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Published: December 2nd 2006
Waking up to yet another sunny day in the Punak Chhu valley. After a light breakfast I sneak outside for some quick morning views before departing for Wangdi. The hotel is situated in a residential neighbourhod of Lobesa with typical two-three story apartment blocks and smaller houses and sheds. The roads are littered with primary school students of varying ages walking to school in their blue and grey uniforms. I walk down the road with some 3rd grade students who are both curious and shy at the same time, and speak a lot better English than many grown ups in this country. As I head back to the hotel I learn that Tshering and Dorji had a pretty lousy night, having had to make do with a shared a room with other staffers. Seems the Y.T. Hotel is not getting any future recommendations from our crowd.
Today's goal is to reach Trongsa, situated some 130 kilometers east of here, but first we'll make our first proper dzong visit for the trip by checking out the
Wangdue Phodrang dzong over at the neighbouring town. Wangdi is a short ride from here, even though we again have to pass through the checkpoint
at the river bridge below the dzong. The town itself is situated on a hill overlooking the Punak Chhu river, its main road is a long crescent shaped bend flanked by small general stores and shops. Tshering and I get off at the city limit and ask Dorji to go park the car up ahead and then walk through the sleepy town. Although almost nine in the morning there's not so many people around. The town square which was filled with parked taxis and cars yesterday is not even half full yet. Dorji finds a business centre to send some faxes to the travel agent and I find a general store that sells Konica VX film, a brand I used some six years ago which we haven't seen in Europe for that many years, which will have to do.
The dzongs in Bhutan typically open for visitors around nine in the morning, and in order to visit a dzong you should dress up properly. Of course no one is going to chastize a group of tourists for not wearing proper attire, but it will definitely be noted. For Bhutanese citizens though, strict regulations apply. Citizens visiting the dzong will
The village of Rinchengang
Opposite to Wangdue Phodrang, credited for being a settlement of stone masons.wear their traditional outifts, men the gho and women the kira. A gho is basically a knee length robe and the kira a jacket and a skirt covering the entire leg. Unless you are trekking, your guides and drivers will always be seen wearing these clothes. When entering a dzong you will meet with a security detail who will inspect any special permits you may need before allowing you inside. Once inside you are pretty much free to wander about as you please. You are allowed inside most temples and study rooms, just remember to leave your shoes outside the door, and do not attempt to use your camera in any temple or places where religious artifacts are present. Monks are used to visiting tourists but will still look up from their studies as you interrupt them.
Apart from being administrative centres, dzongs typically host a monk body, usually living in dormitories in and next to the dzong. You'd do wisely to stay away from the nearby restrooms... The life of a monk is busy; they will get up early in the morning to start the studies. After a few hours they will have a simple breakfast, before continuing
Cactii by the Punak Chhu river
Growing wild after having spread from the dzong with their studies until lunch. The afternoon and evening sees the same practice over and over. Other tasks include caretaking duties and maintenance of the dzong buildings. Young monks typically study scrolls of buddhist wisdom by reciting them. They will read the mantras out loud again and again until they know them by heart. They will then be tested by the headmaster. Upon completion they will then continue with the next script. You will often hear the cacophony of voices streaming from the study rooms, where dozens of monks can all be seated in groups each chanting his own verses. As the monks grow in experience and wisdom they will also advance in rank, something that can be noted in their robes. Entry level monks will typically wear dark red robes, more senior monks carry other colours, such as purple, bright red, orange or yellow. There are also more subtle characteristics of the dress code, in how the garments are worn.
Although monks normally live reclusively in remote areas or on hillsides they integrate fully into the society. You will often see monks spending their free time in the cities, and they offer services to the population, helping to
purify buildings, offering blessings to children and so on. Most monks in Bhutan follow the Kagukpa tantric form of Mahayana buddhism, which also acts like the state religion of the country. It is a stricter form of Mahayana buddhism than the older Nyngmapa form and does for example not allow monks to marry. Becoming a monk can be an act of spirituality and devotion, but most commonly it is the will of the parents. Many young boys have been placed in monasteries and dzongs at a early age and as a result the faith and motivation to study can be very different from individual to individual. You will come across monks with cell phones, radios and watches regularly. In more recent years, the trend is slowly changing, and less children are being placed in the temples.
Speaking about the Wangude Phodrang dzong itself, it occupies a very strategic hill that overlooks the meeting points of the Punak Chhu and Dang Chhu valleys, their roads leading to the important cities of Punakha, Trongsa and Thimphu. The hill is so narrow and steep that you will not even be able to walk around it. To further aid its protection the local
ruler brought cactii from abroad and planted it on the hillsides surrounding the dzong. The cactii have since spread and you can find them here and there around the valley. Construction of the present structure begun in 1644. As with all dzongs it is easy to become a bit disorientated inside, with its narrow courtyards and tall structures.
As we are leaving we run into the first of the larger visiting groups of the day, and as usual the guide comes up to greet us and speak a bit with Tshering. In the tourist business, everybody knows everyone. Back in town we waste no more time but get on the road for Trongsa. We expect to reach the city late in the afternoon, after making a stop in the
Phobjika valley which is also enroute. The valley is famous for its population of black cranes, which migrate here from Tibet every year to spend the winter there, although we do not expect any cranes to arrive until November. The road will slowly be climbing from Wangdi to the mountain pass at Pele La, from where it will descend again although not as much, since Trongsa is located at a
higher elevation. This also means saying goodbye to the warm and near tropical climate of the Punakha valley.
Coming out of Wangdi we pass through Chhuzom village again, the place with the crazy cable car contraption. The mountainside road is particularly beautiful here, with its flanking rice terraces and narrow villages which we are quickly passing through. Tshering offers some small and sour apples and sits back to listen to the songs in my mp3 player while I stay on the lookout for interesting things to picture. Unfortunately, less than an hour into the drive heavy clouds have rolled in and the temperature drops rapidly, and soon a light rain starts to drizzle. The landscape changes a bit with more and more hillside trees, and soon the road is almost tunneling through forest and the wonderful valleyviews become quite rare. The road has been subjected to landslides in a number of places. At one point we encounter villagers chopping up a tree that has fallen across the road, and in another location we drive through a stretch of road that has clearly been restored not long ago; boulders, earth and branches of trees lining the road on both sides.
Coming up on the crossroads to Gangte and the Phobjika valley the clouds have turned into fog, and we realize it wouldn't be much worth to visit today, so we postpone the idea and press on for Pele La. The road passes through small towns and there's not a whole lot to see here so we continue towards
Chendebji. Again we run into more roadworks and in places the hillsides sit bare from landslides. Road widening projects are also taking place here. As we arrive in Chendebji it is time for lunch and some quick sightseeing. There is a large Nepali style chorten located here next to the river. The full name is
Chorten Charo Kasho and it was built in the 19th century on the spot where an evil demon was once vanquished. As if by some magic coincidence there is also a roadside restaurant with attached souvenir shop nearby, where lots of tourist groups stop by on their way to and from Trongsa. We stop for a quick buffet lunch before negotiating the final 40 kilometers to Trongsa. The food is the typical tourist buffet style, and the place earns a reward for having the most disgusting
Deep inside the dzong
Monk dormitories and study rooms line the path to the main temple. toilets I've seen in quite a while. The lack of running water meant that the western style toilets acted more like containers than anything else.
Heading back out into the rain again our journey continues. As is often the case on the road in Bhutan you will find yourself riding down a road which hugs the cliffs along the bends of a river for some 30 minutes, then you corss the river on a bridge and end up backtracking along the same stretch of river on the other side. The prime example of this is when you come up to the
Trongsa viewpoint, with its grand overview of the dzong and town. Although the distance is only a few hundred meters, from here you have to follow the river away from the dzong again for another 18 kilometers of driving until you arrive at the city outskirts. As you cross the river at Zeezam some 9 kilometers outside of town you will pass through yet another checkpoint, requiring you to have your papers in order. From here on though, you're free to roam the interior of the country all the way to the next checkpoint over at Trashigang in
Practice your mantras!
Young monks studying their scripts, chanting the mantras until they know them by heart. the far east.
Although we had a few rays of sun illuminating the dzong when we were admiring it from the viewpoint the boring clouds remain firmly in place and my impression of Trongsa will unfortunately suffer from this until I can visit again during better weather. It is already getting a bit late in the afternoon so we head directly to the dzong to inspect it. The
Trongsa dzong really is something special. Just like the Wangdue Phodrang dzong, construction began in 1644, and it has since been enlarged by none other than Tenzing Rabgye, the 17th century Desi whose reincarnated persona
we met at the Thimphu tsechu last year. The security here is stricter than I have seen anywhere else, and visitors have to wear little identity cards. Once inside the dzong proves to be a veritable maze of courtyards, temples, pathways and rooms. We tag along with a lone Japanese traveller who is on leave from her clinic at the hospital in Thimphu.
While passing through the innards of the dzong we stumble upon a ritual taking place in a small temple chamber, involving a large number of monks including the abbot himself. They are walking in circles around an altar chanting
En route to Trongsa
Crossing the river near Garzhika mantras and preparing a ritual. We stay to listen for a while before continuing to explore the buildings. As most monks are involved in the procession the place is rather silent. We pass through large empty chambers used for dining and sleeping and walkways lined by prayer wheels. When we leave the dzong the daylight is beginning to fade and after a brief look around town we head up the hill towards the guesthouse where we will stay for the night. The place is quite new, and has a large central building with a big dining room and some guest rooms, but most of the rooms are located in a number of barracks in the garden in a well chosen spot, offering views down towards the town centre and the dzong. Unfortunately the rainclouds obscure much of the view. As I inspect my room I am pleased that we will only stay for one night, as the place is very spartan, and the bathroom leaves a lot to be desired.
Before dinner I go outside a bit to look around the neighbourhood, but since the distance to town is quite far there isn't really a whole lot to see.
I follow the highroad towards Jakar for a little while to look for good viewpoints, but as the darkness falls and the rain begins again I head back to the hotel. The place is really crowded with groups, and the drivers have a busy time rearranging and moving their cars around the parking lot to accomodate for the two buses that have arrived. There seems to have been double bookings as some guests lack rooms. In the end it is sorted out somehow, but of course this means that all the drivers and guides will have to find alternative accommodation. That is, sleeping in their cars. I find this quite outrageous, and Tshering tells me that this is a common practice during high season, and that he's been thinking a lot about the guides needing to organize themselves. Some hotels offer accommodation in the form of handing out blankets and letting the guides use dining rooms or similar as a place to rest, but it varies from place to place and time to time.
After dinner there is a power outage, the second time this evening, and not the last. The power disappears again for a third time just
as we are about to go to sleep and stays away for the night, and the hot water is now a distant memory. Tshering and Dorji wash the car before going to bed, and just as they are finsihed the rain starts again. I offer them to stay in my room, and to my amusement they squeeze into the second bed, in a decidedly gay looking fashion. They quickly fall alseep and Dorji starts snoring vigorously. The rain continues to hammer the roof and some moths dance around the cold room while I try to find some sleep myself.
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Kay
non-member comment
everything's great.. except...
The bathroom >_< scary...