This gallery contains 16 photos.
If there is only one photo, you have ever seen of Bhutan … that one photo likely showed the Tiger’s Nest – or Paro Taktsang. The Tiger’s Nest hangs on a cliff about 900m above Paro valley floor (3120m above … Continue reading
After our visit to Rinpung Zhong we had a short walk, following the stairs downhill towards the river. A short side trip got us to Hungrel Gyem Lhakhang, another (smaller) temple next to the river. From here we continued to and across the Nyamai Zam Footbridge – with great views of Paro Zhong from the other side.
After a quick visit to Kaja Throm Market and checking out the festivities at Druk Choeding Lhakhang (the Buddhist temple close to Paro’s city center), we finally made our way to the hotel North of the city center.
This gallery contains 20 photos.
Loaded with all that phallic energy, we were ready for the long (~100km) drive from Punakha to Paro. The first half of the drive was along the same road we had taken a few days earlier in the other direction … Continue reading
This morning we were heading out for Chimi Lhakhang, the Divine Madman’s fertility temple. To get there we had short walk starting in the village of Sopsokha and through Teoprongchu and rice paddies – both villages with a full line-up of shops selling phallus statues in all sizes, colors and artistic renderings – to eventually arrive at the monastery on top of a hill.
The monastery was built in 1499 in honor of Lama Drukpa Kunley (the divine madman). Murals inside the temple building depict stories of his life – including his encounter with Dochu La Domm, a demon he subdued with his magic thunderbolt of wisdom. In any case, phalluses are important here, with people coming here to get fertility blessings or get help in selecting a children’s name.
After a quick lunch in a nearby restaurant, we continued deeper into the Punakha valley for the highlight of the day – Punakha Dzong.
If you have seen just a few photos from Bhutan, chances are one was similar to the second one in my collection below. Punakha Dzong (meaning the palace of great happiness), it dates back to the first half of the 17th century and is serenely located at the confluence of Po Chhu and Mo Chhu (chhu being Bhutanese for river).
After a quick photo stop to take in the picture postcard view, we continued to the parking lot, made our way across the cantilever bridge, to then enter the zhong proper for a tour around the courtyards and chapels.
We had a very early morning today, as there was the long drive to Punakha – a distance of about 200km – ahead of us. We were basically heading the same way back, that we had come in two days before – so, there were only limited stops on the way. We reached Punakha and Wangdue Phodrang Dzong around midday – and had a quick tour of this dzong – that sits nicely on top of a cliff overlooking the valley and offering great views. The dzong was originally built in 1638 – but did burn down in 2012, the re-building only finished in 2022 (now with proper firefighting equipment in place).
We spent most of the morning at Jambay Lhakang temple – before making our way to a nearby homestay, for a chance to try some archery and the Bhutanese version of “darts” (to me it felt closer to ax-throwing than what we consider “darts”), followed by a farm-house lunch.
Thus invigorated it was time for a bit of a work-out – or a walk in the valley. First stop – after less than 2km – was at Kurjey Lhakhang, a monastery complex with three temples … the oldest going back to 1652, the youngest only to 1984. We took the time to tour the three of them (and showing gratitude to the invention of temple socks).
After the tour and a stop at some well-hidden toilets, we continued the walk, now heading towards the Bumthang Chhu River, eventually crossing Dawathang Zam bridge. Two more monasteries were ahead of us – Tamzhing Monastery, built in 1501, the “Temple of the good Message” and today in desperate need of renovation.
The final monastery for the day was just 400m down the street – Könchogsum Lhakhang. This monastery had almost completely burned down in 2010 due to a butter lamp fire; as such the main buildings are fairly new – enveloping the restored few remains of the original building, which survived the fire.
Well – with all those monasteries … what is missing in such monastic day? Right – of course a brewery – the next stop was at Bumthang Brewery for a choice of cake or a fresh Red Panda Beer (aka red panda juice) right from the cask.
This gallery contains 12 photos.
Today started with great views of the valley from our hotel and a great breakfast (with great bread and cheese, plus home-made jam and yogurt). The drive was local today, we were just heading for Jambay Lhakhang, a temple believed … Continue reading
We were already well into the afternoon by now – so it was time to continue the journey towards today’s destination – Bumthang … another good 60km to go.
En-route we had a short stop at the border between the Trongsa and Bumthang regions at Yotongla Chorten – to then proceed to a weaving mill, to get an introduction to weaving and an opportunity for souvenir shopping. We made it to Bumthang only after dark – again with well heated rooms, a great dinner and (in my opinion) the best hotel of the whole trip waiting for us.
We had made it to Trongsa – and were now looking at a visit to Trongsa Dzong, the largest fortified monastery in Bhutan situated high above the river with spectacular views. We had the usual tour through the dzong (well – after a bit of shoe-related misunderstanding was resolved and we suddenly had a tour guide in shoes a number or two too big for him).
After the visit of the dzong and lunch we continued to Taa-Dzong (the watchtower), which today houses the Royal Heritage Museum with a collection of both religious artifacts, as well as those from the royal family. The museum also provides a good overview of the history of the royal family; occasionally tourists tend to get lost here.
