Thimphu - The Capital City without Traffic Lights

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Hi everyone

We are now in Thimphu the capital of Bhutan, and yes I have access to the internet. However I think this may be the last time, as we head East tomorrow and things will be a little less civilised.

We drove from Paro to Thimphu on Sunday through a series of magnificient valleys. The scenery was spectacular, as the road winds it's way along the side of the mountains, and everything was very green. There is a point were the Paro & Thimphu valleys meet at the conflux of two rivers. There was a security check point, about a million prayer flags sending prayers to Buddha for a safe journey, and 3 stupas to mark the entry to the capital.

Everyone is Paro kept telling us that Thimphu was very busy, with lots of people and traffic. Well compared to Paro is it busy, but the whole valley only has a population of around 100,000 (I think Thimphu city has approx 80,000) so it's not really that busy. It has the distinction of being the only capital city in the world that doesn't have traffic lights. In the middle of town there is an intersection where the 2 main streets meet, known as the"Traffic Circle". In the centre of the road there is a small round structure that houses a traffic policeman, who madly waves his arms about directing traffic. Apparently a few years ago they did install traffic lights, but the people of Thimphu hated them so much the government took them away, and re installed the traffic policeman.

The guide books were not particularly kind about Thimphu, but I think it is quite a nice town. It's in a very pretty valley and all the buildings are in the traditional Bhutanese style, so it really looks quite quaint. As it's the capital, it's also the administrative head of the country as well as the Royal capital. The religious and administrative functions of Bhutan are separated, and there is a massive Dzong (monastery) which houses both functions. The Royal palace is also close by, but is really quite small.

We are totally fascinated by the "Kings", as everywhere you go there are pictures of all 5 in the current dynasty, and everyone is just so dedicated to both the old and new king. There was a programme on TV tonight about the kings, which we watched, but as it was in Bhutanese we couldn't really understand it. The pictures were great though. The new king is only 31, and is unmarried, so there is a great deal of interest in what he will do about taking a wife.... His father (the old king) married 4 sisters, and had a total of 13 children.

There is quite a lot to see in Thimphu, and Karma, our guide, has kept us busy seeing the sights. This morning we drove about 10km out of town to see a very important monastery (Cheri Goemba), and yep you guessed it..... there was another steep climb involved!! It took a bit over an hour to walk up a very steep and winding path through a pine forest, and about a million more prayer flags, to get to the monastery. However, despite it being very hard it going, it was worth it, as we were the only people there (besides a few monks), and the temple inside really was quite spectacular.

There has been big excitement here this afternoon as there has been an earth tremor. We didn't feel it, but all the staff in the hotel are talking about it. Apparently there hasn't been any damage here in Thimphu, but in Eastern Bhutan (where we are heading tomorrow) some houses have fallen down and 1 person has been killed. These are not reliable reports, so we'll have to wait to see what Karma has to say about it tomorrow.

It has warmed up quite a bit, and we've had no rain for 2 days now. It was about 30 degrees and sunny today, and that didn't make the climb up to the monastery any easier!!! The evenings are cool, but nowhere near as cold as I was expecting.

We head east tomorrow to the Punakha Valley, where I believe things are not quite as modern as they have been here in Thimphu and Paro... So we'll see.

Well I think that's about it for now...... This really is an amazing place so I could go on forever, but won't.

Cheers, for now, ali xxxx

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Comments

[kim]

Bhutan
Hi Ali, Bhutan sounds wonderful, even peaceful. It seems apart from the heat in Vietnam, you have been blessed with great weather and some wonderful travels. Makes me want to drop everything and just head off. Enjoy the rest of your adventure. Kimx

[Pablo (yo)]

Hi!
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