(This piece was written for an online magazine)
Legend says that a famous Tibetan saint heard a loud thunder
when he was building a monastery and the thunder sounded like the voice of a
dragon preaching the Buddhist teachings. He named the monastery Druk and
started a religious sect called ‘Drukpa Kagyugpa”. This religion became the state religion and
the country was named Druk Yul or the Land of the Thunder Dragon. The name Bhutan
was given by the British. It is derived from the ancient word “Bhotania”, which
meant “end of the land of the Bhots” (Tibet).
To the locals this place is and will always be Druk Yul. It
is the land of abundance, beauty and extremely happy people. Bhutan claims to
be the happiest country in the world and the reason behind this is the Gross
National Happiness, a phrase coined by the 4th Dragon King of
Bhutan, His Majesty, Jigme Singye Wangchuk. My parents and I decided to visit Bhutan and confirm
firsthand what we had heard.
If you are an Indian travelling to Bhutan all you need is a
passport and a love for the mountains. Indian nationals don’t need a visa to
enter the country. We don’t need to pay the Royalty fee either, which is 250$
per person per night. The easiest way to get to Bhutan is by air. Druk Air, the
national airlines of Bhutan, flies regularly from the international airports at
Kolkata and Delhi to Paro. The aircraft is an ATR 42- 500, smaller than the
usual airbus and the journey takes 1 hour 15 minutes.
Bhutan begins to surprise you the minute you land. The
landing strip (yes! there is just one) is in between two mountains with a
river, the Paro Chhu, flowing next to it. Paro gets its name from this
river. It is considered to be one of the
World’s most challenging airports to land in and my mother sure was holding on
to her seat till the plane touched the tarmac. The airport is small and for the
first time in many years I got off the plane and walked straight into
immigration. No aero bridges or buses carting me around. My first whiff of Bhutanese architecture
started at the airport. The building is multicoloured with wooden panels, small
arches and paintings, with a sloped roof that is green in colour. There is a
rule that all houses in Bhutan should follow the same style and if a person
wants to build something else they need a permit to do so.
The best way to see a place is by road. Our first journey
was from the airport to Thimphu, the capital city. Bhim, a small man with a large smile (their
claims were coming true) was our driver for the trip. You can also book a taxi only till Thimphu for
700INR or 700 Ngultrums, the currency of Bhutan. The drive takes an hour and a
half counting the few stops in between and is breathtakingly beautiful, with
the river on one side
and lush green mountains on the other. We stopped at two places en route. First up the
Tachogang Lhakhang Bridge, it is a suspension bridge that is made entirely out
of iron chains, over the Paro Chhu. It was built by Thangtong Gyalpo in the 13th
century. As spooky as it may seem in the
beginning, conquer your fears and walk across. This is one stop you will never
forget. Our second stop was at the Chuzom meaning “The confluence”. This is
where the Paro Chhu and Wang Chhu (the river that flows from Thimphu) meet. The
sounds of the current drown everything else out. There is a toll gate at this
point and you will keep wishing the queue took longer. The rest of the drive is
serene. You see mountains and more mountains along the way, peach trees growing
everywhere and beautifully built houses that look the same but are still so
different.
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| The Tachogang Lhakang suspension bridge!!! We crossed it |
Thimphu is the most modern of all the cities in Bhutan. The
main market is a long road at the city center and most hotels are located
around the area. We stayed a little away from the market at Upper Motithang,
because we wanted a view of the valley. Our hotel, Peaceful Resort, was a
fairly priced 4 star hotel (2500INR-3500INR/ per night) with a fantastic view
of the valley and a very lazy dog named Bruno.
The rooms are minimally decorated with big beds and connected balconies,
ensuring you start a conversation with fellow visitors.
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| Hi Brunooo :) |
All shops in the market accept the Indian Rupee so don’t
worry about exchanging currency after you reach. We reached during lunch and
made our way to a restaurant called Tandin. The entire place is wood paneled
and overlooks the Wang Chhu. The Bhutanese cuisine has a lot of options for
both vegetarians and non vegetarians. Indian food is easily available but being
as adventurous as possible we decided to eat some local food and were
pleasantly surprised. The happiest country loves chillies and everything from
their curries to salads has them in it. My favourite dish is the Kewa Datshi, a
simple looking dish with potatoes, cheese and chilli that is eaten with hot
rice. It is delicious and so addictive that this was all we had throughout our
trip. There are different variants of it made with mushroom and chicken as
well.
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| Kewa Datshi (With potatoes) Emma Datshi (Mushrooms) Hoegaay Salad ( chillies, capsicum and more chillies) and Rice.... A typical Bhutanese lunch.... Absolutely delicious :D |
The market has hundreds of shops that sell local
handicrafts. The Thimphu handicrafts emporium is a great shop that has some
lovely masks at decent prices and you can bargain too! When in Bhutan, a mask,
the local dress (Gho and Kira) and a prayer wheel are must buys. If you are in
the capital on the weekend don’t forget to check out the Weekend Market at
Norzim Lam. People from all over Bhutan come here with their wares. It is a
treat to the eyes and the ears too, because the shops are kept right along the
river. The treats don’t stop here. Thimphu’s places of attraction are one of a
kind. Most tourists opt to take taxis on a day tour and see the entire city.
They charge 1000Ngultrums per day, 1500 if you want a guide. Our guide’s name
was also Bhim.
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| The weekend market... I could shop here forever :) |
Places to visit in Thimphu: National Institute of Zorig
Chusum (Thirteen Arts): It is an arts
school that provides instruction in the traditional 13 arts of Bhutan. The main
subjects are painting, sculpting, embroidery and wood carving. There are
courses that take 6 years to complete. It is a treat to the eyes and the soul
as you watch hundreds of students carry on generations of artistic tradition
forward and doing it happily. The Zorig Chusum gift shop sells all that the
students make and a part of the earnings goes to the individual student.
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| A student working on his Buddha drawing at the Zorig Chusum |
The National Library
of Bhutan: The national library isn’t too far away from the art school. This place has such an old world charm, it
has huge windows, teak wood shelves and a lovely painting of the Buddha when
you enter. Walk in to see the world’s largest book called Bhutan: A Visual
Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan, on display.
The Trashi Chhoe Dzong: The Trashi Chhoe Dzong is the main
attraction of Thimphu. Dzong means fortress though nowadays it houses both
civic offices and monastic bodies. The King and his cabinet of Ministers work
here and so do the head Monks. This Dzong is open to the public only after
office hours (5pm – 6pm) on weekdays and (8am-6pm) on Sundays. The central courtyard
(Dochey) is of magnificent proportions and accommodates the locals of Thimphu
during the Tsechu Festival. Tsechu meaning “day ten” is celebrated on the tenth
day of the Tibetan Lunar Calendar. Similar
to the houses all over Bhutan it has wooden panels on the windows, small arches
and beautiful paintings of Bhutan’s history all over the walls. You can spend
an entire day here and will still not be able to do this Dzong full justice.
Motithang Takin Preserve: There are many things specific to
Bhutan, like the Takin. If you haven’t seen a Takin in Bhutan, you will never
see one again. This animal is an odd mix of a goat and a bison. Try getting to
the preserve early morning and you might just be able to feed one.
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| Weird looking Takin |
Dochula Pass: If you
want a spectacular view of the Himalayas a visit to the Dochula pass is a must.
This pass is the most known and used pass in Bhutan. It goes all the way to the
Punakha Valley. Before you start your drive to Dochula Pass, pray to the
weather gods for clear skies so that you can see the range. We met a few
visitors who didn’t see it the first time and came back the next day hoping
they get lucky. The drive to Dochula is
an attraction in itself. You get to see huge Chortens (burial mounds), water
prayer wheels and all kinds of flowers along the way.
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| At Dochula, Chortens for all the saints |
Once we had taken in all that Thimphu had to offer we made
our way to Paro. There are buses from
Thimphu to Paro every half hour and the ticket would cost 50-100Ngultrums depending
on the bus. You have share taxis that are more common and they charge
300Ngultrums per trip. We met the Chuzom
again and sat on the banks of the Paro Chhu as we saw a plane land. Unlike
Thimphu, Paro is a very relaxed town, where afternoon siestas seem longer than
usual. The market place is much smaller than in Thimpu but the handicrafts and
the prices are almost the same. Most visitors go to Paro to see two things, the
Taktsang Monastery (Tiger’s Nest) and the Paro Dzong. Most hotels will offer a
bird’s eye view of the Tiger’s Nest and a few offer a taxi to the Dzong and
back. We decided to see the Paro Dzong
before we made our way to the hotel.
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| The view from the Paro Dzong |
Unlike the Thimphu Dzong, the Paro Dzong is run entirely by
the monks and if you get there during lunch time you can hear more than 200
monks chant. Even though most Dzongs are similar in their construction the Paro
Dzong is more spectacular because of the view from the lower courtyard. It is
picture perfect. There is a historic museum very close to the Dzong that holds
a vast collection of masks, definitely worth a visit.
The resort we were staying at was Ugyen Phendeyling Resort.
A 3 star hotel (2000-3000INR per night) that offered a good view of the tiger’s
nest and served a mouth watering Kewa Datshi, that still makes me
salivate.
Our last day in Bhutan ended on a high. We started our trek
up the Tigers nest at the crack of dawn. The Taktsang stands on the edge of a
cliff at 10,240ft. It is believed that Guru Padmasambhava flew to this spot on
the back of a Tigress. The trek up takes two and a half hours, with a little
stop at the cafeteria halfway, for tea. A word of advice, don’t walk up with a
local, you will never match up to their speed. Even though everybody worries
about climbing up it is walking down that is more difficult. The closer you get
to the Tigers Nest, the more it will defy your imagination. It is an experience
of a life time and was a surreal ending to our trip.
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| Taktsang :D |
Bhutan is a land like no other. Modern yet so culturally and
traditionally rooted with the happiest bunch of people and some spicy chillies.
The picture perfect surroundings are the cherry on top. Till next time, Kadrin
Chhe Druk!
