21 and 22 August – Punakha to Bumthang (Bhutan)

A foggy morning

Under the fog

Leaving Paro and passing the end of the airport runway all traffic was stopped as there was a plane taking off and the road was thought to be too close to the planes at take-off and landing. On the way to Punakha and via the Dochula Pass at 3100 metres elevation I was supposed to visit the 108 Druk Wangyal Khangzang Chortens, a memorial for the Kings of Bhutan only it could hardly be seen because of the low clouds, mist and rain. The road was muddy and really consisted of a series of landslides, some very long, connected by dirt roads, damaged bits of sealed road or bits of sealed road. By the look of the country whoever works on the road, the National Highway, has a job for life as a lot of the repairs and clearing up are done by hand with there being few pieces of earthmoving equipment in the country. We waited more than two hours while two landslides were cleared from the road.

Landslides

Farmhouse

Townhouses

Lunch (chicken, pork with peppers, dal soup, mixed vegetables, spinach, things? pasta, creamed mushrooms, vegetables again, and rice) was at Khurethang Town with the rain having stopped by then. When I stepped out of the car I could not stop swaying with the ride having been so rough. This area has a number of hydroelectric power stations with more being built in the country. Bhutan is self sufficient in electricity (the population still has to pay for it though) and exports the excess to India. Water is termed as being ‘white gold’ with rivers and streams being ‘protected’ to maintain the flows required.

Views of the Punakha Dzhong (Fortress)

The cantilever bridge to the fortress

Temple guardians

The fortress at the junction of the two rivers

The next stop was at the Punakha Dzhong (Fortress) built in 1638 at the joining of two rivers. One is said to be the ‘female’ river because it always flows gently while the other is the ‘male’ river because it is the one that floods and flows fast and fiercely. Again there is a story attached to the place where the fortress is built, namely that a guru prophesied that someone will arrive and build a fortress on a hill that looks like an elephant. Someone did, decided that the top of the hill looked like an elephant and 800 years after the prophesy the fortress was built. It is said that the architect dreamt of the fortress and then built it without any plans or drawings.

This is the second largest and second oldest fortress in Bhutan and home to some of the most sacred relics of Buddhism. It also contains the remains of two important gurus and until 1955 was situated in the then capital of Bhutan, now moved to Thimphu. The fortress is still the winter home of the ‘pope’ (which is what the head of the Buddhist sect in Bhutan is called) and the central monastic governing body of the religion.

The Punatsangchu Cottages bedroom and kitchen

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    That night was spent at the Punatsangchu Cottages with a huge room and kitchen though I did not intend to do any cooking myself. The settee I considered to be an added attraction  especially as it was very comfortable as well. At least I had fried eggs for breakfast s the Thai one did not look appetising! Then it was up and down twisty slippery roads again on the way to Bumthang.                                                                                                                                       

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Views of the Chendebji Chöten

Chendebji Chöten was built in the 18th century in the style of the great Bodhanath Choten of Nepal with eyes painted on the four sides. It was built by Tshering Wangchuk in order to subdue harmful anti-religious demons said to be in the form of snakes. This is the only two eyed choten (stupa) that I know of as most have only one eye on each side. When I asked why this should be different I was told that 'we have two eyes' so why should this be any different.

Bumthang Jakar Village Lodge

The view from my room up to the fortress