Trekking in Bhutan

Trekking in Bhutan

On the Monday morning after our free weekend in Thimpu, our delightful guide Tensin and our driver Dragbaar collected us and the very small bags of personal gear that we'd need for 6 nights in the mountains. About 30 minutes drive out of Thimpu we pulled into a layby where two men and lots of boxes, panniers were waiting for us and the packhorses. Dragbaar doesn't 'do' walking, so he left us in the safe hands on Ten and Mr Lobsang - a small, sturdy man with a ready smile and a big, old fashioned canvas knapsack, which turned out to be a bit of a magic bag! He was very much in charge, but in a quiet and confident unassuming sort of way. He later turned out to be part mountain goat when descending tracks at speed!

The horses were loaded up and we set off...straight up the mountainside. It was an easy and well used path as it led up up to a Monastery. The path even had 4 'resting stations' with benches along the route, but we were walking well and only needed to stop at two of them. 

 

Once we'd reached the monastery, which took about two hours, we rested on a low wall looking at the stunning views. The monks were clearly doing a lot of work on the land around the monastery  - bringing in a harvest of some sort of grain, doing their laundry and building dry stone walls but they also surprised us with cups of hot, sweet tea - perfect after a long climb! They're clearly used to trekkers!

 Pause for thought!

There had been some sort of problem with one of the horses so, initially, Ten said we'd camp at the monastery for the night instead of at the usual campsite by a lake higher up the mountain. This concerned me a bit because it was a long pull up from the monastery to the summit and we'd got a 15 km walk, measured from that campsite, the following day. 

It was decided that we'd do a little walk up to the south of the monastery for lunch so that we'd at least been up higher than we'd sleep. It was a fairly easy 40 minute walk before Mr Lobsang stopped us by some prayer flags which had a incredible view of the mountains, Thimpu in the valley bottom and the red roof of the monastery just visible - in the bottom right hand corner of the photo. Then from his knapsack he produced a large thermos which contained a 5 stack tiffin tin full of food then tea, coffee, plates, cutlery and cups - it really was a magic bag! There were 2 tins of boiled rice, then vegetables, cheese and hard boiled eggs....plus apples and bananas for pudding! Walking at altitude certainly makes us hungry.

The view from our picnic spot.

Lunch.

After lunch Ten announced that the horse problem had been sorted and the the camp was now set up just below the ridge. If you look back at the picnic spot photo you can see 3 blue tents on the grassy plateau. Not your average campsite as the only facilities were what the horses could carry but we've wild camped for long enough to be very used to this and we still see electric hookups as a bit of a treat! It wasn't the campsite we should have been at, but at least we didn't have to start from right back down at the monastery the following morning!

The tents were a large ridge tent for us to sleep in, a food tent with table and chairs for us and a mess tent for Ten, Mr Lobsang, "Boy" who did all the odd jobs and helped with the food preparation (and who we never heard called anything but "Boy") plus the man in charge of the horses. There was also the luxury of a toilet tent! Posh camping!

They had seen us descending so had cups of tea and bowls of hot water for us to wash in when we got to the camp. It cools down very quickly at that altitude, so it's important to do the washing and changing into thermal layers, down jackets, hats etc as quickly as possible once you've stopped for the day. They'd laid our our sleeping tent with insulated inflatable mats, sleeping bags, fleece liners, blankets and, joy of joys......hot water bottles when we went to bed!

I think it's fair to say that Bhutanese maps aren't really up to the high standards of Ordnance Survey maps that we're used to in the UK. At least Ten and Mr Lobsang knew the way!

Up, breakfasted and off by 08.00 the following morning - and it was a grueling day which started with a very steep ascent to the summit that made my legs wobble! It took us 3 hours to get to the lake where we should have camped  and involved a lot of altitude changes with all the upping and downing, so I was incredibly grateful that we'd not had to start from right back at the monastery and that I'd heeded the advice to use trekking poles. The views were magnificent though - I'm always happy when I can see snow-capped mountains!

In the photo below you can see the track winding along just below the ridge behind us. A lot of the track was grotty, loose and slippery rocks, very much like Snowdonia only much, much bigger!

The horses, "Boy" and the horseman passed us as we reached the pass below the summit.

The Pass was at 4220 m or 13,845 feet

Snow-capped mountains everywhere!

From the summit it was a long, long contouring walk round a mountain on the path that wound it's way through rhododendron forests and over rocks before a slow descent to one of the most stunning lakes I've ever seen - and it was completely surrounded by steep mountains. 

It had taken 7&1/2 hours to do 20 kms and we were shattered...but what a place to camp! It turned out that we should have been camping at the other end of the lake, where the smoke is coming from, but the Crown Prince of Bhutan and his retinue were camping there so we had a sweet little site by the stream instead.

 Our evening meal was a very tasty and filling soup followed by rice, sardines, green beans, vegetables and cheese plus a delicious potato curry. We then had hit tinned fruit for pudding - which was surprisingly nice!

It was cold overnight and we slept in our thermals. It was bitterly cold, about -10, when we woke up so we had to put our clothes inside our sleeping bags to warm them up before we got dressed - it's a long time since I've had to do that! There was a heavy frost, but that's only to be expected at 3800m (12,470ft) in November I guess. At least the Prince's camp was equally chilly!

Looking out from our tent at Andy.

Staying in our tent drinking tea and doing the all important job of warming my clothes up!

Whilst we were pottering around after breakfast getting organised for our walk two of the Prince's bodyguards turned up. Apparently they'd already been to the camp first thing to check out who we were and what we were doing. They had a rapid conversation in Dzonkha with Ten with one English phrase of  "once in a lifetime". Turned out that the Prince wanted to invite us to go for a row on the lake in one of his 2 boats to make up for the inconvenience of camping at the wrong end of the lake. This is a holy lake and it's the first time ever anyone other than the royal family have been allowed to go on it. Obviously we said yes! 

Andy, Ten and I were kitted out in life jackets then, along with three soldiers, we paddled a circuit of the lake, took loads of photos, waved at our bewildered and astonished crew and rowed back to get out below the Prince's camp. The only thing that would have topped it would to have met the Prince himself, but we had to settle for asking the highest ranked soldier to give our profound thanks to the Prince instead. Ten was beside himself. He was literally in shock. The Bhutanese royal family are revered by the people. Things like this just don't happen - until they do! Our normally chatty guide was speechless for about half an hour whilst the rest of the crew couldn't stop talking about it!

Ten in total shock on the boat!

Once back at the camp we discovered a problem - the pack horses had disappeared overnight because the horse man hadn't tied them up. He had one job!!!

After some discussion amongst Ten, Mr Lobsang and "Boy" (the horse man had gone looking for the horses!) it was decided that we'd do the first part of today's walk and, depending on what happened with the horses, we'd either carry on to tonight's camp or come back to the lake camp.

I'd woken up with a snotty nose and a sinus headache which even a paddle on the lake couldn't shift, so my breathing was heavy and laborious as we climbed slowly and steadily up out of the valley. We sat looking at the view whilst they walked off to try to get a phone signal. 

Looking back down to the lake.

We were eventually called to join them on the ridge for our picnic lunch - rice with paneer and peas, mushrooms and cheese and a potato and vegetable mix followed by grapes. All washed down with tea.

It was a phenomenal place to have a picnic - the lake way below us on one side, Paro in the valley below us on the other and totally surrounded by high mountains. it was stunning in a way that photos just can't capture.

It had been decided in the phone calls that the safest thing to do was to go back down to the campsite at the lake. Ten set off like a rocket down to the camp to make sure that everything was still there - he didn't trust the horse man not to have gone back with the horses, packed everything up and to have set off to the next camp, which would have been disastrous as there wasn't enough daylight time to walk to the next camp ..... and we'd have had to blag a bed from the Prince!

The Bhutanese are very factual when it comes to naming their birds. This translated as 'yellow beaked bird with long tail' 

Once back down at camp we washed and changed into our thermals and were having a cup of tea and some popcorn when three of the Prince's soldiers walked past with fishing rods on their way to survey the lake to see if it's going to be good enough for tourists to fish there. When the soldiers came back, being me, being from Yorkshire and being nosy, I casually asked if they'd caught anything - as you do! The oldest soldier said "no" but then stopped to talk with me. He was very well spoken with excellent and almost accent-free English. he had an air of authority about him and was clearly used to organising things. He told me that the Prince was a keen sportsman and was looking at setting up a triathlon in Bhutan - which would involve swimming in the lake! Brrrrr! 

Andy joined us and we discussed sustainability, rural depopulation and many other things. The Prince is currently touring rural populations to find out what the people need to help them develop more skills and stay in the countryside - hence the camping. So we told him about WOOF - the World Organisation of Organic Farmers, which might be useful for the Prince's aims. The man was very interested in that.

After he'd gone, Ten and the crew came out of the Mess tent where they'd been hiding. It turned out we'd just spent over half an hour chatting and laughing with the Prince's Aide-de-Camp and they were  in awe of us being able to do that so freely and beside themselves to have seen that as well as the trip on the lake this morning. I'll talk to anyone, me!

As it was so cold again we were invited to sit by the open fire in the Mess tent to have our meal. The tent was lit by the fire, a single candle and a rather useless little battery lamp that gave out less light than our head torches! They brought chairs in from the meal tent for me, Andy and Mr Lobsang , whilst Ten sat on a rolled up mat and Boy and the horse man sat directly on the ground seems it was all about  status. We gathered that they all slept on the floor in there too.

They all seemed very comfortable with us being in there and we were chatting away when the crew - who were facing the door, went silent. The Prince's bodyguard and a soldier had appeared in the doorway carrying a bucket! They had brought us 4 big rainbow trout as a gift from the Prince - they  were so fresh that they were still flapping! It was obvious that Boy didn't know what to do with them (and I didn't want to him to lose face by offering to do it for him!) so the soldier dealt with the fish outside. The bodyguard accepted Mr Lobsang's chair and sat chatting and laughing with us for about half an hour or so before taking his leave. Ten and the crew were in awe again, but Ten did manage to answer some trek-related questions from the bodyguard. After they'd gone, nobody - including us, could quite believe it. What a surreal day!

After yesterday's debacle with the horses and us having to stay two nights in the same camp, it was decided that we'd have to do 1&1/2 days' distance today - 17 kms and a similar distance again tomorrow to make up for the distance we should have done yesterday. Ten announced that, as we'd already been up onto the ridge yesterday, instead of repeating that then walking along the length of the ridge to tonight's camp, we'd do  the (supposedly) easier and lower horse track. 

Andy, Ten and I set off following the river steeply down - very tough on my knees even with my trekking poles! I had to really concentrate on the track as I am somewhat prone to accidents  and an accident in that isolated valley would have been a nightmare to sort out!

Just before we reached the valley floor, Mr Lobsang and Boy came bounding down the track at high speed, bouncing from rock to rock but barely touching them - is was so impressive compared to our cautious descent. They really were mountain goats in human form!

Mr Lobsang on the bridge!

With Mr Lobsang in his usual position at the back and providing snacks and encouragement when necessary,we set off up a very steep and grueling ascent. The pack horses had created 'steps'...except that the tread of each step was hollowed out by their hooves. I  found the height of the risers and the depth of the hollowed out treads an incredibly difficult combination for my short legs, but Andy, being a foot taller than me, barely noticed. After multiple ascents and descents, it was a massive relief to get up onto the ridge and be able to rest for a while and have a snack from Mr Lobsang's magic knapsack!

Being up on the ridge was lovely and at least the ups and the downs were nowhere near as steep or deep as previously - especially as all the 'downing' had really begun to affect my left knee. It was fine on 'alongings' and most of the 'uppings', but the 'downings'....ouch! 

We walked past a nomad camp, which I thought was the campsite we should have been at last night. Then we eventually walked through another area which had quite a few tents and a lot of rubbish - we thought this was our campsite for the night because both Andy and I reckoned we should have reached it by now. Not far beyond that campsite we stopped for lunch....once Ten had chased a couple of yaks away! 

Lunch was the fish from the Prince....although I don't think they had fresh fish very often as it had been just chopped into chunks! It was absolutely delicious though!

Ten was very vague about how far we still had to go, so we plodded on expecting to see the campsite at any time. The track was very clear and well used. It was sandy, stony and covered in roots in some places and lovely open grassland in other, but always the mountains around us.

Eventually we were becoming concerned because time was marching on and we needed to get to the camp before dark as we didn't have our head torches with us. Andy asked Ten directly where the campsite was. Ten admitted we were well past where we should have camped and heading towards the original final night camp.....because the horse man (him again!!) had disobeyed Ten and Mr Lobsang's instructions about where to camp and independently decided to continue on! We were not impressed.

 Andy and Ten had a difficult conversation because Andy felt we'd been lied to all day. Ten agreed he should have told us what the horse man had done as we passed the campsite, but he was worried about our reactions. We were actually more cross about him not telling us than we were about having to do 2 days walk in one although I was really starting to struggle with my knee, which was badly swollen by this point. Ten told me I was amazing for keeping going. I pointed out that I didn't really have any choice as I had no intention of sleeping out on the mountain with the yaks! There wasn't much he could say to that.

Ten then pointed out the Jela Dzong Temple in the distance and told us the campsite was 10 minutes before the temple. It turned out to be about 10 minutes after the temple and down a steep track. I have never been so glad to see our tents and sit down! We'd done a tough 25 kms instead of 17. The horse man was conspicuous by his absence all evening. Ten said that the horse man had decided that the planned camp wasn't good enough, there wasn't sufficient water and he knew we could do the extra distance - such faith! We suspected he actually just wanted to finish by lunchtime as they normally did.

It was an early start and they were packing up camp even as we were eating breakfast - aided by a random pony that wandered into our camp and got  a guy line caught on his pack harness and pulled a tent down.

The start of the final descent off the mountains.

My knee was still swollen and sore, but not as bad as the previous night. We did a steady 5-6 km walk down a sandy, rooty track with some stony areas and a couple of slightly slippery stream walks. I was being VERY careful as I didn't want to jeopardise our walk up the The Tiger's Nest Monastry the following day. I was very happy to see Dragbaar and his car, especially as it was another 5 kms to the 'real' end of the road! Ten had phoned him to ask him to bring his car as far up the track as he could.

The goodbyes were a bit awkward. We were supposed to tip the crew, which we did...but we Brits are just not very good at tipping and find it excruciatingly embarrassing. Mr Lobsang, who had spoken hardly any English to us all week, insisted in English that the horse man was NOT to be given a tip as he had caused all the problems and I'd been injured as a result of his behaviour. We obeyed, but it did all feel like a slightly unsatisfactory end to a great trip and a mostly nice relationship with them.

Ten and Dragbaar took us back to Thimpu and left us at our hotel where, to our amazement, we were given the best suite in the hotel....and we had a wonderful night's sleep!

A Lifelong Dream Achieved - A Visit To Bhutan

 It's been a while......

Yes, I know, I know, I disappeared off Blogland 9 years ago with no explanation, no apology, no excuses just BAM, gone. All that remained was a Christmas wish for you all and, below that, a eulogy to my beloved dad. It took me a while to work through my grief as well as having to deal with all the official stuff that follows any death, then the clearing of all dad's things, the emptying and sale of our family house, etc etc etc so I suppose I lost my mojo for blogging ...although I'm still not quite sure if I ever had a mojo to loose! 

Anyway, I'm back now and you might need to make a cup of tea before you start reading this as it's ended up being a long story!

 I'm sorry for my vanishing act, it wasn't personal, just something I had to do to give myself some headspace. It was then quite easy to get out of the habit of writing a post...and the longer it went on, the harder it became to think about doing one as it slid further and further down my 'to do' list.

Life carried on. We both finished work, first Himself then me a couple of years later - I still can't bring myself to say 'retired' as I don't feel old enough to be retired regardless of what the mirror tells me! :-)  We did lots of travelling to places I, Himself or both of us had long wanted to visit.  In 2016 I achieved my childhood dream of going to Bhutan where we spent 3 glorious weeks travelling around in stunning countryside, visiting amazing places including some marvellous ancient temples, learning the history of the country and of Buddhism, eating delicious food, and doing an incredibly beautiful but tough high-altitude 6 day trek. We even saw the first of the black necked cranes migrating into the Phobjikha valley from China for the winter. Our final visit was to The Tiger's Nest Monastery - which was the place which had sparked my desire to visit from seeing a film about it when I was about 8 years old.

Have rucksacks, will travel! We flew from Manchester to Kathmandu via a short stopover at Abu Dhabi, possibly the world's most soulless airport!. Then one night in Kathmandu before flying to Paro, Bhutan's only international airport.

The flight path from Kathmandu to Paro airport is parallel to the Himalayas and the crew very kindly put the tourists on the left side of the plane to get the best views of the Everest range.

The flight is only about 20 minutes long but we still got a box with a sandwich, a soft drink and some sort of chocolate muffin-type thing which we ate whilst staring out of the window at the amazing views. We knew we were close to landing when the plane started to zigzag between the mountains to get to the very short runway in the Paro valley. The runway is only 2265m long - roughly the same length as the height of the airport above sea level and, because of the mountains, there are not the usual high tech guidance gizmos to assist the pilots. They have to rely on spotting landmarks and get a mere 30 seconds from the last turn to the plane touching down - which is why there are only around 20 pilots licensed to fly into Paro! This is the view I saw just before the plane did what felt like a handbrake turn to the left to go down onto the runway! No wonder it's classed as one of the world's most dangerous airports...and why everyone including us clapped as we landed! 

Thimpu, the capital, is a tiny but fascinating town. There are temples aplenty which are used as meeting places as well as for worship, but it's all very relaxed. Buddhism is totally integrated into everything the Bhutanese people do, it's part of who they are. It feels a very calm, friendly and safe country. Nobody rushes, but everything happens very smoothly. 

Most people speak very good or excellent English - it's their second language and most higher education here is taught in English and most of the books are in English.

You are not allowed to take photos inside anywhere where you have to take your shoes and hats off so basically all the temples are camera free, but that really allows you to soak up the incredible carvings, wall hangings, ceiling hangings, very busy altars full of flowers and offerings and numerous statues of the gods and the bodhavistas (female compassionate beings)as well as the smell of the incense and the very feel of the ancient building that have seen many thousands of people pray in there over the hundreds of years lifespan of the temples, rather than just looking for the best photo shot.

On our first full day in Bhutan we visited the Memorial Chorten in Thimpu - a huge stupa built in memory of the third king.  Ten monks were inside on the first floor chanting, drumming and blowing something akin to an alpine horn. The sound echoed all the way up the three floors to the top and was quite soothing and hypnotic.

The view from the top of the Memorial Chorten.

We were then taken to the Jigme Dorji National Park to visit the Cheri Goemba Temple. We had a delightful hike up to the temple, with a few short stops because of the altitude. It was all very pretty and we could hear a glacial river in the distance. It didn't sound any different to an ordinary river as all the rivers in Bhutan are glacial rivers - but even I would think twice about even paddling in them! 

The Cheri Goemba Temple  is a very holy place as The Great Unifier (the Tibetan man/god who founded Bhutan) meditated here. We weren't allowed in his meditation cave, but we were taken into the main temple room, which was amazing, with painted walls, 3 altars, lots of ceiling hangings and 4 human-sized god statutes. The room was very busy because of the contents, but felt very calm, peaceful and very, very old. The elderly monk who was in there gave us a blessing and it did feel like a special privilege to have been allowed in as well as being given the blessing. 

Our guide, Tensin, was very impressed with us as he usually allows around 1&1/2 hours to get up to the temple but we did it in about 45-50 minutes without much effort and without rushing... we must be quite fit from all the walking we do in the Derbyshire hills plus the fact that we have spent considerable time at altitude in the past! He only told us afterwards that he uses this hike to gauge people's fitness and, apparently, we passed with flying colours!

All tourists groups in Bhutan (including groups of two!) have to have a designated guide and driver. Our guide was Tensin and our driver was Dragbaar. It was the first time we've ever done a trip a guided trip as we usually book and travel independently, driving ourselves, so it was an interesting experience that took a little while to get used to! More on the roads later but suffice to say we were very glad we had a driver. 

This prayer wheel was about halfway up the mountain, a nice shady place for a quick rest and a turn of the prayer wheel.

Tourists can't just rock up at the border and expect to be allowed into Bhutan as the government very much want to keep their culture intact. Bhutan has very close links with Thailand, so they have seen the effects that open border tourism and backpackers have had on that country and do not want that to happen in Bhutan. So everything has to be organised in advance through a reputable travel company, we used Trailfinders who, in this case, linked to an Indian company who are permitted to organise holidays in Bhutan.  Everything had to be paid for well in advance. The money was paid into the Bank of Bhutan and our details were given to the government.  The Indian company applied for our visas two months before our arrival date. The government then double checked that the money was in the bank and that our details on the visa forms matched with our details that they already have before issuing our visas. Everything was booked for us - we were told which hotels we'd be staying in, which restaurants we'd eat in and so on - which certainly took away the hassle of choosing! All the hotels, meals, trekking, trips etc are done on credit  and sorted out by the guides. Once we'd returned home the local company submitted all the bills to the government who added up the bills, paid them, deducted the taxes then paid the travel company back. It sounds a bit long-winded but it ensures that no-one can claim for fake clients and non-existent trips. 

The other joy of Bhutan is that they have refused all international franchises, so there are no MacDonalds, Starbucks, Costas, Burger Kings, Pizza Huts or anything.....just two local coffee shops in Thimpu and Paro and lots of wonderful Bhutanese restaurants serving amazing, delicious local food.

Just one of the stunning views of the valley below the Khamsum Yuley Lakhang Temple near Thimpu.

After our acclimatisation day we headed deeper into Bhutan.  We set off for Punakha, up the Dochula Pass (summit 3200m) where there are 108 stupas on what is basically a giant roundabout. It was very busy there that day because the old Queen Mother was visiting the nearby temple.

The view from the Dochula Pass. 

Everywhere you go in Bhutan you'll see prayer flags, especially high up and/or near fast flowing water. They are put up on an auspicious day, as decreed by the monks, to bring good luck and positivity to all sentient beings. The white, yellow, blue, red and green flags symbolise the five elements of  sky, air, water, fire and earth. This was a good footbridge just outside Punakha, whereas some of the others that we crossed were definitely a bit dodgy!

We visited Punakha Dzong. There are many Dzongs around the country. They are effectively both the local government offices and a monastery, split into an Administrative half and a Religious half so that they can look after both the secular and religious needs of the local populations. You have to remove your hat and wear long sleeves to enter a Dzong - if you don't comply, you don't go in. Simple.

I don't know if it's the same in all of the numerous Dzongs throughout Bhutan but, once a year for 3 days, all the Warrior Clans around Punakha send representatives to the Dzong (all males!) and they can say/do/ behave as they like and no-one can stop them. On the third day, the Governor of the Dzong has to walk across the courtyard through 2 rows of warriors who can say whatever they like to him - abuse if he's not done things, comments on what he has done, suggestions on what he needs to do....then there's a big party and the following day it all goes back to normal but, hopefully the Governor has taken notice of what's been said to him!

This Dzong, like all the Dzongs we visited, was a very impressive old building with wonderful wooden carvings everywhere. The shapes of the Dzongs vary depending on the local landscape, but they all have the administration and religion halves of the buildings. Punakha Dzong is on flat land at the confluence of two rivers, is quite large, square and stands out in the valley, whereas Trongsa Dzong, like its town, which we visited the next day, was a linear building as it followed the contours of the mountain top.

Close up of some of the Religious half's carvings - very typical across the country.

In the Religious courtyard tables were laid out with 1000 lit butter lamps on to honour the recently deceased King of Thailand.

We spent a lot of time chatting with Ten' and Dragbaar as we drove along, so we got to know each other quite well. Ten found out I was a school Governor and interested in education, so he made an impromptu stop in a random village and took us into the school where we were viewed as somewhat alien creatures who'd arrived from outer space! To be fair to the school and the pupils,Ten didn't think they'd seen Europeans before, but they did make us very welcome once they'd got over their surprise.

So. The Road. 

Bhutan basically has one road, the East-West Highway or the Lateral Road, contouring the mountainsides, going over several high passes and winding its way along the lengths of all the multitudes of valleys. The road or our hotel on other side of the valley was frequently visible, but it might take three hours or more to reach that spot because of the tortuous route it has to take. There are two spur roads going south into India from the main road, one from Thimpu and one from the far eastern part of Bhutan, so many Bhutanese people prefer to drive south into India, along the northern edge of the country close to the border and back into Bhutan up the other road as it can be quicker than using the main road. 

When I say 'main' road I don't mean 'main' in the way that we mean main. I should say 'only'. I should also explain that, when we were there in 2016, they were widening the road - ALL of it, in one go!The busiest stretch of road from Paro (the airport and the Tiger's Nest Monasery) to Thimpu (the capital) and Punakha is tarmacked and quite good because it is the most touristy bit then it's dirt road to just short of the Dochula Pass, which is tarmacked because of the visitor numbers there, then it's back to dirt road again - mostly with an unprotected several thousand foot terminal plummet down one side and a dodgy looking unstable cliff face on the other. In 2016 the road was about 1&1/2 vehicles wide - including buses and lorries! There are no railways in Bhutan because of the terrain, so all traffic uses the Lateral Road.

From Paro to Bumthang (yes, I laughed too ...a lot!) our furthest destination eastwards, was 190 miles/ 306 kms. By air it's a mere 79 miles, which gives you some idea of the twists and turns of the road. The road was being widen (I really hope they've finished it by now!) partly because of the increased tourist traffic but mainly because of the hydroelectric dams that are being built to supply Bhutan and India with hydroelectric power. Building supplies for the dam etc are coming in from India and the trucks are too big and heavy for the old road. The bridges are also being widened to replace the narrow metal Bailey Bridges still in place from World War Two!

For reasons best known to the Bhutanese government, they decided to do the entire road all at the same time, with the work being tendered for in 1km chunks by different companies - we saw Indian, Japanese and (possibly) Korean companies working on different stretches. We could drive for hours along what Ten and Dragbaar rightly called 'The Dancing Road' on  rough, potholed and uneven dirt road, then have a kilometer or two of tarmac then be back to bouncing about dirt on a bit being done by a different contractor. Bonkers! 

In theory you could drive from Paro to Bumthang in one go in 8 hours. In practice, we could sometimes drive for 8 hours and do around 80 kms! We often had to stop and wait for a landslip to be cleared or a bit of cliff to be dynamited. We always got to our destination for the night, but it was often later than we'd hoped for. However, it was always an interesting but bouncy journey every day!

A classic stretch of road.....no barriers, endless drops, steep unstable cliff, potholes and ridges galore, dust,dust and more dust plus water and a bit of mud for added fun!

We had to wait about an hour here for the lorries to move off the road to let us through. The digger fills the back of the lorries, the lorries reverse scarily close to the edge of the road and the terminal plummet then tip the spoil down the mountainside.

The diggers got into some even more precarious positions than this one did!

That white scar is the road! It took about 4 hours to get from the white bit on the left hand side of the valley to the town we were staying at that night. Fortunately our hotel was  built back from that drop - and can be seen back along the road where there's a green field below the road.

A typical lunchtime meal. There was always a chicken curry, kewa datse (potato with cheese), ema datse (chillies with cheese),  then other dishes such as momos (like Chinese Dim Sum), a vegetable dish of some sort, plain rice and noodles - often with meat or vegetables in. There was also kha ja (butter tea) which is quite pleasant once you get used to the slight oiliness. 

It's fair to say that the Bhutanese love chillies - I mean REALLY love chillies. Andy and I enjoy spicy food and have got a high chilli tolerance so we found the ema datse tasty but fairly mild, but it turned out that they tone it down for the tourists. Ten brought us a small bowl of their ema datse to try one day and he was quite surprised when we ate the lot. I have to confess that we didn't feel the need to eat another bowlful of theirs again once honour was satisfied though!! 

Datse just means cheese and since our trip I've made both kewa datse and ema datse. I found that the nearest I could get to Bhutanese datse was to combine mozzarella and a vintage cheddar! We've also made momos on a fairly regular basis - I do love a momo or several!

Andy and I were the only people in this restaurant and the food was cooked fresh for us - Ten had phoned ahead to tell them our arrival time and it was brought out as soon as we sat down. It was delicious. I didn't get bored of Bhutanse food....well, maybe the daily chicken curry, a bit!

We drove for 9 hours, covering 145kms from Punakha, winding our way tortuously up and over the Pelela Pass (3,300m) at the top of the Black Mountain range that divides the country into east and west - like the Pennines in the UK, but waaaay higher, and down to Trongsa for our next overnight stop.  The valleys on the east side of the mountains were wider U shaped valleys rather than the endlessly deep V shaped valleys on the west side. It all suddenly felt much more Alpine. The hotels and restaurants on the east side of the mountains have suffered from a big reduction in tourism because of the road works as most tourists don't want to drive the Dancing Road. I hope things have picked up again now because it is a beautiful area. 

Obviously once we got to Trongsa we visited the Dzong, where we happened across a group of men in traditional dress chanting and practicing a dance for a forthcoming religious festival - turned out the chanting was them counting for the steps!

It was chilli harvesting time. So many buildings had chillies drying on the rooftops or hanging in strings around windows.

Kurjey Langkhang Monastery. If you look at the wall at the far left of the building, you'll see a ladder. Despite there being a gate close by, everyone is expected to enter by climbing over the wall! It was built in the 8th Century after Guru Rimpoche subdued the local demon deities. He then left his body's imprint in the cave he'd been meditating in - hence the importance of this monastery. We stared and stared at the painted rock, but it was very hard to pick out a body shape from in amongst the painted walls and gold statues

Loved (and obeyed) the sign on the temple door.

From Trongsa it was a mere 75kms further east to Jakar in the Bumthank Valley. It was a much easier drive because the valleys were a lot less steep, there was very little traffic and hardly any of the diggers were at work. It was also a beautiful clear and sunny day.  

The Bumthank Valley is also known as 'Little Switzerland' as it has delightful, open U shaped valleys with plenty of horses and cows, farmland and the river winding its way down the valley.....and the road was mostly tarmacked! We stopped in a village for a picnic lunch and to stretch our legs and Ten pointed out the house where the current queen of Bhutan grew up.  He also told us how he had gone to school with the Prince (as he was then) and the playground games they'd shared.

Jakar was the furthest east tourists are allowed to go as there is no tourist infrastructure beyond there. It certainly had the feel of a frontier town and was a slightly scruffy, slightly seedy, run down sort of town but the people were lovely, friendly and very helpful. The River Lodge Hotel was, as we'd been told to expect, more basic than the other hotels we'd stayed in, but the room was clean and warm - although the very western children's cartoon characters quilt covers on the single beds were a bit of a surprise!

Jakar town and Dzong 

Jakar Dzong

 

As we were leaving the Dzong we saw some local village leaders and the highest official of the area - a 'Sir' complete with a sword. All the men, as usual during the working day, were in traditional dress with amazing boots!

We walked from the Dzong down to the river and crossed over on a prayer flag covered bridge, which wasn't as dodgy as it first appeared, to visit Petshelling Monastery. 

This was another very old and very decorative Monastery. We could hear the monks chanting and drumming in the main temple and it sounded wonderful but we turned down Ten's offer for us to go in and watch. We tried explaining that it didn't feel right to go stare at them or disturb them at prayer, but he didn't really get it until I said that religion wasn't a spectator sport and we were happy to stay outside and listen.

The 'wall' of red flags is to stop people going up the steps as there is a hermit monk who has been living in silence in a shack up there for many years. His only visitors are the monks who take him food and water each day.

Petsheling Monastery

We had a long but very easy drive back out of the Bumthang Valley (which was still making me chuckle!) and retraced our route back along 'The Dancing Road' the next day. There was very little traffic and we only had a couple of very short stops for landslips - a much nicer experience than with all the heavy traffic on our way to Jakar. 

Once back over the Pele La Pass we took the road into the Phobjikha Valley and onto a tarmaced surface again - simple pleasures! The houses here were quite smart and elaborately painted in darker colours than we'd seen elsewhere but the shops in the village were grubby and there was, unusually for Bhutan, a lot of litter. The village had quite a different feel about it too but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. 

It turns out that I really prefer the older temples to the newer, more 'blingy' ones so I was happy to visit the Gangtey Goempa Temple.

Gangtey Goempa Temple in the Phobjikha Valley

On our way to our hotel as the sun was setting, we did a 4km walk along the Phobjukha Valley nature trail through pine forests, across dodgy bridges and along wobbly walkways over very marshy ground to reach the Black Necked Crane Information Centre. It was a really interesting place and we managed to see the first few migratory arrivals from China - the cranes fly into Phobjikha from China at about 30,000 ft - up there with the planes! They spend winter in the marshes, which don't freeze over...which allows them to hear approaching predators and escape. 

The Phobjikha Valley Black Necked Crane Information Centre

This is Karma, the injured Black Necked Crane. He had been found the previous year as a juvenile unable to migrate back to China because of a badly injured wing. He'll never fly, so they keep him at the centre and to stop him feeling lonely, he has a large mirror to keep himself company.

It was a bright, clear but cold and frosty morning the following day - perfect for bird watching, but we had to leave to get back on the road again.

Back up to the Dolche La Pass, which wasn't as busy as on our previous visit so we lingered a little longer and enjoyed the much clearer views of the distant mountains.

Grumpy yaks made a change from landslips!

Finally back in Thimpu and we were given the best room in the hotel - it was huge and very, very comfortable!

We got to meet my Bhutanese friend Jigme whilst we were in Thimpu. We became Facebook friends via a local Buddhist friend at home and had chatted a lot. He was a teacher down in the south of Bhutan but had got permission to take a day off work the previous day and had spent 6 hours driving to Thimpujust  to spend a day with us. It was so lovely to meet him - and we're still friends to this day.  He is a genuinely nice, open, honest and caring man who, obviously, speaks excellent English! 

We exchanged gifts. I have to confess that I can't remember what I gave him, but he gave us a set of Khuru which are used in the national game. They're basically giant darts that you throw at a target and the nearest one wins. Jigme had carved and painted the Khuru and made the flights out of old x-ray sheets. The larger pair were for Himself and the smaller pair for me. I was a tad concerned about going through airport security with them but they came apart and then looked quite harmless! We still have them and use them inthe garden in summer. lovely memories.

Khuru

Jigme took us on a tour of Thimpu, including to Dzong - which we weren't allowed in as it's their equivalent of the Houses of Parliament. We went to the local Farmers market and surprised his aunt, who works there, and his 'brother cousin' who were very welcoming towards us although somewhat surprised to see all of of us! We tried 'tree tomatoes' - long, brownish  and very fruity tasting as well as some slightly weird hard cheese that they use like chewing gum as it takes forever to soften but tastes of nothing. I preferred the tomato! He took us to see several markets that we probably wouldn't have found on our own before we went for lunch (in the only cafe in the capital that serves proper coffee - what a find!) and discussed many things about his life - including from growing up in a tiny smallholding in the very poor far eastern edge of the country and as a teacher in an equally very poor part of southern Bhutan. It was quite a sad parting at the end of the day when he finally left, but it had been a joy to meet him and to learn more about general life in Bhutan too.

The Farmers Market

The view of Thimpu's one and only flyover from the river bridge.

Well, I think that's enough for one read, so I'll finish now with news that the trek will be the next blog post....and it won't be as long as this one!