Road Trips in Bhutan

Yesterday, myself and three companions (my fellow volunteers Ed and Annette and Annette's husband Joe) hired a driver and took a 2.5 hour drive to Punakha to visit the Dzong and attend a festival.  More on that tomorrow.  Today, I would like to describe the drive.

In Bhutan as in Great Britain the driver is on the right and you drive on the left (that is when the road has two lanes).  Seat belts are not worn.  They do not exist in many vehicles, and have been removed or tucked away in a manner they cannot be pulled out in others.  All of this, I believe is fashioned to improve the thrill of the passenger experience. 

Our trip to Punakha took us over the mountains, with the road looping repeatedly back over itself with numerous blind hair pin curves.  There was a great deal of construction (we traveled on Sunday as the crews would not be at work) where the road became just sand or mud.  Much of the road was one lane and when you met another vehicle one would need to back up or wait at a spot where two cars could squeeze by each other.  The passing was all the more challenging if you were on the outside as there were often drops of several hundred feet or more with no guard rails.  When you drove into a hair pin curve you beeped your horn to warn any car which might be on the other side of the curve.  Passing a slow moving care or tour bus in front of you was also exciting.  I can only describe this as the equivalent of a roller coaster ride.

We finally crested the mountains at Dochu La (3140 m), which was marked by a large array of payer flags and an impressive collection of 108 chortens.

The chortens were built in 2005 as atonement for the loss of life caused by the flushing out of Assamese militants in southern Bhutan.  There was a small monastery (Druk Wangyal Lhakhang) with modern cartoon-style murals inside.  The images included the fourth king battling rebels in the jungle, monks using a lap top, and a Druk Air plane.  Very much a Bhutanese fusion of modern and medieval times. The murals were beautiful as was the monastery, however, photos are not allowed.

There was a small restaurant at the pass (see below) where we stopped for tea and coffee.

 

On clear days from October until February one is said to be able to get a magnificent view of the Himalayans.  Unfortunately, it was misty and cloudy and we caught only one brief glimpse thru the clouds.  Despite this, the view was marvelous.

From the pass we descended downward with vegetation changing from majestic oaks, maples and blue pines to rhododendron, alder, cypress, hemlock and fir.  The temperature steadily increased and we finally entered a pleasantly warm, beautiful, fertile valley.

Our car, parked in the valley, pictured below.  Note the terraced hills on which rice is grown.

Shortly thereafter at the junction of the Mo Chhu (Mother River) and Pho Chhu (Father River) we saw our destination, the Punakha Dzong.

More tomorrow.