Many ancient saints and spiritual gurus head towards the Himalayan
ranges to seek eternal peace and oneness with the soul. If you are curious what takes them to these mountains, then you need to
visit this place to seek what is exactly hidden in the Himalayan ranges.
The easiest entry to
Bhutan is via roads connecting Siliguri (a hill station in West Bengal) to
Phuntsholing border district of Bhutan. The other route obviously is by Airways
connecting Delhi or Bagdogra in India to Paro International Airport, Bhutan.
Not all commercial airlines are allowed to fly to Bhutan. So the only available
options are the Bhutan Airlines or Druk Airlines.
Diving into the mountain Kingdom –
We boarded an early morning Druk Airlines flight from
Bagdogra Airport. The flight had a soft Bhutanese music being played in the
background and the onboard crew were dressed in the traditional dresses of
Bhutan i.e. Kira (for Women) and Gho (for Men). The take-off and landing were pretty fast as it takes
hardly an hour to reach Paro. What is fascinating is the landing into Paro
International Airport. When the flight was about to land we could see the
Himalayan mountain ranges covered with dense green forests (some distant ones
were covered in snow) and few tiny houses in between with crystal clear water
streams flowing. The first thought on seeing through the window was, are we
surely landing here, right into the mountains! Landing in the Paro Airport is
one of the most beautiful experience and also the trickiest owing to its
position between the mountain ranges. We anyways enjoyed this view with the
background Bhutanese soothing music until we landed in Paro.
The moment we stepped out of the flight in Paro, there was a change in the air, it was chilling, windy with light drizzles. We were standing
here on an open land next to the runway, just the airplane next to us and the co-passengers and
two single storey decorated buildings which were that of the airport authority.
After enjoying the atmosphere we slowly moved into the beautifully decorated
airport buildings, completed the Visa on Arrival formality and picked our
luggage still wondering on the delicate detailing of the beautiful art form on
the ceiling of this complex.
Look beyond the horizon -
At the airport exit, the tour guide/driver was waiting with
our names held in hand. Having introduced ourselves, Mr.Purba started towards
our hotel to Thimphu. Just a glance behind the vehicle while leaving the
Airport premises we realized the gates being closed and locked. Mr. Purba
informed there are no more flights expected beyond this time and hence it was
the end of day for the Airport Officials as well. Ahh! Can that be possible,
end of the day even before noon? On a lighter note here goes the Secret to this
Happiness Land.
The road ran parallel to a pristine river with crystal clear
water transparent enough to see the pebbles on the river bed. We were told it’s
the Pa Chhu (meaning Pa – Paro, Chhu – River). We took a moment of halt at the
river bank to soak into its beauty and proceeded towards Thimphu. Every
junction had huge pictures of the royal family. Soon we were on the spiral roads between
the huge mountain ranges where the vehicles played hide and seek with the ones coming
from the opposite direction. Every next mountain you see gives a sense its
deserted beyond this but as we proceeded the roads found its way from them just
as Pa Chhu emerged parallel to these roads.
Soaking into the artistic vibes –
By afternoon we were in Thimphu and the city had its decorative
welcoming entrance. And this is a unique feature of this country, every
building /house has their exteriors colorfully and artistically painted making
us wonder the amount of hard work put into this display of art as though the
entire city had emerged out of an canvas of an artist. Soon we were crossing
the Thimphu square, the heart of Thimphu, to the center of which is a
decorative traffic booth where silently the Thimphu traffic police regulates traffic
without any signal lights, neither whistling nor honking of cars. We now understand how
strictly the traffic rules are followed unlike its Indian neighbour.
We reached the hotel by mid-noon. The interiors of the hotel starting from the visitors’ lobby to
the dining area to the reception were decorated with fine wooden work,
beautiful soothing lights and the peaceful vibe which had been lingering in the atmosphere all around. Two lovely housekeeping ladies dressed in Kira arrived to
escort us and help with our luggage to our rooms. My dear husband fumbled to
the idea of ladies carrying our luggage and insisting not to do so but we
slowly notice that most of the business is taken care by ladies here in Bhutan. More power to the women here and
everywhere.
We got refreshed and had our lunch though it was over
lunch time. Realizing that most of their menu had Indian or Chinese dishes
trying to impress the Indian tourist crowd we requested for what the locals would
usually have at home. So we were served thukpa, a one pot meal of soup, rice noodles and veggies accompanied with momos.
After relishing our Bhutanese lunch, we went out for a stroll around the
city. It was chilling due to frequent drizzles through the day. We were still
wondering why the buildings are so artistic and the poster of his highness king
and queen were on every street or shop. Soon the sun started hiding behind the
mountains surrounding the city, and it was hardly 5 PM. The hilly streets had young mothers/fathers with kids hopping on the pavements or hanging on their
backs and they were off their Kira/Gho as the official working hours were over. We
were back in our hotel, had black tea sourced from Darjeeling and
rested a bit. Then it was dinner time soon by 8 PM with a spread of Indian
buffet and we called the first day off.
Journey into the happiness valley –
Next morning, Mr. Purba drove us into the misty valleys, densely covered with
forests which accounts to 70% of the total available land in Bhutan. The smooth
drive was accompanied by soul stirring Bhutanese music and frequent spotting of
the colorful prayer flags on the way. Our first stop was Dochula Pass on the way to Punakha. It is a pass connecting Thimphu to Punakha. The pass has a
temple at the hilltop and is covered by similar shaped smaller 108 stupas
surrounding it at alternating steps in a circular pattern. When we reached here the place was misty but soon the clouds
cleared and we were able to get the view of many distant snowclad Himalayan
ranges. We enjoyed the serenity here for some time and proceeded to Punakha.
Punakha used to be the capital of Bhutan earlier and hence
many important and official buildings still exist here. Our main destination
here was the Punakha Dzong and its distant view felt like a beautiful
palace out of our dreams. It is also termed as the ‘Palace of Happiness or
bliss’. There is the Pho Chhu (Punakha River) on one side of this Dzong. We had to cross a beautiful wooden
bridge over the Pho Chu to reach the entrance. This is a large area surrounded
by trees with purple blossoms and includes many administrative buildings and
temples. We visited the temple premises which has statues of many Buddhist saints
and the Buddha himself. All temples in Bhutan had a very positive vibe and a serene
atmosphere, ideal for meditation. One will spot many monks in their maroon
robes around this temple, some even busy in their meditation practices.
Then after trying another Bhutanese cuisine i.e. Ema Datsi
(Chilli Cheese) with brown rice for lunch we proceed for our next visit i.e.
Chimi Lhakhang temple (or the fertility temple). This temple is situated on a
hill top and takes you through a rather smooth trek between the paddy fields enjoying
the local view and the lovely climate. One will cross a small village with
cattle and chickens going around the place, children playing and also some
shops selling artifacts to the tourists. We did interact with a few locals
here, especially a little girl in a shop where we stopped for a few minutes as
it started raining. She had learnt English in school and was telling us about
the national dress which even she was wearing, the king and the queen and even
what she knew about Buddha, the enlightened one. At the top of the hill, we
spun the giant prayer wheel and watched many prayer flags swaying in the wind
and simply sat under the trees, enjoying the serenity of the place. On the
return however we lost the way in the paddy fields but thankfully had a local
number to call up Mr. Purba for help.
Thimphu - The Capital
Next day we toured the Thimphu city. The day was bright and
sunny and hence very comfortable throughout. We saw the Buddha Dodernma which
is an enormously huge bronze Shakyamuni Buddha statue sitting in a meditative
posture and over-looking the whole city. The statue is built up of 125000 small
Buddha statues which is not visible to us. Below the statue is a meditation
hall where one can pray in peace. Surrounding this area are statues of
beautiful angels all made in bronze. Then was another temple visit where we
were astonished to see many monks sitting together to recite the holy
scriptures unaware of the surroundings and the rush of the people visiting this
place. We ensured we rotated almost all the tiny and huge prayer wheels there.
The prayer wheels have prayers written on them and rotating it means you say
the prayer that many times. One
observation was though the people know about the teachings of the Buddha, they
seemed a little superstitious and for any problems like the kids health, they
would pray and give offerings to a local deity. I guess that’s how we humans
are, we always wish some supernatural things to happen.
Then we visited a wildlife reserve specially to view the national animal of Bhutan i.e. Takin. It’s a huge animal and looked like a wild sheep or rather a cross between a goat and a cow. It is rear now and is being preserved in this forest area. We also toured the city to get a view of the beautiful Thimphu Palace which currently hosts all government activities.
Then we visited a wildlife reserve specially to view the national animal of Bhutan i.e. Takin. It’s a huge animal and looked like a wild sheep or rather a cross between a goat and a cow. It is rear now and is being preserved in this forest area. We also toured the city to get a view of the beautiful Thimphu Palace which currently hosts all government activities.
The next morning we started for Paro. We reached
there midday and checked into a beautiful resort for our overnight stay in a
wooden cottage with a view facing the giant mountains. We enjoyed our meals and
headed to the local city market area. It’s a beautifully planned city with wide
roads and pavements, all types of shops selling artifacts, souvenirs, variety
of prayer wheels and many locally made handicrafts. However many things here
seem to be sourced from other countries as well. There are cafes and restaurants
all around this place. One thing that struck us was every house or shop had
atleast a prayer wheel on its wall or entrance. It only showed, to pray you do not need a
special place or time, it can be anywhere and anytime. We did ensure to rotate
many of them and loved doing it. We ended our day at our cottage seeing the sun
set from the balcony and the distant light house turn up bright blinking all
night.
One good thing about travelling is it resets your biological clock. Amazingly we woke up at 4:30 am daily in Bhutan as the sun rose by 4 am daily and set by 4:30 pm. In cities, we struggle to wake up even by 7:00 am and here I was shocking myself daily without even using the alarm clock.
One good thing about travelling is it resets your biological clock. Amazingly we woke up at 4:30 am daily in Bhutan as the sun rose by 4 am daily and set by 4:30 pm. In cities, we struggle to wake up even by 7:00 am and here I was shocking myself daily without even using the alarm clock.
Aimed to tame the mountains -
Our Paro tour was more about the Tiger’s Nest trek as we
chose it over the site seeing in Paro. It is also known as the Paro Taktsang. I
believe all of us have come across this place as wallpaper on some computer
screens and that temple seems to hang out of a giant mountain cliff. Probably
that same view struck us, with a quest to discover what hides there above. We had
never before done such a high trek but the journey and the site of many other
people doing it inspired us to tame the 3000 ft trek. We were very slow at it
owing to our sitting profession with very less mobility. People returning from the
top kept inspiring. As we moved higher the Taktsang seemed to appear closer but
not as much as we thought. The way was shady and cool.
Although the whole route was not smooth, it was walkable or at times climbable. It became tougher as the oxygen level was dropping making us breathless with the rise in altitude. At the mid distance there was only one restaurant with lunch buffets and snacks at tremendously hyped prices. Honestly, we settled for some snacks for that whole day as it was sure we could not trek further with a heavy meal. When we reached the top of one mountain and only realized now there were many steps here after to climb down and then again up to reach the destination. When we finally reached the Taktsang, we were amazed that we had done it. And what we realized was, the journey is always more fulfilling and accomplishing than the ultimate destination. The journey had taught us patience, self-belief, the law of attraction that whatever we can dream of, we can achieve.
On the way we met many people who had done the trek much better than us even at an older age. The Taktsang itself has a history and significance. And even though it has been partially destroyed by calamities the government has made an effort to restore it. It is believed that the Buddhist Guru Padmasambhava came to this location on the back of the tigress to tame a Tiger Demon. There are many beautiful paintings here which depict stories of local deities and are well explained by the local guides. We returned down almost by the evening with stories from many more travelers – The young and old road tripping friends who were on road from last one month, the sisters travelling without their misters, the father and daughter duo and so on.
Although the whole route was not smooth, it was walkable or at times climbable. It became tougher as the oxygen level was dropping making us breathless with the rise in altitude. At the mid distance there was only one restaurant with lunch buffets and snacks at tremendously hyped prices. Honestly, we settled for some snacks for that whole day as it was sure we could not trek further with a heavy meal. When we reached the top of one mountain and only realized now there were many steps here after to climb down and then again up to reach the destination. When we finally reached the Taktsang, we were amazed that we had done it. And what we realized was, the journey is always more fulfilling and accomplishing than the ultimate destination. The journey had taught us patience, self-belief, the law of attraction that whatever we can dream of, we can achieve.
On the way we met many people who had done the trek much better than us even at an older age. The Taktsang itself has a history and significance. And even though it has been partially destroyed by calamities the government has made an effort to restore it. It is believed that the Buddhist Guru Padmasambhava came to this location on the back of the tigress to tame a Tiger Demon. There are many beautiful paintings here which depict stories of local deities and are well explained by the local guides. We returned down almost by the evening with stories from many more travelers – The young and old road tripping friends who were on road from last one month, the sisters travelling without their misters, the father and daughter duo and so on.
The Return to a place called home-
This being our last day touring in Bhutan, we the tired
trekkers, started for Phuntsholing the next day. This whole day we drove through
the beautiful mountain and valleys of Bhutan crossing beautiful rivers, clouds and fogs and mists and
drizzles with the company of Bhutanese music from Mr. Purba’s collection. We
stayed a night at Phuntsholing, explored the local markets and places around on
foot but it looked more like its Indian neighbour with no more designed houses
at sight. We left Bhutan the next morning and crossed into the Indian border which was differentiated only by a decorated gate separating the two countries.
What you take back from Bhutan is only a wish to come back
again.
This beautiful country still remains undiscovered for the most of it to
us. We definitely want to go back some day to explore more of it.
As rightly quoted, "Travelling leaves you speechless and turns you into a storyteller".
Incredible. Seems to be a great experience that you had. Bhutan is one of the places that has many things to offer to its tourists. It is one of the unexplored gems that has many different types of places and amazing things to do as well. Here are some travel tips for people planning to travel to the country. Do research well while planning to have a great trip.
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