A group of us decided to visit Bhutan as we were looking forward to natural beauty, silence and peace. All this is available in abundance...
7th October 2016
11 of us got packed, Ranga was dropping me at the airport, en route picked up
a friend
and we were at the airport by 1.30am, having crossed over to Oct 8th! As happens in a group, before we realized it, we boarded the flight and our Indigo flight took off for Delhi at 4.15am
8th. Oct 2016 Delhi - Paro - Thimpu
Landed in Delhi at 6.50am at terminal 1, collected our luggage, went out to find the complimentary shuttle to terminal 3...this bus goes out of the airport, collects other people too, does a mini detour and reaches Delhi airport terminal 3 after 45 mins! Ridiculous. Then by the time you finish your check in at the Druk air (Royal Bhutan Airlines) counter, immigration, security check etc etc...and you're given a gate which is at least a km away and the buggy for this is also a merry walk, oh yeah, you get the idea...
Anyways made it into Druk airlines, an Airbus, and settled down...ravenous as we had had no time even for a cup of coffee...and the last meal had been 15 hours ago..thankfully a full breakfast was served, and I must say it was sumptuous. Feeling better with some fuel in, attempted to sleep and failed, however thoroughly enjoyed the view of the magnificent Himalayas and the rocking cradle motion of the plane as it landed.
We were met by Tshering and Dhava, our guides and constant companions for the next few days and were taken to have lunch and forthwith to the Khichu Lakhang Dzong, a beautiful monastery. We then checked in to our Riverside Hotel, a boutique hotel in Thimpu.
9th Oct 2016
Everyone decided on a relaxed departure, so that is what we did. by 10am, after having our breakfast at our Riverside hotel, we left to see the Memorial of the 3rd. King. Built by a grieving mother for her son, in typical Buddhist style, it is a pagoda set in a lovely garden.
S
aw nearly 5 other dzongs, had a nice lunch, some did some shopping and we trouped back by teatime to the hotel.
The piece de resistance was the largest sitting Buddha in the world made of bronze housing more than 108 smaller Buddhas within...a sight which was super and could be seen from our hotel room when lit too.
A short nap, and we left for some shopping and dinner...bought some lovely apples on the way..had a wonderful local traditional dinner with the omnipresent Ema Datshi, basically large green chillies in a cheese sauce (very similar
to the Chilli Con Queso, for those who love
Mexican
).
Received a lovely wall hanging as a gift from our guide, one based on our puranas, and returned to our hotel for the night as next day was to be an early start.
10th. Oct 2016 Thimpu - Punakha - Paro
Had an early breakfast, checked out of
the hotel and drove to Punakha via the Dochu La Pass. The journey defies description, up the hill and down...7000ft is what we traverse, watch every possible weather...sun, mist, rain...watch the rapids in the river as we go, deep deep valleys which seem to call out to the high peaks of the mountains...buildings on these peaks which can be reached through some hair raisingly narrow and death defying paths...mountain goats nimbly prancing on narrow barely-wide-to-hold-his-hoof and beautiful mother nature blessing all her children benevolently.
The Punakha Dzong was one of the most ornate with bridges and paintings in brilliant colors, set against Mount Everest in the background, it truly was awe inspiring.
The Dochu La Pass with its hide and seek weather...now you see it now you don't with Mount Kanchenjunga, hot chai in hand and an ethereal mist surrounding, you could be forgiven if you thought this was paradise, if not it, it certainly was a large slice of it.
The suspension bridge to cross the yawning valley can be approached through some un-paved up and down road so I was only able to get a second hand idea of it.
In fact a suggestion to future visitors would be to stay in Punakha at least for a couple of days.
We returned to Paro by 7 pm, only to find the Mandala hotel impossible to access for people like me with a bad leg, so a few frantic calls later , by the time we had dinner..things were arranged so we shifted to a lovely resort with log cabins, and called it a night.
11th Oct 2016 - Paro
Some went for a trek to the Tiger's Nest, the most holy shrine in Bhutan where Rinpoche is supposed to have started his preaching, situated on a dazzlingly beautiful mountainside, it is home to tigers in the wild and an absolute gem. The rest of us went for a shopping trip to town and returned for lunch to the new boutique resort we had moved to. A short rest and we had a troupe of Bhutanese tribals giving us a song and dance performance of their culture and rituals...a bonfire was planned after a spa bath, unfortunately, rains drove everyone in. I had a fall and remained in excruciating pain for days after that.
12th Oct 2016 Paro - Delhi - Bangalore
An early morning departure to the airport had us huddling against the heavy rain..our guides who had been with us throughout said goodbye to us..and we bought a couple of things in the duty free, I a peach wine and liqueur chocolates for Ranga ( was missing him, needed him with me badly when I was in pain, comfort zone so to say)...had a scrumptious breakfast in flight and was watching the Mount Everest and Himalayan mountain ranges for over 40 mins of the flight ( a tip...ask for the E & F seats on your flight back), reached Delhi, went through the airport with my knee swollen like a football, in horrendous pain, feverish, topped with pills, in no mood to eat anything, and reached Bangalore thankfully, battered but not broken, by evening. By now all I wanted was to reach home to a hot meal and MY bed.
It was a good trip till I fell, then it was only in a haze of pain.
A few points to remember
The disparity in rates for Indians and foreigners unfortunately makes the locals prefer to serve the foreigners
Check and double check your bills..either the Bhutanese are very bad at Maths or are smiling cheats! Either ways don't take a chance
If you have orthopedic issues, be prepared to sit out a lot of places as most have access only through steps or slopes and bad ones at that.
Nature is breathtakingly beautiful and one should go to Bhutan only to revel in it at a relaxed pace...hurry and worry have no place in Bhutan!
Tashi Delek ! (Good luck and Goodbye!)
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