was up at 6 AM working on the computer trying to get caught up. We barely had time for breakfast before heading off on a tour of the city. We started at the institute of traditional medicine, where Marilynn mentioned a problem she has been having with her shoulder. Sonam arranged an appointment with a traditional doctor on the spot, and she was soon having steam therapy. The doctor also prescribed an ointment to be massaged into the arm, and some pills. There was no charge, as medical care in Bhutan is free for citizens and visitors, including traditional medicine and prescriptions. For serious operations the government pays the cost for Bhutanese to go to India for treatment.

We stopped at a shop selling traditional arts and crafts, an exhibit of Bhutanese textiles with weavers on site plying their trade, the library and the folk heritage museum. Prices on handicrafts are comparatively quite high. We took a drive up a hill topped by many prayer flags and a radio antenna for a spectacular view of the city. On the way up is a fenced park where we saw Bhutan's national animal, the takin. It is somewhat similar in appearance to the buffalo, but not the same. They are found only in the mountainous Bhutan/Sikkim area.

Lunch was at the highly recommended Bhutan Kitchen Restaurant, where there was a traditional buffet. It is located one floor below the restaurant we ate in last night, but the food quality was not even close. Han was there with his group, so I had an opportunity to say goodbye to him.

From there we visited the Memorial Chorten, built in memory of the third King of Bhutan in 1974. It is a large stupa with an interesting temple inside. Many older people spend the day circling the stupa clockwise as they pray, or sitting by two giant prayer wheels in a separate shed.

A very interesting plus was at a sports field where an archery competition was under way. Archery is a very important sport in Bhutan, with several major competitions per year. The targets are much smaller than I've seen in other archery competition, and the distance much further - roughly 150 meters (500'). There were songs and cries when a team member missed, and team members on both ends of the field would dance and sing when an arrow hit the mark. It seems all participants were having a great time!

I was surprised to see how many people, particularly men, still dress traditionally even in the city. They wear a kimono style robe of heavier material that comes down to about the knees and is worn with long socks. It looks very comfortable, and is great for carrying things.

Here, as in India and Sikkim, almost all signs are in English, although people generally speak their own language. Even those who do not speak English must be able to read it.

Tim, Jeanna and I were dropped at the hotel when Sonam took Marilynn off to find a goldsmith. I'm coming down with a cold, and feeling pretty horrible. I did get an email away and then lay down for a while. Marilynn and I had a very mediocre dinner in the hotel restaurant while Tim and Jeanna went out for dinner with some people they know who live here. We had been invited, but I didn't feel up to it. They had a great time meeting the extended family and experiencing traditional hospitality.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

We had an 8 AM start for the drive to Punakha after a quick stop at a pharmacy to pick up some cold medicine. We quickly climbed into the forested hills where the countryside would look very much like the North Western US or Western British Columbia were it not for the delightful villages of traditional style houses. One stop was to examine a water driven prayer wheel close up. These are big prayer wheels in a small building where water from a stream turns a waterwheel clockwise under the prayer wheel, causing it to rotate and send out prayers, continually. The prayers are written on paper wrapped clockwise inside the wheel.

We climbed steeply to prayer flag draped Dochula Pass at 3,140 m (10,300') where there are many stupas and a temple is under construction. In spite of having sunshine in most places we climbed into cloud, so could not see the several peaks in the 6,400 to 6,700 m (21,000 to 22,000') range. Hopefully it will be clearer on the way back.

We stopped along the way for a delicious lunch at a small hotel, and then continued to the Punakha area where we first explored the Wangdue Phodrang Dzong (fort). It was built in 1636 and is in use as a temple and government offices. Lots of child monks were there studying to become months. We could look in on the classrooms, and when class was out they proved to be no different than other kids. We got some good photos as they hammed it up for us.

Marilynn had several stops for photos before we arrived at the Punakha Dzong. Shabdrung, the person who unified Bhutan, built this in 1637 on the confluence of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu Rivers. It is reached by crossing a suspension bridge. Punakha Dzong was the seat of government through the 17th and 18th century, the coronation site of the first king in 1907 and the third king convened the first national assembly here. The embalmed bodies of Shabdrug and Tecton Pema Lingpa, a famous Bhutanese saint, are on the top floor of the main tower.

It is one of those places that, when I think I've seen it all, proves I haven't. It is currently used as government offices and temple, and is beautifully maintained. The artwork, carved columns and beams, and gold coloured columns cannot be described. The huge temple area with its metal gold coloured columns and enormously high ceiling, huge statues and amazing wall murals left us completely in awe. We were literally breathless when we left.

We have an amazing little hotel tonight, called the Meri Puenosum. It is built on a hillside with balconies overlooking a river, rice paddies and pine forest. In the bar I got into hot scotch with honey to cure my cold - it seemed a good excuse. Dean and Robyn, the people from Colorado, were also staying there so it was a good happy hour before dinner! Jeanna & I ended dinner with more hot scotch and honey before turning in, so getting to sleep was not a big problem.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

It was a long driving day today, starting at 8 AM. We left the semi-tropical valley and climbed into heavily forested hills on narrow winding roads. We had pavement all the way, but it is one lane wide with a centre lane down the middle making it look like a two-way bicycle path. We are travelling in a comfortable, 12 seat Toyota Hiace van, which our driver Chimi has no problem manoeuvring around other vehicles. None of us can figure out why both Pawan and Achim of Dharma Adventures were so determined that we not have a van for the trip to Sikkim. The roads here are certainly no narrower than they were there and it is much more comfortable and fun than being in two vehicles.

As we drove along the change in vegetation was quite remarkable. We travelled through mountainous forest continually, but the makeup of the forest varied drastically from pines to deciduous trees to types of trees I've never seen before. The scenery was ever changing and stunningly beautiful. with all the reds and golds of fall colouring.

Our first pass today was Pelela Pass, at 3,360 m (11,021'). Many prayer flags and a large number of stupas topped it. A new temple is under construction above the road. We then dropped down to Chendebji where we had a hot picnic lunch Sonam had arranged at the base of a large stupa. There was lots of activity, as a festival is planned for tomorrow and the stupa was being whitewashed and other monuments cleaned up. Among the workers were two Buddhist ladies from Hamburg, Germany who were here for three weeks on pilgrimage.

After lunch we climbed again, passing a place where a truck had gone over the edge. A crew were salvaging the parts, but there wasn't a lot left. Fenders had been torn off, wheels and axels were apart, the salvaged bits were just a long pile of scrap on the side of the road. It was a very long way down and did nothing for the ladies nerves!

On the way to Trongsa we had great views of its huge Dzong, the largest in the country. It took almost an hour of driving before we could no longer see the viewpoint; as we went up one side of a river, across the end of the valley, back down the other side, through the town of Trongsa and up miles of switchbacks. We will overnight here on the way back.

Traffic was very light, but the twists and turns give a whole new definition to the term winding road. For every kilometre we gained in the direction we were going we drove about 20 kilometres. We topped the Yatang La Pass with its carnival of prayer flags at 3,425 m (11,234') and headed down again. Another lesser pass took us to our destination, the Mountain Lodge at Chamkhar Town in the Bumthang Valley. Accommodations are basic, but the small rooms have a wood stove that soon had the place toasty warm, and there is hot water. We both can feel the altitude, even though it is only 2,580 m (8,465'). We have obviously lost our acclimatization to the heights!

The bar/restaurant is in a separate, warm building with a big wood stove, where we gathered for drinks. Sonam, being well known here, took over bar tending duties and ensured we had chilled white wine and beer ready. Marilynn enjoyed the curry for dinner, but I stuck to pizza, not being a curry fan. All in all it was a good day and evening.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

I was up at 6 AM lighting the wood fire so Marilynn could crawl out of bed into a warm room. After a good breakfast we had a leisurely 9 AM start. It had rained overnight, but today we had sun with scattered clouds. Our first stop was at the 7th century Jambey Lhakhang temple built by Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo. Guru Rimposche held Bhutan's first Tantric Buddhist ceremony in this temple in the 8th century.

On our way to the next temple we passed the house of King Sendha, who sponsored Guru Rimposche. Descendants of the king still live in it, making them the only Bhutanese people who can trace their ancestry directly back to the 8th century. He was king of this area well before unification. The current kings are since unification.

Next we looked at the Kurjey Lhakhang temple complex. The first temple, built in 1652, contains a cave where the Guru meditated in the 7th century. His body imprint can be seen in the rock of the cave. The second temple was built by the first of the current line of kings in 1900, and the Queen Mother constructed the third temple in 1990. A wall of 108 chortens (stupas) surrounds the entire complex.

Temples here are not monkey temples as in Nepal, but seem to be dog temples! Each has a number of dogs lazing around hoping for a bite to eat. They slumber away, not bothering anyone. A nice thing about visiting temples at this time of year is the lack of tourists - there was seldom anyone else in the building other than monks. Among the offerings in some temples were sets of elephant tusks, obviously very old.

We stopped by a shop to buy school supplies on the way to an unannounced visit of a small community school. The children were well behaved, and very industrious in their studies. The grade 1 class sang us a song in English, which twanged the heartstrings. We distributed pencils, notebooks and wrapped candy before visiting the grade two class, where we were also warmly received. Another class was being held outside in a field, even though the day was quite cool when a cloud hid the sun.

Our third temple of the day was built in 1531. Young student monks were playing outside, wrapping their legs in the sash of their robes and having a kind of sack race by hopping along. They really hammed it up when Marilynn produced her camera. The maroon robes don't make them any different than other kids!

We stopped to watch a lady miller grinding wheat in a water wheel operated mill. There were two large stones, with the top one turning smoothly over the bottom one. A funnel shaped cloth fed the wheat into a hole in the centre of the top wheel. Centrifugal force moved the ground flour out the sides of the wheel - about as fully automatic as could be.

Sonam arrange lunch for us at a small restaurant in the village. It had become quite cool so we sat around the wood stove while we waited for our meal. Two cats were soon discovered under the stove - not good news, as I'm violently allergic to them. Sonam, Chimi the driver and the restaurant people then started chasing the cats around the restaurant to try to get them outside, but the cats were having none of it. It was so funny that I got out my camera and videoed the action!

The cats were finally discharged from the restaurant, and we had a good lunch. We cleared out fairly quickly, though; as whenever someone opened the door the cats headed under the stove again.

We decided that an afternoon off was a good idea, so Sonam took Tim and Jeanna back to the hotel while Marilynn and I walked around town, popping into various shops to pick up candies, biscuits, water and so on. Marilynn bought a top and we both made use of the computer in the tiny internet café. Unfortunately, once again there was no word processing so I could not get a dispatch away. We eventually walked the couple of kilometres back to the hotel where we fired up the wood stove and took it easy.

After happy hour and dinner Sonam helped Marilynn make a phone call to say happy birthday to her mother in Victoria. The portable phone didn't connect well, but the fax line worked well. A four-minute call cost $12.64, and she says the connection was perfectly clear. It was easy to figure out the time as we are exactly half way around the world from Costa Rica - when it is midnight here it is noon there.