Day 4 – 24 Nov 15
– Thimphu – Pukakah and Punakha Sights
Travel via Dochula Pass
After a very enjoyable day at Thimphu visiting various
sights and enjoying local food, bidding good bye to Thimphu we left for Punakha
at 0900 via Dochula Pass, highest pass in Bhutan. First stop over was on the
road at Immigration Check Post where the permit to move up from Thimphu to
country side is checked. There are a few stalls available just short of the
check post selling local apples etc. We also picked up some. The apples were
tasty but some of them were spoilt.
Within a short time we reached our first Wow moment of the
day by reaching Dochula Pass at 0945 hrs.
Dochula Pass has a reputation of being foggy, misty or cloudy around it.
But today was different and we had, in front of us, majestic Eastern Himalayan
(Bhutanese call it Gigme Singye Wangchuck Himalayan range) Snow Covered ranges
in their full glory with neither mist, nor fog nor clouds obscuring them. Our
driver told us that we are very lucky, such clear view of the Himalayan
Mountain range has been seen after a considerable gap. We thanked our luck.
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| Wow Moment |
At Dochula Pass
The Himalayan range was breathtaking and next about 30
minutes were devoted to just clicking the ranges and us with ranges by various
cameras, our canon DSLR and cameras of all the mobiles I mean. See the result.
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| Panoramic View of the Ranges |
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| One More View |
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| Tari Gang Peak |
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| Yet Another View |
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| Can't have enough of it |
The range has 10 major peaks and Gangkar Punsum (Mt. Masanggang) at 7564 m(as shown in
the photograph below) is the highest peak of this range and it happens to be in
the extremely right of the range.
Another solemn and important place to visit here is not
ancient like most things in Bhutan. It is 108 memorial Chortens (the official
name is Druk Wangyal Khang Zhang Chortens) a group of
108 Chortens(religious memorial cenotaph) built covering three layers on a raised
hillock to honour the Bhutanese soldiers killed in 2003 battle with ULFA rebels
( who had 30 camps in Bhutan) to flush them out. These rebels were carrying
their attacks in India from these camps in Bhutan. They have been constructed
following the local astrological and religious practices.
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| 108 Chortens in their full glory |
Climbing the hillock to
visit the memorial had a additional advantage of getting a unhindered (by the
trees) view of Himalayan range. Once we were done with visiting the Chortens we
went down to the restaurant to have a cup of tea. Though the prices are on the
higher side, it is a good place to have a cup of tea (and to eat if breakfast
is due). One can sit indoor or outdoor in the bright sun (if the sun is up).
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| Enjoying Outdoor Seating at the Cafe at Dochula |
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| Indoor seating also is good |
It
is worth mentioning that there is a temple, Druk Wangyel Lhakhng, left of this
café and on a raised hillock overlooking the valley below. We somehow did not
visit it.
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| Druk Wangyel Lhakhng can be seen in the right corner |
Post tea we left for
Punakha. If the drive was uphill till Dochula, it was all downhill post Dochula
till Punakha. There is widening of the road happening between Dochula and
Punakha and hence the drive is dusty and uncomfortable, a price we have to pay
for better roads tomorrow.
As we were heading for
Punakha our driver checked up from his friends there about closure timings of the Punakha Dzong
(only place of visit in Punakha, though there may be things to see nearby or
treks etc around Punakha) and somehow gathered a impression that it does not
close during lunch time. We, therefore, decided to go to the Dzong directly.
The Punakha Dzong
The view of the Dzong as
we approached it was impressive. Situated in the middle of the confluence of Mo
Chu and Fo Cho (Mother river and father river) this structure looked big,
imposing and colourful. We reached the Dzong crossing a bridge of traditional
style of single span cantilever type (though it is of a recent construction).
There used to be an ancient draw bridge(as gathered locally, however, Wikipedia
says that bridge too was cantilever type) over this river but it seems it got burnt
down in a fire thus this replacement bridge had to be constructed.
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| Bridge to Dzong |
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| View from Across the River |
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| Garden on either side (This one is left of the Dzong) |
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| Flag post in the Courtyard of Dzong |
Admiring the beauty of the
surroundings and the flowers, etc . we enjoyed our time. The complex has many
Jacaranda trees (two at the entrance and many more in the garden to the left of
the dzong) which had their full bloom of flowers.
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| Jacaranda Tree at the Entrance of the Dzong (this one is on the left) |
We climbed up the stone
followed by wooden stairs, steep ones, to the Dzong, only to be disappointed to
be told that it has closed a minute ago. The Dzong closes from 1300 hrs to 1500
hrs and opens thereafter from 1500 hrs to 1700 hrs). Obviously there had to be
a change of plan.
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Two Flights of Stairs (to get into Dzong)
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Driving back towards Punakha we came across Yak Herder’s
Club, a restaurant on the river bank. We decided to have lunch there. This
place is interesting with the utensils and other articles of yak herders were
used for decor. It also has good view of the river flowing behind it and area
beyond it.
The food here is made on
order and thus it takes a while, may be 20 min. The food that we ordered was
tasty, well made and hot. We enjoyed our lunch and returned to the Dzong which
had just opened post lunch.
Punakha Dzong is one of
the most beautiful and bigger Dzong. Built in 1637, like all Dzongs, it is
Religio-political HQ of Punakha district. In fact Pukakha was capital of Bhutan
till 1955 when it was shifted to Thimphu. Dzong has administrative seat as well
as a monastery where young boys learn Buddhism to become monks. There seems to
be Mummified body of Zhabdrung, first
Rinpoche, who was instrumental in creation of this Dzong kept in there. Only
the King and the head priest are allowed ‘Darshans’ of him that too only when
they take their post
It is a big Dzong with
three courtyards, a temple to Buddha of compassion in the last courtyard is
equally beautiful. I will not write much about the dzong as enough material is
available on internet. I will let the photographs do the talking.
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| Prayer Wheel at the entrance |
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| First Courtyard |
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| One of the Building There |
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| Worship going on in First Courtyard |
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| Passage to other Courtyard |
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| Ornate Building |
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| Buddha of Compassion temple |
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| Courtyard of Temple / Chief Monk Area |
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| Chief Monk's residence (as told by a Security Person) |
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| Wall Paintings |
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| Wall Painting |
Hotel Stay
Post our visit to Dzong we
came to our hotel which is little out of the town overlooking a valley through
which a river flows. Hotel Vara immediately impressed us. As we parked our
vehicle and asked the reception to send someone to pick up the luggage a big
band of women power came to our vehicle. Each one picked up one or two pieces
of luggage and laughing, smiling and making fun of each other they brought all
the luggage into our rooms. It was so pleasant and different.
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| A Wing of Rooms of Hotel Vara with Campfire Site in Foreground |
The reception as also our
rooms had ample use of wood. The rooms were big, tastefully furnished and
comfortable. The bathrooms were also big and modern. Each room has a place to
sit with cushions, etc, at the window that allows you to look at the valley. The
hotel had a sit out and a camp fire area overlooking the valley. There were
small things done differently like corridor lighting, rainwater drain from the
roof, etc.
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| Hotel Vara Receiption (See the richness of Wood) |
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| Sit in at Window in the Room |
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| Innovative Water Drain System |
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| Unique Display of the Board |
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| Unique Floor Lighting in the Corridor |
Camp fire is lit for
bigger groups (or even a smaller group) for a payment. We rested for some time
in the room. Did photography of the room and the hotel. Following Bhutan
tradition, placed our dinner order by 1930, had our dinner by 2030 and retired
for the day. A stroll outside might have been a good idea but outside was too
cold.
PS - Though the parts of this blog are taking time, be rest assured that balance three parts would definitely follow.
Great post.
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