Advertisement
Published: December 12th 2009
Edit Blog Post
We headed off to Thimpu bus stand to take the 8.30 am bus to Punakha. I was in split minds yesterday between a taxi or a bus to Punakha as I had read about splendid views on the way. The taxi could have cost around 1600. The taxi drivers at the Thimpu bus stand (unlike anywhere else in Bhutan) are pretty crooked (guess they have learnt a trick or two from their indian counterparts). They started from 2500 and finally came down to 1600 bucks. But the economic sense prevailed and we took the bus paying 20 bucks each (a right decision in retrospect). At the ticket counter I asked for 3 tickets, all window seats. The lady asked innocently, "sab log ulti karte hai kya ?" (Does every one suffer from motion sickness ?"). I smiled and told her everyone wants to enjoy the scenery to which she just sneered.
The road to Punakha is flanked by now so familiar deciduous forest and small towns with beautiful white buildings. After about half an hour, there is a point with a group of small prayer buildings set against a jaw dropping background of the Northern border of Bhutan. This is
one point where you may regret not taking a taxi. The bus driver was kind enough and slowed so that I click a pic or two. After 3 hours from Thimpu, we finally reached Punakha. The bus stops right next to the magnificent Punakha Dzong which houses the administritative offices and temples. It is situated at the confluence of rivers Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu (male and female rivers. dont know what that means.) Its similar to the Thimpu Dzong, traditional white building, large idols of Buddha and Shabdrung and intricate designs on the wall. What stands out is its location on the confluence and and its sheer magnificence.
After visiting the Dzong, we came out in search of lunch. There are no restaurants around. Food is served in the backroom of People's democratic party's Punakha branch office. There is no board indicating anything remotely related to food anywhere near to the office. We feasted on hot, tasty momos and then came back to the bus stand to take the 1.30 pm bus back to Thimpu. There were no signs of the bus by 1.30. Taxi guys were shouting sth like "Kuru, Kuru, kuru" and everyone wanted to go
there. Finally when we inquired, we were told that the bus to Thimpu leaves from a nearby town called Kurathong. We hurriedly took the taxi (Rs.20 per head) but missed the bus. Luckily there was another bus at 2.00 pm. This was a low cost bus (Rs 55/- per head) and is probably preferred by locals as it was full compared to the near empty bus we took from Thimpu. Everyone seemed to know each other and it was a family trip. There was a strong public demand for Hindi songs, to which the driver obliged and out blasted the "Desi girl". Bollywood and the Indian television are a big hit and thanks to them everyone here know hindi and who Kareena Kapoor is dating nowadays. It was a deja vu for me as the ride was very similar to the one I took from Darjeeling. Innumerable stops, no hurry. Within an hour, we took a long stop for tea. I dont know what driver had in his tea break, but he pushed the pedal so hard that we were tossed all over the place and reached Thimpu exactly 2 hours after.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.214s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 15; qc: 68; dbt: 0.1527s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb