Mode of travel: Flight from Mumbai to Kolkatta and then a connecting flight from Kolkatta to Paro.
I did a break journey. I stayed a night in Kolkatta. My friends took a connecting flight.
The trip was organized by Terton Travels.
We took a morning flight Bhutan Airlines, and landed in Paro the first day.
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| I almost got run over by an airplane while trying to snap a picture. Well, it is a pretty airport. However, couldn't capture a close up. |
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| In Bhutan the architectural symmetry and similarity in the patterns is followed throughout the whole of Bhutan in view of keeping architectural uniformity. This is Bhutan Airport from the inside. |
Thimpu
We drove down to Thimpu directly from the airport which was an hour and a half run.
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| The Squad in the Party Bus |
On the way we stopped at the Tachog Goempa, the first iron bridge in Bhutan. It was shut down for maintenance. However gave us an opportunity for the first Photo shoot of the day on the banks of the river and jumping across the neighbouring suspended bridge.
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| The suspended bridge in the background |
We reached thimpu and checked into the Hotel Osel from which we had an awesome view of the Buddha Statue on the hill.
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Comfortable in our rooms. - Hotel Osel |
Thimphu Dzong (Tashichho Dzong) – the largest Dzong in Bhutan, is also the seat of the offices of the King of Bhutan and the Monk body.
Note: Check the timings for the Dzong before going.
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Thimpu Dzong |
We went in the evening hence we got lucky to see the flag ceremony.
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| The Bhutan flag guarded by Bhutanese Police Guards |
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| Flag Ceremony |
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| Flag Folding Ceremony |
Well, You can view the palace from the Dzong, however it is not a full view. Moreover, One is not allowed to take pictures of the palace :(
After our first visit of the Dzong and understanding the history and culture of Bhutan, we walked downhill to a small market to shop some souvenirs. It was a nice pleasant stroll.
Following that, we went and had a pre-party in our rooms till we got changed and ready for some Bhutanese cuisine.
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| The Bhutanese Feast |
After a sumptuous meal at Fork Heritage Museum, we headed to the Mojo Park to experience the Bhutanese night life. There was a live band and they were pretty cool. We tried the local Vintria Red wine, local dragon rum and monkey shoulder whiskey and quite liked it too.
The next day we visited the Buddha Point at Kuensel Phodrang; The 169 feet bronze statue of Buddha Dordenma , Vajra Throne Buddha symbolizes indestructibility. The Buddha statue itself is completed awaiting finishing touches, but we can drive up to the Buddha point and view the tallest statue of Lord Buddha. Our guide claims it is the 8TH wonder in the making. hmmm...now about that I am not very sure, but it is quite majestic. And, the view of Thimphu valley from the Buddha point is spectacular and beautiful.
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Buddha Point View from the Buddha Point |
We went for a small mini trek downhill from the buddha point till it hit the road. It was a scenic walk.
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| Prayer Flags everywhere! |
In the midst of all of this we saw a darts competition. It looked quite interesting.
FACT: Bhutan's national sport is archery.
Following that, we visited the beautiful tara temple in Parizampa.
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| Tara Temple |
After taking lunch downtown, we visited the Farmer's market to see the produce. It is like crawford market in India. There was a nice handicrafts market right across. Do buy from there and do not wait till Paro, as everything is cheaper here.
We then went for a swim to Taj tashi while a couple of my friends did the hot stone massage. Totally skippable. The indoor pool was not hot enough. And my friends did not highly recommend the hot stone baths.
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| Nice Pool though! |
Then we had dinner at the zone. My friends tried the yak burger and quite liked it. After dinner, which was quite late by Bhutanese standard time, like 10.30 pm, we walked up to our hotel which was a 15-20 min walk. We found it quite safe, however there will be taxis if you would like to use one.
Restaurants:
Ama : Bhutanese cuinse
The Zone : YUM food. The vegetarian burgers were yum. Basically their continental food is awesome.
Ambient Cafe - Yummy devil cake and decent hot chocolate.
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| This means to be lucky. Very symbolic in Bhutan! |
Karma Cafe: Coffees were good.
The Folk heritage Museum - Bhutanese Dinner. So they served us butter tea. Its quite salty. And their local drink ara ( quite strong)
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| Butter tea |
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| Ara |
Vegetarians have enough options to eat in the Bhutanese cuisine.
The dishes to try out would be ewa dashi (chillies and cheese), kewa dashi (potatoes chillies and cheese) turnip chilli, red rice and the chilli paste. This is for the vegetarians.
Bhutan Fact: Since honking is not permitted in Bhutan and there are no traffic signals, watch below in the video as the traffic policeman plays substitute for the traffic signal in thimpu.
Punakha
Next day, after a hearty breakfast we set off for Punakha. We were staying at Drubcchu Resort. It is a family run resort. I will give this resort a 5 star for their service and hospitality. Amazing and cooperating staff. The rooms were also big with good views of the valley.
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| Chilling in Room 205 - The party room |
On the way to Punakha, we stopped at Drochula Pass where you can see the 108 stupas. The Druk Wangyal Lhakhang and the 108 chortens was built by the present Queen Mother of Bhutan Gyalyum Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck to pay tribute to the selfless service and visionary leadership of the Fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck and to liberate the souls of the soldiers lost in the great victory over foreign militants.
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Drochula Pass - 108 stupas |
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| The mountain range view from Drochula Pass on a clear day. |
Following that, we visited Chhimi Lhakhang. It is a 20 minute stroll across terraced fields through the village of Sopsokha from the roadside to the small temple located on a hillock in the centre of the valley below Metshina. Ngawang Chogyel built the temple in 15th century after the 'divine Madman’ Lama Drukpa Kuenlay built a small chorten there. It is a revered pilgrim site for women who seek blessings in order to be able to have children.
It is fun. You can play dice there and check your luck. Odd numbers are lucky while Even are not. In fact, you can play the dice in every temple. And then they have a book of names from where you can pick out a name and can name your child after it.
After the trek down. we stopped for lunch directly at St. Wifi. It was a set menu where we tried the bhutanese dishes like ewa dashi and kewa dashi. Quite good. So, all restaurants in bhutan are with stunning views of the valley.
Note: That all restaurants require you to place an order couple of hours before and then the food is prepared as per your request.
Then we went and checked into our hotel. Day at leisure. So we took advantage of the free time to explore Punakha around the hotel.
Later in the night , our guide took us to the village side for the night life. OH MY GOD! and we were amazed to find ourselves at a back of a building on the ground floor, in a very happening pub.
Only later to find out it was a whole chandni bar scene. Well we tried the local wine Takin, quite like a port wine.
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| The sing and Karaoke Dance Bar |
It was an experience to be remembered for sure.
The next day, we had a late start. We were visiting the Punakha Dzong. Built in 1637, the Punakha Dzong is the winter home of the Je Khenpo (Chief Abbot of Bhutan) and the monk body of Thimphu.
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| Chief Abbot of Bhutan |
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| Monks watching the festival from the balcony. Unless you are a local you are not allowed to go upstairs to watch the festival. |
It is a splendid example of Bhutanese architecture, sitting at the confluence of the male (Pho) and female (Mho) rivers, portraying a medieval image from a distance. The dzong was partially destroyed by fire and glacial floods over the years but has been carefully restored and is, today, a fine example
of Bhutanese craftsmanship.
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| The Punakha Dzong |
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| The bridge connecting to the Dzong |
We were lucky enough to attend the Punakha Dromche festival. We got to see different musical acts, dances and performances by the Bhutanese.
Then we went for a small walk across the suspended bridge next to the dzong. It was fun. So, a friend of ours forgot her bag with the passport and money across the bridge. We had reached our destination when she remembered she had forgotten her bag so two of us and the guide ran all the way to get it and guess what it was lying at the same place untouched. Well, now we know why Bhutan is called the country of happiness.
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| The long suspended bridge and the crew! This is the bridge that we ran across to the other side for the bag. Phew! |
Then we took a lunch break at the dining farmhouse. Again the amazing view and were served Indian food. The roasted potatos were delicious!!
Then we reached our hotel to only find time to get changed and to hit the courts to play a game of volley ball against the hotel staff.
We were badly beaten but in our defence it was our first time playing volley. But it was a blast!
Then we got changed showered and ready to dine at the fancy Hotel Dhensa. The view must have been amaze but it was late in the night for us to catch it. We ordered a set menu and were pleased with the meal.
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| Sitting on the steps of Dhensa |
We hit the bed early as we had an early morning the next day.
On the next day we left for Gangtey. The valley of Phobjikha or Gangtey Goempa is well known as the winter abode of the endangered black necked crane (Grus Nigricollis). Bhutan is home to a dwindling number of around six hundred black necked cranes with Phobjikha being one of the popular places that the birds migrate to in the winter months from the Tibetan plateau. These shy, elegant birds can be seen from early November until the end of March. Overlooking the Phobjikha valley is the Gangtey Goempa. This is an old Nyingmapa monastery that dates back to 17th century.
We walked downhill at the Gangtey Valley to the Black-Necked Crane Information Centre – It was a pleasant walk amidst the forests. However the landscape was quite barren as we were visiting in March.
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| The centre has informative displays about the cranes and the valley environment. Here you can use powerful spotting scopes to see what the pamphlet on ‘Field Guide to Crane Behaviour’ tells you. The weather is sometimes misty in which case you could always browse the library and handicraft shop, and watch videos at 10am and 3pm. There is also a centre for the valley’s fledgling ecotourism initiative and mountain-bikes or lectures on the local ecosystem can be arranged. |
Then as soon as we walked down the trail, we had lunch at Valley view and Black necked crane restaurant overlooking the valley. The food was not that great.
Note: The roads on our way to and fro from gangtey are quite bad, so do not drink too much water as you may want to pee often! Then you probably may have to use the happy bush as cafes are few and isolated.
We did make pitstops at a cute quaint cafe on the way to and back from Gangtey.
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The Cafe |
After that we reached our hotels to refresh and took some time out to leisure to play board games. Dinner at the hotel again and a big party at Room no. 205.
Next day, we woke up early to go for a little tougher trek to check our fitness levels.
Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten - a wonderful hour long trek up to a monastery built by the third Queen Mother Gyalyum Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck this Chorten is a slpendid example of Bhutanese architecture and its art and is the only one of its kind in the world. It took nine years to build and its details have been drawn from religious scripture. It is a nice trek across the suspended bridge vegetable fields and the river flowing below.
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| Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten |
After we came down we went on a rafting excursion. It was zen ! There were no rapids and given the season the water levels were low. However, the water was crystal clear, amazing bird sightings, and a relaxed rafting expedition.
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| All Geared up for the massive expedition!! - haha |
Got off mid way at the confluence of the rivers for a photoshoot. Reached the banks of the river to be greeted by Kelly Dorji and had an amazing riverside lunch organized by our tour leader Nima.
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Reached back the hotel for some more coffee and waffles. Oh, when you get dessert in Bhutan you can literally scream your stomachs out as that is rare.
We had dinner at KRPO - good food. After that we huddled around the bonfire at our hotel premises and enjoyed the music, bhutanese dance and the local liquor. And of course it was a late night since Room No. 205. was open till late hours.
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| Being LOCAL in Bhutanese traditional avatar |
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| Hand Weaving at Royal Folk Heritage Museum |
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| Fun Fact: Bhutan has these amazing signages with respect to safe driving while driving to and fro from Thimpu and Paro and some are really funny |
We reached Paro in an hour after and stopped for lunch. Pizza Stop finally. Some real bread and cheese. Then we visited the Ta Dzong- Built as a watch tower; it was converted into the National Museum in 1968. The museum boasts antique Thangkas, textiles, weapons and armour, household objects and a rich assortment of natural and historic artefacts.
Paro was colder than the other two cities. So we preferred lesser stops and chose to being huddled in the van. So we do not have pictures of the museum.
We checked some local hot stone baths. They were very rustic. So, then we decided to do it at our hotel.
We were staying at Hotel Naksel. Beautiful Property. Amazing view. We reached the hotel, played a game of darts, had dinner at the restaurant. Good continental food and slept in early to be ready for the most awaited trek to tiger's nest.
Taktsang Monasteryis a one hour hike to the cafeteria point which is also a vantage viewpoint whereby you can capture a stunning view of the monastery. Prayer flags adorn the cliffs and this is the site where Guru Padmasambhava arrived on the back of a tigress in the 8th century. Estimated climbing time is 2 and half hours.
However the climate was not in our favour. It started snowing. Snow in spring. Unheard of. However, we got a nice heavy snowfall for almost 14 hours. We woke up at 5.30 am with snowflakes all around us. Honestly, I was overjoyed. Seeing snowfall is rare for me and seeing actual snowfall was just overwhelming. In hindsight we did miss the trek, but I made the most of the snowfall. We played in the snow, made a snowman, made snow angels, threw snowballs, tried to roll off the snow, ( it was not that deep though)
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| Naksel by 9 am. |
We visited the Gangtey Palace. Looked beautiful. We got lucky at the temple to hear the buddhists chants. It was serene. And then we visited the temple which is never open on other days. It was their first snowfall of the year so they opened the shrine to the public.
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| Winter Blossoms at Gangtey Palace |
Had an amazing lunch at Mountain Cafe and the Best hot Chocolate at Cafe Brioche. Perfect for the weather.
The last night was tiring, we slept in early, and were all disturbed with the flights rescheduling and were in two minds to stay back and extend the holiday and do the tigers nest. But till everything cleared it would take another week. I guess maybe Bhutan is calling us back!
Next day our flights got rescheduled to 1.40 p.m. in the afternoon. Quite exhausting because we had to hang out at the airport for 5 hours. My friends had to reschedule their flights from Kol to Mum because of such a long delay. We got lucky as were flying out in the night only.
All in All, it was a fab holiday. Miss the mountains and the amaze company.
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| Bhutan Airport - One of the international airports in the world where you can be this close to sighting the airplane and seeing the take off and landing. |
Things you could bring back:
1) Bhutanese Paintings
2) The Phallus - It is a symbol for fertility and hence is considered to be lucky. It's super common to spot phallus painted across walls on houses, restaurants. There is a whole story behind it. Google it. The Divine mad man and the phallus.
3) The prayer wheels
4) The Chillies - it is the land of chillies- spicy food
5) Yak Cheese - My friends did not like it too much
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| Yak Spotting at Gangtey.
6) The Good Luck Sign
7) Raven Vodka - So cheap and as good as Grey Goose. Bhutan is a land of potatoes. So vodka gotta be good!
On the flight you will get an opportunity to see the Everest and K2 mountain range. We almost got reprimanded for shuttling across the left hand side of the flight to the right hand side when the seat belts signs were on!!
Have a good trip!
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