Bhutan:Punakha

Punakha

After collecting the special permit from the Thimpu Immigration office, I headed to the Share taxi stand to get a ride to Punakha. Waited a bit and found the remaining passengers for the Wagon-R.  Most of the share taxis there are Wagon-R though there are few Altos around. It had been only 2 days and I had seen quite a few Private SUVs Hyundai Tuscon, Santa-Fe, Toyota Prada and maybe just one Scorpio or Bolero that time.

If one has read about the history of the forbidden kingdom or any of the books (written before 2000) you would have had a different picture of Bhutan. I was surprised at the roads, basic goods available everywhere and of-course share taxis and bus(few) everywhere. Having been to more remote parts of India, was also expecting Bhutan to be similar but was a bit of a surprise.

Out of the three co passengers in the share taxi , two were young chaps , new graduates , who were heading out to camp. Both were speaking English and Hindi. My first impression or experience was that everybody seem to know English +Hindi. As the journey started, we started discussing various things about both the countries from religion to film stars etc .. They seem to be quite knowledgeable and mentioned visiting Bangalore, Chennai and Chandigarh etc earlier. After awhile the mist took over and the road conditions deteriorated but it was nothing compared to the breath taking views of the mountains . We passed through Dorchu La Pass and the 108 chortens .

 Another hour or so you reach the town of Lobesa , which has the diversion for Punakha. The young chaps got down here and wished me luck on my further travels. Checked with the taxi driver whether I could get the bus for my further journey at this diversion since I had seen a bus pass by and he said there is just one bus from Thimpu that goes further but I could try my luck next morning. The route than passed through some beautiful views of the paddy fields( green this time of the year) overlooking the mountains. A peaceful surrounding compared to the concrete houses and cars of Thimpu. The auto guy dropped me at Kurje few kms before Punakha. He said there were only expensive resorts at Punakha and this would be the best place to find hotels. Walked around a bit and found just 2-3 hotels and found a nice and clean room with a small TV again. I was happy that I found a TV there since the US open mens finals with Rafa and Nole was scheduled that night . Wishes do come true sometimes as they say :)

Kurje is a beautiful valley town with a handful of shops, hotel, post office and school on one side and the river and mountain on the other side. Just like the peaceful rhythm of the place and decided to spend two nights there.Walked out looking for food but none was available but came back and asked and Mushroom Ema Datse and red rice was available and then it was time to rest.

After that it was just walking around town a bit and reading . It was the first time I was carrying a tablet with ebooks , woah what a convenience and change from lugging around physical books. Another meal(Dinner this time) and alarm set for the 2:30am US open finals. However the street dogs had other plans. They were barking and howling in the highest pitch all night. Had read about the dogs of Bhutan in in some of the books earlier and figured indeed such was the case today. The US Open Finals turned out to be a good match between the two top players of the world that ended around 7am local time and Rafa ruled again. He has been having an amazing comeback after being out for 7months. With the trophy decided it was time to get some rest and then head to the monastery . By the time I woke up and started for the monastery , 11am or so , there was no breakfast available other than a cup of tea but requested the lady at the hotel to prepare lunch atleast.

Punakah was the capital of Bhutan till mid 1950s and the dzong is one of the most beautiful ones . It has towering white washed walls and red and black caved wood with gold paintings. The first small building was there in 1326 but the structure began in 1637 and completed within a year. Several earthquakes, fire had impacted it over the centuries but it has always been repaired.

Its a beautiful structure across the river . Took a share auto to the Punakha Dzong 4-5 kms away . At the entrance, the security guards checked my permit and asked me where I was headed next and they gave me some suggestions how to get there by bus. They said I could even try that afternoon but I wanted to just enjoy Punakha and Kurje for the day. Punakha is warmer than Thimpu and it was quite hot in the afternoon sunshine at the Dzong. Walked around the big area with courtyards and various structures. In Bhutan the Dzongs are also used as administrative offices for the village/district and all government officials work out of it too. Back at the hotel the lady had prepared lovely indian chicken curry and rice , first meal of the day. After the hearty meal it was being lazy , it was a timeaway from work after all. So rest, books, walking around town happened.

Picked up some snacks from the store nearby (everything comes from India from Uncle Chips, Lays, Amul cheese etc etc)

Pictures here :

• Thimpu
• Punakha 
• Bumthang 
• Paro