Beautiful Bhutan - Part 5

At Dochu La Pass

On Day 4 of our trip, after our morning ablutions, as it was Amavasya, I had an extra activity of offering Tarpanam for my forefathers which I did in the hotel room itself. Then we went down to the restaurant for another special satvik breakfast. After this, we checked out of the hotel and proceeded towards Punakha which was at a distance of about 75 kms.

The drive was long and the sights along the way were refreshingly green. The weather was clear and the air was crisp and cool. Along the way, we halted for a while at a beautiful spot in the Dochu La pass which is at a height of about 3100 meters above sea level. This is where the Bhutan government has built 108 stupas to commemorate the victory of the Bhutanese army in a battle over the Assamese rebels who had tried to occupy Bhutan. Besides this, there is also a monastery called the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang. The place is very nice and hundreds of tourist cars were parked here to enjoy the scenery as well as the weather. We too halted here for a while, took some pictures and walked around absorbing the atmosphere which was peaceful and quiet. We thoroughly enjoyed the panoramic view of the Himalayas from here although some clouds did come to play spoilsport.

View from our room

After this, we proceeded to Punakha which is at a lower altitude (about 1200 meters above sea level). We reached Punakha by afternoon with a total drive time of about 2 hours. Our hotel (called Hotel River Valley) was at a scenic spot, slightly away from the town and overlooking the Sankosh river that flows here. The hotel was clean, and the rooms were large. We rested for some time in the room and ate some Theplas that we had carried from Mumbai.

Punakha Dzong

In the early afternoon, we drove down to the Punakha Dzong, a beautiful fortress and monastery. This is the administrative centre of the Punakha district and is the second oldest and second largest Dzongs in Bhutan. Before Thimphu became the capital of Bhutan, this was the seat of the government of Bhutan. It houses the sacred relics of the southern Drukpa lineage of the kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the sacred remains of Ngawang Namgyal (the monk credited with unifying Bhutan and with creating a unique Bhutanese cultural identity different from the Tibetan culture). This place is a must visit for all tourists coming to Bhutan as it is beautiful, well preserved and awe-inspiring.We spent a little over an hour here taking pictures and visiting all the places inside the monastery. We saw the traditional prayers offered by the monks who are residents here as well as the place where they stay. In Bhutan religion and governance are closely interlinked and this provides for a very Dharmic type of government. We could see the government administrative office co-located with the places of worship.

After this, we visited the suspension bridge which is a pedestrian hanging bridge over the Po Chhu river. There are two rivers called the Po Chhu (father) and Mo Chhu (mother) which have a confluence at Punakha. After this, the river is called Sankosh. The suspension bridge is made of steel cables and hangs about 30 meters above the river. The length of the bridge is about 160 meters while the breadth is 1.2 meters. We had to walk about 15 minutes from the Punakha Dzong to reach the bridge. It was windy here as the whole area is open. As we walked over to the other side, we could feel the sway of the bridge. It was slightly scary as only a couple of months earlier a similar suspension bridge had collapsed in Gujarat killing many people. This Bhutanese bridge is, of course, built very sturdy and safe. On the other side of the bridge is a village which has a few shops to cater to the tourists. One can buy some snacks or tea and even some provisions like the local rice.

During our trip, we had made friends with another couple from Bengaluru, whose trip schedule was the same as ours.  As they had booked through another travel agency, the hotels were different. So, we kept meeting them every day at the tourist spots and it was great to have their company. They were with us at the suspension bridge walk also.

After this, we drove back to our hotel and after evening prayers, we had an early dinner. Again we were provided with Satvik and fresh dinner which was very appetising and filling. After dinner, we went to sleep in our room overlooking the river. The weather being good, fans were sufficient to keep us comfortable.

Thus ended Day 4 of our trip to Bhutan.