Part III - Bhutan - rightly called the last Shangri La

Day 4 & 5 
June 8^th to June 9th, 2013: Thimpu - Dochula - Punakha - Phobjika Valley - Paro

"BEST PART OF TRIP"

There are private buses (the same Toyota Coasters) that ply between Thimpu - Punakha, Thimpu - Phobjika, Thimpu - Bhumthang and Thimpu - Trashigang and many more destinations. Ticket for Thimpu - Bhumthang is Rs.383 and the bus starts from Thimpu at 7 a.m. and reaches Bhumthang at 5 p.m. However, we felt it was not feasible to take a bus for our leisure travel bit.

We had booked a Santro (round trip Rs.7000) and our driver Ugyen Zor an amazing guy with a wealth of information  gave us lot of insight into the smallest details of Bhutanese life as well as the macro happenings. We started early morning at 6.15 a.m. from Thimpu. Simtokha Dzong outside Thimpu city could not be visited since it would open for visitors only after 9 a.m. 

Simtokha

Dochula Pass was roughly an hour's drive. The view from Dochula was lovely but due to cloudy weather we could not view the Himalayan snow peaks. We caught a glimpse of the snow peaks for just a couple of minutes through a patch amongst the clouds. We regretted not being professional photographers with powerful camera lenses to shoot such a magical moment. (During our return journey the weather at Dochula was clear but the weather at the snow peaked mountains was cloudy). Further down the road we took a tea and loo break at the Dochula Cafe [tea was Rs.65 a cup (biscuits complementary)]. The cafe is located on a hillock and 30 odd steps up.  

apples and pears for sale at road side stall

108 chortens at Dochula Pass

(built for safety of the previous King at the behest of his Queen) 

 a walk in the clouds at Dochula

walk up to the cafe

Dochula Cafe

We reached Punakha at 9.30 a.m.

most bus stops being used as market stalls

Punakha is hot - for the great view and literally for the weather too

The Punakha Dzong is a picturesque one. It is also very calm and poised. The approach bridge is architecturally a Swiss effort funded by Germany, it is beautiful to watch the gushing Punachu (rivers are called “chu” and one in Punakha is Punachu) and the serenity of this place is mesmerizing.

inside the bridge

the gushing Punachu under the bridge

At the Dzong

We had breakfast around 10.30 a.m. at a restaurant near the Dzong. They served some tea, bread, butter, jam and egg omlettes. The butter was local and not at all to our taste, the rest was ok.

our breakfast place in Punakha

At 11 a.m. we started for Phobjika and a short detour to the Chimmi Lhakhang (Divine mad man's temple) enroute. The temple is a short distance away from the Dzong. There seem to be a few hotels in Punakha. We had shortlisted Meri Puensum Resort if we had planned a stay - however we did not require to stay in Punakha. Another resort which looked beautiful by the river side was at Chuzomsa in Punakha (meaning junction of rivers). I do not remember the name - but it is about 15 minutes drive from Punakha. 

From Wikipedia: 

"Phallus paintings in Bhutan are esoteric symbols, which have their origins in the Chimi Lhakhang monastery near Punakha, the former capital of Bhutan. The village monastery was built in honour of Lama Drukpa Kunley who lived in the 15-16th century and who was popularly known as the "Mad Saint" or “Divine Madman” for his unorthodox ways of teaching, which amounted to being bizarre and shocking. These explicit paintings, though embarrassing to many urbanites now (this folk culture is now informally discouraged in urban centres) can be seen painted on the walls of houses and buildings throughout Bhutan, particularly in villages, and are credited as Kunley's creations. Traditionally symbols of an erect penis in Bhutan have been intended to drive away the evil eye and malicious gossip."

monks making the dough phalluses at the temple

climb up to Chimmi Lhakhang

Bhutanese family having a picnic near the Lhakhang

Phobjika is a valley in the Gangtey Dzongkhag (meaning district) and is almost a 4 – 5 hour drive from Punakha. There were slight rains enroute. A patch of about 25 kms of road is not good, it is rather treacherous in such weather and we proceeded carefully. No doubts about needing excellent hilly terrain driving skills in these places. Fortunately for us the rains were yet to arrive and there was no slush. In the meanwhile i booked the Paro stay.

enroute Phobjika

road condition for 25 kms

land slides

Before reaching, we did a little detour to the Gangtey Gompa (monastery) and could visit 1 chamber out of 13 at the shrine. Rest of them were closed and we could have returned next day but we did not.

Gangtey Gompa

art work on the facade

Ideally, there should have been a break here and a new post called "our love affair with Phobjika" should have begun - but in the interest of reducing total number of posts on Bhutan, i continue.......Please bear with my "photo-log" of a place that will always stay "Special" in our hearts.

first sight of Phobjika Valley

the sparsely populated valley

Hotel Dewachen, nestled higher up in the valley

Dewachen is truly a gem of a place in this remote location. It feels like a 5 star hotel in a 5 star location. 

Rooms are from Rs.2800 to Rs.3200. Ours was Rs.3200 since it had the best views and was on the 1st floor. We were not aware of Yo Lo Koe guest house (in the next compound) which looks similar to Dewachen and also has a similar set up of rooms. Price is Rs.2200 and reviews on http://www.tripadvisor.es/Hotel_Review-g2425780-d2462415-Reviews-Yo_Lo_Koe_Guest_House-Phobjikha_Valley_Wangdue_Phodrang_District.html seem to be good too. But we cannot comment on its services since we did not stay there. We were told that hot stone bath could be made available in the next door Phuntshocholing Farm Stay (the rooms there would be more basic at Rs.1500). Interesting to note is the fact that owners of Dewachen, Yo Lo Koe and Phuntshocholing Farm Stay are closely related.

Yo Lo Koe or Yue Lo Ki - Tel. No. +975-17874116/ 17851193

Owner - Mr. Sonam

Phuntshocholing Farm Stay - did not check the number :-(

Gakiling Guest House - another board we found - dunno how the place looks

On arrival at Dewachen, the attendant brought us warm face towels and guided us to the best room in the hotel (guess it was no. 109).  We loved our beautifully appointed room and the care given by the staff at Dewachen.

complete with a bukhari

(fireplace)

We freshened up and went to the restaurant for an evening tea and the delightful view of the valley and mountains.

We went out for a walk in the village - it has wooden fences, little brooks, wooden bridges over streams - very much like a european fairy tale.

We saw a few cars going to the valley bed so we checked with Ugyen about it. There is also another Gompa there but we just went to the valley bed. A light drizzle persisted for about 15 mins. but thankfully we were not deterred (and the hotel had equipped us with large umbrellas too). We had a running race and lots of fun by the stream full of fish in the valley. To be in a remote place like Phobjika Valley is like being on a virgin beach on the coastline. It is exclusively yours to soak in the natural beauty and instantly feel peaceful and blessed. 

gompa in the valley 

she was more interested in jumping into that little stream

 going back to the water

our cab

 the ever so helpful driver Ugyen

Ugyen wanted to visit the remaining 12 chambers at the Gangtey Gompa next morning however, after visiting the valley he changed his mind. Any guesses why ? He said he will visit soon with his entire family and camp on the valley bed and visit the gompa then. Cool eh ?

Ugyen (like almost everyone we interacted in Bhutan) was a friendly person, extremely helpful and eager to share the wonders of his kingdom country with us. Almost everyone we met in Bhutan asked us where we were from, how many days stay and which places we were visiting. They appreciate your interest and add to your knowledge of Bhutan. Almost everyone was courteous, humble, law abiding and extremely fond of their King. As regards communication, almost everyone speaks english and many speak hindi too (we caught glimpses of hindi tv serials in Thimpu shops) . In Thimpu, we met many cab drivers who do cab driving as part time second job apart from their full time government jobs. They drive cabs after office hours and on holidays or during their leave. Ugyen has quit his 5 year old government job and is now a full time cabbie.

He was very enthusiastic about showing us the areas around and we could have driven down further into another village in Phobjika (which was slightly more crowded and has some shops) but we resisted and instead started back for the hotel. Enroute when we were checking for the local “Ara” (alcoholic drink) we first came across the nice Karma Central Shop - a cafetaria. If the electricity is working you can also catch a cup of coffee here but since it wasn’t we got to taste some pastries, paneer puffs and donuts. Everything was nice and tasty (remember it is not some hot shot bakery, it is a place in the outbacks and still does an amazing job). 

Sonam Choden (in pink) - the gracious owner of the cafeteria 

We visited Karma once again next morning to stock up on some juices and cherry bread.

Sonam also directed us to the house above a government office - she said we would find "Ara" there. The lady, Mrs. Tsheten Zangmo is from east bhutan and is an expert at weaving and making Ara. She gave us a bottle for Rs.70 and offered to serve it at her home. The brew is 100% distilled and tasted much like dry white wine, only more potent. We could not drink more than one small glass so we carried the bottle back with us.

the skilled Mrs. Zangmo

the surprisingly obedient kids

We had confirmed with our Hotel that we would be taking dinner at 8 p.m. So we made our way back to the Hotel and first had a leisurely bath (Dewachen has 24 hours hot water and excellent bathrooms and showers - very relaxing). The electricity, however, was missing and the generator was doing some half hearted attempts at keeping the lights on at all times. We went to the restaurant on time and were served one of the best Bhutanese meals. Due to the holy month, only eggs were the non-vegetarian option. We had yummy eggs in soy sauce curry, steamed bok choy, fried aubergines in sauce, ema datshi (national cheese n chilli curry) and rice. 

There is no tradition of sweets after meals in Bhutan as we had learnt in the last couple days – so back in the room we gorged on pastries from Karma and celebrated some impromptu birthdays. I received a lot of appreciation for sticking with the decision to visit Phobjika and booking Dewachen. The Hotel has a generator set that was kept on during dinner and about half an hour after it. Then the lights completely went off. We did not feel any discomfort since Phobjika has cooler climate and we had already requested the hotel to light up the bukhari.

To the sounds of embers popping in the bukhari and enveloped by the cosy darkness of this serene valley, we instantly fell into deep coma….oops I mean sleep. It was a most pleasing and satisfying day in our trip !!

June 9^th, 2013: 

My grandmother has turned 87 today. After praying for her good health, we got ready and packed our bags to leave Phobjika. We went for our English breakfast consisting of baked beans, toast, amul butter, jam, cornflakes, muesli, apple juice and tea. 

driver's quarters - at "no" extra cost

Ugyen told us it was good too and that he had a sumptuous meal and breakfast

the access to our room

We went out for a small walk (including the visit to Karma) and started the return journey around 11.30 a.m. We felt we needed atleast 1 more day in Phobjika - to relax and maybe read a book while lying down on the valley bed or for exploring the nature walks all around. Since we are coming back for Bhumthang, Phobjika will also be added to that trip ;-)

Government school in Phobjika - Bhutan has some amazing infrastructure for education - in cities as well as the remotest villages

Fortunately, the weather was pleasant through the entire drive. We took a short halt in Punakha vegetable market for "Jagachu" (similar to passion fruit) and Fried Crispy Hollow Buns that Ugyen wished to pick for his kid. We arrived first at Dochula and then Thimpu within 5 hours. 

Fried crispy hollow buns

chillies chillies everywhere ; not an ema datshi to taste

Planned settlement of Wangdue Phodrang (Wangdi) enroute

an accident - vehicle was in the valley but 3 victims were being attended to in the Ambulance

Police at the scene

Just reiterated the fact that even most seasonsed drivers need to be extra careful on these roads.

2 groups of men playing Khuru (dart throwing and betting game) - it was sunday we saw more than normal people even in streets of Thimpu

We reached Thimpu at 4.30 p.m. and booked tickets for the 8 a.m. bus to Phuentsholing on 12th June. We could have gone to Phuentsholing directly from Paro however we preferred to go from Thimpu as it is much more populated compared to the tiny Paro - and hence the availability of more buses from Thimpu. Then we proceeded to Paro without taking a tea break because Ugyen had to drive back to Thimpu after dropping us. The drive to Paro is on a good road and takes about 1 hour. It took us a further 20 minutes to reach our place of stay - the Udyen Phendyling Resort and it needs to be mentioned that good roads in Paro are only till the airport. Beyond the airport, the roads are dusty and under construction. We were staying in an area called satsham chorten – closer to the Tiger’s Nest trekking site.   

Paro, main market is a rather small area. Maybe just 3 lanes each 1/2 a km in length and has budget hotels like Peljorling, Jigmeling and Sonam Trophel. We felt it would have been easier to shop and walk around in Paro town if we had a booking in one of the hotels here. To reach the trekking base of Tiger’s Nest next morning, we were anyways going to need a taxi even from our resort - we could as well have hired it from the town. The same would have been easier from inside the town. From town till satsham chorten we saw many hotels like the Olathang, Namgay Choling Resort (which I had shortlisted earlier), Kichu Resort, etc. At satsham chorten the left turn to Ugyen resort is just before you see the Tiger’s Nest Resort. Tiger's Nest Resort is slightly costlier than Ugyen – however you can probably expect the same number of bees and insects in these resorts – since they are in the midst of nature. We reached at sharp 6 p.m.

We bid adieu to Ugyen Zor and thanked him for his enthusiastic responses to all our queries about Bhutan, its administration, people, life, death, schools, food and so on. We paid him Rs.500 extra to show our gratitude for his effort and enthusiasm.

Iron and wooden bridge approach to Paro town 

Ugyen Phendyling Resort

our room 

Except for the moths, grasshoppers and other such insects doing a few rounds in our room, we actually liked Ugyen Phendyling Resort a lot. It was spacious and had good facilities. We had tea and then after some leisure went down for some buffet dinner and then called it a day. The imposing and intimidating Tiger's Nest Monastery awaited us tomorrow.

Looking forward to your comments and suggestions. Concluding Part IV follows shortly. Until then please keep visiting receipesnmore.blogspot.in for receipes and more..........