Bhutan day 11

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We left Bumthang by 9am Friday morning, anticipating an all day drive. We stopped for lunch at the same chorten fashioned after the one in Kathmandu. In this idyllic spot next to a beautiful river, Holly witnessed a local man empty his trash basket into the river from the pedestrian bridge leading to the chorten. It was upsetting. A dialogue with Rinchen on the matter resulted in Rinchen speaking with the man. Rinchen assured Holly that there is still a great lack of education in these matters in Bhutan, especially with the older generation, but it is changing with the young people. It brought up the difficult line between remaining as observer in a foreign culture, and interfering with the culture.

When we heard there was a major road improvement project ahead that would result in delays while the road was sporadically closed, we also stopped for tea and biscuits (they've become a great ritual in our days) at another roadside inn with a spectacular view of snow-capped peaks. We had stopped here en route to Bumthang days ago and it was especially beautiful on this day as we had a sun shower followed by a beautiful rainbow.

Eventually, we joined the cue of traffic waiting for the road to re-open. It was fun to walk down to the barrier and check out the Bhutanese way of handling such events. After about 7 hours of driving, we arrived at the absolutely scrumptious Hotel Kichu near Wangdue Phodrong, about 20 minutes from Punakha Dzong. The hotel is on the Dang Chhu, a rushing Himalayan sourced river with huge boulders and clear water and white water. The sound is ceaselessly roaring and very conducive to sleep. Our room, happily for 2 nights, overlooked this penetrating onslaught of water. So beautiful both visually and auditorily. In addition, the hotel has lovely gardens, altogether a very special place to stay.

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