Bhutan Pt. 2

Wednesday, September 18th:

Leaving Phobjikha after breakfast, we continued our drive east towards the geographic center of Bhutan. There was no rest from the roads, and as the beautiful Trongsa fortress appeared across the valley, the pavement ended and it took almost a half hour to wind the final 5 miles into the town. After a brief visit to a Bhutanese history museum in Trongsa, we continued east to Bumthang, in the geographic center of Bhutan. 

Bumthang (not pronounced boom-thang), while much larger than Phobjikha and the largest “town” in central Bhutan, is actually quite small with a single road marking the “downtown” area. The lodge was located on the outskirts of town along a quiet dirt road, providing a beautiful setting for an afternoon run (although at 8500 feet, breathing was hardly easier than the previous day)

In the evening, Tashi and Kumar decided to show me what a “night out” looked like in Bumthang. We enjoyed a beer at a local “bar”, a glorified living room with a few chairs and low tables as well as a small platform for drinks, before they took me to our main destination, a dancing club. The dancing club turned out to be a dark and dingy, underground room with couches and tables set up like a night club. In the center, there was a “dance floor” surrounded by a knee-high fence designed in a traditional Bhutanese style. Bhutanese women, dressed in traditional clothing (Kiras) took turns dancing/lip-syncing to Bhutanese music as the patrons looked on. Occasionally, a patron would provide a tip to “sponsor” a new performance, or pay to join the dancers. While hard to describe, it was a completely conservative non-sexualized environment, but overall a very strange scene. After having a drink, we decided we had seen enough of Bumthang’s “nightlife” for an evening and headed to bed.

Thursday, September 19th:

Setting out from Bhumtang on a day trip, we drove towards the Tang Valley. We stopped along the way at the “burning lake”, where a monk had subdued a demon by jumping into the water with a lit butter-lamp and emerging unharmed with the lamp still burning.

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Arriving in the Tang valley, we visited a preserved Bhutanese mansion that had been converted into a cultural museum. The home, dating back to the early 20th century featured a 4-story main building surrounded by a two-story assortment of temples (4 temples in total) that also served as the outer wall. There was everything from grain and rice storage rooms, to (very uncomfortable looking) bedrooms and fermentation rooms for grain and rice alcohol.

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Following a picnic lunch, we visited a number of temples, all beautiful although admittedly some blended together, before arriving back at the lodge. In the late afternoon, I went on an eventful run, accidentally causing a stampede of horses and getting caught up in a traffic jam of cows. At the end, I was rewarded with a stunning view of the mountains covered by a rainbow (after off-and-on rain throughout the day).

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Friday, September 20th:

Leaving Bumthang in the morning, we began heading back towards western Bhutan and Punakha, the old capital. It was a long drive (~6 hours) separated by a stop back at the Trongsa fortress that we had driven by a couple days earlier. Arriving in Punakha (and a welcome lower altitude of ~4500 feet), we had an early evening after the long travel day.

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Saturday, September 21st:

Taking a detour from the east-west path we followed over the course of the trip, we headed North from Punakha to the very rural and remote village of Gasa. There, we soaked in a sacred natural hot spring, enjoying a relaxing and serene afternoon before heading back to Punakha for the evening.

Sunday, September 22nd:

Before we set out back to Paro, the last “long” drive of the trip, we had a number of temples to visit in Punakha. Unlike in Bumthang, where the temples at times blended together, the first temple we visited in Punakha definitely stood out. Surrounded by a quaint village separated from the rest of town by rice paddies, the temple of the divine madman sits on top of a hill overlooking the town. The temple is dedicated to Lama Drukpa Kuenley, a 15th century monk with anti-establishment teachings (read outrageous). He was known for drinking heavily, sleeping with many women to “liberate” them and taunting the hypocrisy of the monastic order. The most notable/outrageous story about the Lama was his purported taming of a number of demons by converting his phallus into a flaming thunderbolt weapon. Today, the temple is dedicated to fertility and people from around the world (and of all religions) travel to the temple to pray for children. Predictably, the gift shops in the village surrounding the temple featured some ridiculous items.

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Next, we hiked up a small mountain to visit a more “conventional” monastery that also offered stunning views of the Punakha valley below. Finally, we visited the crown jewel of Punakha, the Punakha fortress. Known as the biggest and most beautiful fortress in Bhutan, the fortress sits at the intersection of two rivers and served as the seat of Bhutanese government until the capital was changed to Thimphu in the 1960s.

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Leaving Punakha in the early afternoon, we arrived back in Paro a few hours later and checked into a hotel overlooking the airport. While “airport hotel” is generally not synonymous with an ideal location, Paro’s airport is a small structure surrounded by a beautiful valley and spectacular mountains. Furthermore, with just a handful of flights per day, there is hardly any noise making for the perfect setting.

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Monday, September 23rd:

A couple weeks removed/recovered from my misadventures in Nepal at higher altitudes, I set off into the mountains again to hike up and spend the night near the Bumdra monastery (~12,500 feet) before descending down the other side of the mountain to visit the famed Tiger’s Nest monastery. Unlike my solo trek in Nepal, I was accompanied by my guide Tashi as well as an unexpected entourage of dogs. Setting off from a monastery overlooking Paro at ~9,000 feet, we were trailed by four dogs up the mountain. Encouraged by gifts of food and water including during our lunch break, the dogs followed us well over 12,000 feet and two of them actually slept outside our tent.

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It rained intermittently, obscuring our vision of the valley below, as we wound our way up the mountains towards the Bumdra monastery. Fortunately, the weather began to clear as the precariously positioned monastery came into view. Used mostly for meditation (in 3 day, 3 month or 3 year increments), the small monastery is built into the mountainside offering stunning views of the surrounding valley. 

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After walking around the monastery and seeing a few monks (it was easy to determine which duration of meditation they chose based on the length of their hair), we returned to our camp. Far from “roughing-it”, we were met by a cook and his assistant who had carted up a large propane canister and extensive cooking supplies on horseback and prepared a delicious dinner. After dinner, Tashi taught me a couple Bhutanese card games as we enjoyed (read endured) some Bhutanese whisky before calling it an evening.

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Tuesday, September 24th:

The 24th marked a minor festival day on the Bhutanese calendar and we enjoyed a butter-porridge for breakfast to mark the “last” rainy day of the year. Fittingly, it had rained all evening and we set out down the mountain in the rain after breakfast. Eschewing the traditional (and crowded) day hike from Paro to see the Tiger’s Nest monastery (~10,000 feet), we hiked down to the Monastery from Bumdra. Initially obscured by heavy fog, we approached the iconic monastery and encountered a mass of people, the first crowd I had seen in Bhutan. We briefly navigated through the crowds to visit the inside of the monastery before walking back up to see it from a distance as the sky cleared. 

Built into the side of a cliff, the Tiger’s Nest monastery is the most popular sight in Bhutan, both because of its spiritual meaning and its spectacular architecture. Marking the place where a guru pinned down a demon and meditated near a resting tiger, the 17th century monastery is truly stunning and pictures hardly do it justice. 

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After visiting the monastery, we descended back to Paro. In the late afternoon, we visited a traditional Bhutanese farmhouse where I checked off a number of “tourist bucket-list” items that were nonetheless enjoyable. First, I dressed up in a traditional Bhutanese Gho, which was surprisingly uncomfortable for something that is worn everyday by many Bhutanese. I also tried my hand at archery, where I was no match for the Bhutanese even with a target that was much closer than their traditional ~450 feet. Next, I enjoyed a hot-stone bath, a bath where the water is literally warmed by pouring it over very hot stones. Finally, I shared a last traditional Bhutanese meal at the farmhouse with my guide Tashi and driver Kumar, finishing off the evening with an arak (rice wine) toast.

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What’s next:

As with my plans in Nepal, my post-Bhutan plans have fluctuated a bit since I initially laid out my trip in August. Leaving Bhutan early on the 25th, I am spending the day traveling through Singapore to Munich. Arriving in Munich on the 26th, I plan to spend a few days in Munich before a quick stop in Florence and then returning to the US. Over my final two weeks off (before returning to the “real world” and work), I will be spending time in San Francisco, Los Angeles as well as an extended weekend back in Vermont. Thanks for following along!