Day 3: Punakha
On Wednesday morning, the plan was to start at 6 am, as we were headed to Punakha. A visit to Punakha required a permit and my guide had arranged for the same using the travel documents, in my case, passport I had used to enter Bhutan. The drive from Thimpu to Punakha is about 70 Kms and with 2 major road blocks and was expected to take about 3 hours. Interestingly Bhutan is going through a phase of significant development due to which several roads are being built connecting the various provinces or existing roads are being expanded. This is expected to be a 5 year project considering most roads are being built across mountains and valleys. In most places rocks need to be blasted and cleared. This has led to allocated time slots for various activities, which means there are road blocks at designated times. This leads to a wait time of anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour to cross the blocks. In order to travel from Thimpu to Punakha, there are 2 road blocks that need to be crossed and often these stretches are very dusty due to the road construction work.
We had started at 630 from Thimpu and our first point was Dochula pass, at an height of 3100 meters, it provides a panoramic view of the snow capped Himalayan ranges. This is also the place where 108 Chortens were built by the Queen Mother to commemorate the deceased in a battle back in 2003 against rebels from the South, Assam in India. The 4th King led a volunteer army of over 7000 people to force the rebels to leave the occupied territory. A battle was fought for about 2 weeks and the territory was cleared. This led to several deaths amongst the intruders and it was decided to build 108 Chortens to atone the taking away of human lives.
The Dochula pass provides a beautiful view of the Himalayan ranges and on a clear sunny day, the Himalayan peaks are visible. We stopped at the restaurant Dochula Cafeteria that offered hot breakfast and coffee. The temperature in the region had dropped by 5 to 7 degrees as compared to what we had experienced in Thimpu and with strong winds, it was near freezing.
The next point was Chimi Lhakhang or the fertility temple, which is situated on a hillock and requires a 20 minute walk from the main road across rice and paddy fields.
This temple was built in 1499 by the cousin of Drukpa Kinley after a demoness of Dochula had been subdued. Legend has it that Drukpa Kunley wanted to settle in a place that had beautiful women and wine and he shot an arrow in the air and the arrow fell somewhere in the Punakha valley. He walked in search of the arrow and reached Thimpu and later Punakha. He heard of a demoness and pinned it down using the thunderbolt and also found the arrow he had shot. He married the most beautiful woman in the region and his descendants still live in the region. Couples wanting to have children come to this place to receive blessings of the monks.
The next stop was Punakha Dzong, the most majestic ancient fortress of Bhutan, situated at the confluence of the Pho Chu and Mo Chu (the father and the mother rivers).
Punakha Dzong means ‘The palace of great happiness of bliss’ and was the administrative center and seat of the government until the capital was moved to Thimpu in 1955. It was constructed in 1637-38 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and has been enhanced substantially over the years. Several flash floods from glacial melts, earth quakes and fires have destroyed this place but it has been rebuilt and enhanced every time. The fortress was indeed majestic and offered a breathtaking view; the gush of the river, the towering ramparts of the fort accentuated by the Dzong architecture, the lavender colored Jacaranda trees in full bloom and the golden pinnacles of the towers added to the beauty of the place.
An arched wooden bridge connected the mainland with the fortress. As one walked on the wooden bridge, one could see the river gushing below and schools of Koi fish in the waters.
The Punakha Dzong is the place where the Chief Abbot spends 6 months of his time during the winters. When we arrived in Punakha, the Chief Abbot was still residing in Punakha and there was a prayer underway with a gathering of monks.
It is in this main hall that the coronation of the kings of Bhutan takes place; the first one was in 1907 when the Wangchuk monarchy was established in Bhutan. One does not want to leave the premises of the Dzong but everything wonderful has an end; we walked out with heavy steps and a slow pace helped extend our stay by a couple of minutes. Every bit of the effort to drive from Thimpu to Punakha was worth it.
It was time for lunch and we stopped at a restaurant by the river. After a nice lunch, the idea was to spend time by the river. I found a large rock in the water and made it my home for the next hour and half; with my backpack as pillow, feet in freezing water, bright sunshine and clouds up above, one could forget the world and everything else that comes with it. Shanghai La!!
At about 3 pm, Jigme informed me that I had to come back to earth and we needed to start our journey back in order to reach the roadblocks at the appointed time to be able to cross them and get back to my comfortable bed in Taj Tashi and all the pampering that comes with it.
We made it back to Thimpu by about 630 pm. My tired muscles needed a Druk Supreme, one of the local premium lagers produced in Bhutan and a nice soak in the tub. I headed to Thongsel at 930 pm for dinner and had my usual Bhutanese fare of red rice, a less spicy version of Ema Datsi, where the green chilly had been replaced by green beans and Pork in red chilly gravy made less spicy with green beans. I wasn’t planning to have dessert but upon the insistence of the manager that I should try a small portion considering I was checking out tomorrow, I decided to try to dessert. A very interesting dessert Gulab Jamun Cheese Cake with words ‘Safe journey’ and ‘Hope to see you again soon’ written in chocolate, was presented to me. That was a wonderful gesture, which did bring a smile to my face. It was another wonderful meal with a great deal of attention from every one of the staff in the restaurant. Every single person knew my name, I was wondering if my popularity was because of me being a single woman traveler, everyone still wondering what my story was! It was a long day and I was a tad tired, but was looking forward to the next day at Paro.
To be continued…
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