Visited in April 2023
བིརི་ཊི་ཧེཌི་གི་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་འབད་ནི།!
The Land of Thunder Dragons - The beautiful Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. Druk is a word you cannot get your eyes and ears off while in Bhutan. It means 'Thunder Dragon' in Dzongkha, which is the language spoken by Bhutanese people. Be it a restaurant or a salon, a hotel or a travel agency, a grocery shop or a textile shop, you will find this magical word 'Druk' all over the place. The Royal Bhutanese Airline itself is named Druk Airways and they also have a trekking route named Druk Path - well its all about Thunder Dragons while in Bhutan :)
While planning a trip to Bhutan, we should be aware of certain facts - It is mandatory to hire a local Bhutanese guide. Every tourist above the age of 14 years will have to pay SDF (Sustainable Development Fees) to the Bhutanese government. Indian citizens do not need a visa to enter the Kingdom. SDF was earlier USD 65 per day per person for foreign nationals which is now increased to USD 200 per day per person. For Indians, there was no SDF earlier and now it is Rs 1200 per day per person. There are several tour operators in Bhutan and we chose Ninda Lingpa Tour - http://www.nindalingpatours.bt/ for our trip. They provided us excellent service and are quite reliable and trustworthy.
The itinerary for our 7 days trip was:
Day 1 - Arrive at Paro airport and transfer to Thimphu
Day 2 - Thimphu
Day 3 - Punakha
Day 4 - Phobhjikha
Day 5 - Paro
Day 6 - Paro
Day 7 - Phuntsholing and exit to India via land border
Connectivity by air to Bhutan is limited. Bhutan has only one airport, located at Paro. From India, there are daily flights of Druk Air operating from New Delhi and Kolkata and selected days from Guwahati, Bagdogra and seasonal operations from Bodhgaya. We chose to fly from Kochi to Guwahati in domestic airline and from there to Paro by Druk Air.
While in Guwahati, we watched beautiful young girls and boys of Assam perform Bihu dance. It was unexpected to see a traditional dance at the airport. Definitely a visit to North East India is always in top wish list, hope that happens :)
Day 1 - Arrive at Paro and drive to Thimphu
As soon as we entered the air space of Bhutan with the sights of mountains below was a delight. It was a short flight of 30-40 minutes and the landing was quite unique. Paro landing considered to be one of the most dangerous ones and only a few pilots have licence to operate here and also, flight operations happen only during day light with favourable weather conditions. We landed safe and from here our beautiful 'Bhutan days' begin.
One of the most unique aspects of Bhutan is that they maintain the traditional Bhutanese architecture even while constructing modern buildings. Its so unique and so well done that these buildings gel so well with the nature and sceneries around. You never get distracted with a rickety building or a concrete jungle while in Bhutan. The airport at Paro is a fine example. It gives a great feel of what's in store in this beautiful country.
Baggage belt at airport:
We met our tour guide Mr Dophu outside the airport and he drove us to Thimphu where we would stay 2 nights. On our way to Thimphu we visited Tamchog Lhakhang, a monastery with an age old iron bridge across the river.
It was great to feel the air of peace and tranquillity at every step we took, every sight we saw and every drop of drizzle that fell from the sky. The weather gets colder and colder by evening, while day times are warm and sunny.
You can find zillions of Buddhist prayer flags while in Bhutan, everywhere...
After reaching Thimphu, we checked into our hotel, had dinner and slept.
Day 2 - Thimphu
This day was to explore the capital city of Thimphu. Unlike the usual capital cities around the world, we see so less of chaotic traffic, so less of unpleasantly built apartments, so less of milling crowd rather, its so serene and calm and abundant beauty to experience in the city of Thimphu. I was surprised to hear that there is not a single traffic signal in Thimphu or in any place in Bhutan. In Thimphu, we still see the traffic police controlling the junctions. They in fact tried installing a traffic signal, but heard that people were super confused and later they removed it :)
The plan for the day was to visit BBS view point, Takin zoo, Simply Bhutan, Memorial Chorten, Buddha point, Textile Museum and Tarayana Park
It was a small hike to the BBS tower point where we get to see Thimphu from a bird's eye view.
The white prayer flags are hosted in the memories of the departed souls.
After the hike down, we drove to Takin zoo. Takin is the national animal of Bhutan and this zoo is to preserve the species.
There is an interesting story behind this animal's existence. While in Bhutan, we hear a lot about 'The Divine Madman' while in Bhutan. As per legends, Lama Drukpa Kuenley was a Buddhist monk who lived a life quite off the usual ways. His preaching and ideologies were unique. One day he ate a heavy meal of goat and cow's meat and then he decided to create an animal out of the bones of what he ate, head of a goat and body of a cow - Takin was created by him!
Next was a visit to Simply Bhutan - I highly recommend visiting this place while in Thimphu. We get an orientation of Bhutanese ways of living, traditions, their unique customs, food, art, archery etc. We were welcomed with a rice based wine by the guide and she gave us an interesting tour around. At the end, we tried our archery skills and also took a few steps along with the locals in their traditional dance moves.
The interesting fact is that people in Bhutan wear their national costume with lots of pride. While you can see a few younger generation wearing modern clothes, a vast majority of Bhutanese wear their national costumes on a daily basis. Its 'Gho' for men and 'Kira' for women. Our guide and driver wore such throughout the trip. School children wear national costume as uniforms and is really a great initiative to preserve their tradition and culture.
Next was a visit to National Memorial Chorten, which was built in memory of a King of Bhutan. We can climb up until the stupa and have a look around the city views.
A visit to the Buddha point was the next in the day's itinerary. There is a huge golden statue of Buddha overlooking the city. There is a beautiful temple which houses more than 10k statues of Buddha inside it. It was quite windy up there and ha.
In the evening, we visited the Textile museum which has several displays of traditional Bhutanese costumes, weaving and handicraft industry of Bhutan etc. Outside this is a beautiful street where we can do plenty of souvenir shopping, definitely enjoyed that.
The currency of Bhutan is Ngultrum, which is pegged 1:1 with Indian Rupee. Majority of the shops, hotels, restaurants accept Indian Rupee for transactions.
At Tarayana park, we got a glimpse of the spring blossoms with pink flowers all around. It was a chilly evening, we strolled around for a while, had a nice coffee and snacks in a local cafe and then headed back to our hotel for rest of the night.
Day 3 - Thimphu to Punakha via Dochula Pass
We were all set to head to Punakha, enroute a visit to Dochula pass... excited!!
The first stop was at Simtokha Dzong. Dzong is Bhutanese means fortress monastery. Interestingly, the Bhutanese language is Dzongkha, which is derived from the word Dzong.
Our guide Dophu carried a white shawl with him during the trip, which he draped around him while entering any fortress / monastery. This is the custom they follow to show their respect. The colour varies from the sects of people depending upon their roles. The common people wore the white one.
Bhutanese Dzongs were built to protect the cities from invasion by enemies. They are usually huge and sprawls across a large area. Several monks live and study in these dzongs and locals and tourists can pay visit to explore and experience the architecture and offer prayers at the temples here.
Local markets selling Yak cheese and home grown fruits:
Dochula Pass is situated on the way from Thimphu to Punakha. It is a war memorial of the soldiers who had to sacrifice their lives during a battle with insurgent groups from India. It was a joint operation between Royal Bhutanese Army and Indian Army to get rid of the insurgents and bring back peace.
The place is extremely beautiful, if lucky to be there on a clear day, can see the Himalayan ranges far away in the horizon.
We stopped by at the Botanical Garden where the Rhododendron festival was going on. Had some local wine and cocktails too.
Our next stop was Chimi Lhakhang - The Temple of Fertility. It is again related to the 'Divine Madman' It is believed that couple who are facing infertility issues, offer prayers here to be blessed with children. Inside the temple, we can see an album of devotees from all around the world who were blessed with children after offering prayers here.
The interesting sight here is the walls painted with the pictures of human penis. Souvenir shops around sells highly decorated and painted penis models in all different colours and sizes. We also bought one as a souvenir.
Artist working on Thankha painting:
Post lunch we drove to the riverside, where we hiked up to a temple Khamsum Yueley Namgyel. We walked past the suspension bridge over the river, several farm houses and farm yards and up on the hill is the temple which offers amazing view of Punakha.
Day 4 - Punakha to Phobhjikha Valley
The first visit of the day was to Punakha Dzong - extremely beautiful and huge!
It is considered as one of the most beautiful architectural marvels of Bhutan, a treat to our senses. Not all the areas of the fortress are accessible to visitors. The grand courtyards, huge walls, big prayer halls and several Buddhist monks, it is a must visit place. The Buddhist mantras are chanted in the prayer halls by the monks and it definitely elates the spirituality in you. The location of the elegant Dzong is by the riverside and makes it picture perfect.
Just almost a kilometre far from the Dzong is a large suspension bridge across the river. We walked across it and back to get almost blown away with the wind :)
After this, we were leaving the plains to hike up the mountain to drive to Phobhjikha Valley. On the way, there were several Rhododendrons with bright red and pink flowers. We saw many nomads and tribals, weaving yak wool shawls and other handicraft items on the mountains.
We visited Gangtey Monastery, yet another beautiful one and after that took a walk and a bit of hike to view the mesmerising Phobhjikha Valley. It was a beautiful evening, sunny, but cool enough to enjoy the walk. The views around the valley were picture perfect. There were many birds, lots of Yaks and quite a few horses grazing in the valley.
Day 5 - Phobhjikha to Paro via Chelela Pass
Phobhjikha Valley is renowned for the Black Necked cranes which are migratory birds which fly all the way from Tibet to here during winter. There is a museum for these birds here, and also it has two birds which were rescued from the valley, with broken wings and unable to fly back to Tibet.
We headed to Paro after visiting the cranes. Unlike many other countries, there aren't any big highways or multi-laned roads in Bhutan. People don't wear seatbelts here, and they drive quite slow, not more than 60-70 kmph on the roads. We had to drive back the same route until a point where we took a turn to Paro. This was a day of long drive all the way from Phobhjikha via Chelela Pass to Paro.
Yaks and Rhododendrons:
We took a long drive to Chelela pass before going to our hotel in Paro. It was around 35 km drive from the town and was extremely chilling cold air and windy on the pass. We grabbed a hot cup of tea from the only shop at the top.
Day 6 - Taktsang Monastery aka Tiger's Nest Monastery
This was perhaps the most awaited day of our trip to Bhutan. Tigers Nest is that iconic monastery that represents Bhutan in almost every tourist map. It is definitely every Bhutanese's pride. We felt that clearly the way our guide was expressing the details, legends and stories about it during our trek.
This is a sacred Vajrayana Buddhist site located on a cliffside, and is believed to have founded by Guru Padmasambhava who flew from Tibet on a tigress to reach this site. The monastery in its current existence was reconstructed in 2005 after a massive fire that broke out in 1998.
It is a 7-7.5 km round trek to reach the monastery and back from the base point. There are steep hill sides to hike up and down to finally reach a point where there are series of steps paved on stone. We have to climb down first and then climb up to reach the monastery. On the way, we get panoramic view of the monastery and is indeed a masterpiece.
Start of the trek:
Sights on the way:
Taktsang Monastery:
Photography is prohibited inside the monastery. There are shrines of Buddha, Guru Padmasambhava inside the monastery and is an absolutely serene and peaceful place to be.
Later, mid way, we stopped at the cafe for lunch and hiked down further to the base point. We were all dead tired by then. In the evening, we visited Paro Dzong, but had quite less energy to walk around and see the place.
Paro Dzong:
Paro Dzong view by night:
Day 7 - Exit Bhutan via Phuntsholing
This was the last day of our trip. We decided to exit Bhutan via Phuntsholing, the land border between India and Bhutan . It was about 6 hours plus to reach the border from Paro. We crossed the border and the other side was Jaigaon, West Bengal. The scenario before and after the immigration building were way too different. It was so calm and serene on the Bhutanese side of the border, with no chaos or traffic or dirty roads. Just cross and the other side was quite a shock. I felt bad about this thought I had, but that was true. It was so messed up, dirty, chaotic on the Indian side. Beggars asking for money, spits and littered road sides, honking from all sides of the roads...it was indeed disheartening.
Anyways, we hired a taxi to Bagdogra airport, on the way there were acres of tea estates on both sides of the road. West Bengal is famous for its home grown tea. We reached Bagdogra in 4 hours and took our flight back to Kochi.
Bhutan will always be remembered for its charming natural beauty, abundance of peace, lovely warm people. Buddhist principles have several layers of deep ideologies and I have been a lot inspired by the values of it - Ohm Mani Padme Hum...
With our guide, Dophu and driver, Kille
Bhutanese cuisine:
Bhutanese local cuisine is very interesting and vegetarian friendly. They use a lot of cheese and many of their dishes are cheese based. The famous Ema Datshi is a must try, and so is their local beer.
Overall, the trip to Bhutan was absolutely wonderful and will remain as one of our best travel experiences. If you are a lover of nature, trekking, Buddhism, spirituality, good food, interactions with warm and loving locals, then Bhutan is definitely the place to be.
Capital City - Thimphu
Visa - Visa not required for Indian Passport holders. Please visit govt. website for more information
Currency - Ngultrum
Best Time to Visit - Throughout the year
Popular Souvenirs - Yak woollens, prayer wheels, Thankha paintings, prayer flags, masks, painted penis models
ཆ་མཉམ་སེལ་འཐུ་འབད།!!
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