Punakha

The clock tower in Thimphu.

Simtokha Dzong.

Some of the 108 little stupas at the top of Dochula Pass. 

Will, me and Nico in front of one of the stupas.

Rice paddies. I always marvel at the amount of work it took to create them.

Woman works, man minds the kids.

Fertility decorations.

The 15th century Temple of Fertility.

Punakha Dzong (Palace of Great Happiness).

Students in school uniforms posing for us.

A monk helps Will get dressed properly.

Inside the three courtyards of the Punakha Dzong.

A small temple, or worship room in our farmhouse, right beside Will and my room.

Tuesday, April 17^th.

This should have been John Midgely’s 65^th birthday.

After breakfast I had to have Chimi and Sherba help me put on my Gho. Then when they saw Will and Nico’s attempt at putting on their’s, they redid them. I have no idea how you are supposed to do it by yourself. I think I will ask Sherba if he was let me take a video of him putting his on. Shortly after leaving Thimphu we saw Simtokha Bzong (castle or fort) built in 1629 by Zhabdrung, a Tibetan who was the founder of Bhutan and started the first monk body here in 1620. 

In the morning we drove to the old capital, Punakha, via the Dochula Pass at 3140m. Here we had spectacular panoramic views of the Eastern Himalaya ranges. At this site there was a memorial for a small war in 2003 after a group of people from Northern India, called the Assamese, crossed the border illegally and set up about 30 camps, from which they launched attacks on India, as they wanted their independence. However, the Bhutanese, who are quite good neighbours of India, attacked them and physically ousted them. There are a couple of memorials of the few soldiers who died. There are 108 little stupas built on the top of Dochula Pass and they make the spot very scenic. After walking around the memorial, we had a masala tea at the restaurant there. 

The climate and vegetation changed as we approached the low-lying town of Punakha at 1250m altitude. Punakha is the old historic capital of Bhutan and was the site of the coronation of the first king of the unified independent country of Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuk, in 1907. It sits in a warm valley famous in Bhutan for its white and red rice cultivation.

When we got there, we noticed that many of the houses had paintings of erect phalluses on them and the tourist shops, which were numerous, sold candles, statues, buttons, key chains – all of erect penises. Chimi told us we would see why when we got to the temple across the valley. We took a pleasant walk (although it was very windy) for an hour or so across the terraced fields to Chimi Lhakhang, the Temple of Fertility, built in the 15th century by the ‘Divine Madman’ Lama Drukpa Kuenley, who deliberately portrayed the image of a vagabond and wandered around the country side, indulging in song and dance, alcohol and women, hunting and feasting. The information sign said: ‘In reality what it meant was that he was beyond the norms and conventions established by human society’. Women come here if they want to have a child and a monk gives them a large wooden penis to hold while they pray. They even wander around the temple in a clockwise direction (always clockwise in the Buddhist religion) before entering the temple again, praying again and returning the phallus.

We had another buffet lunch in a great restaurant at 2900m in the town of Nobding in the state of Wangdue.

In the afternoon we visited the imposing and beautiful Punakha Dzong (Palace of Great
Happiness). Built in 1637, making it the country's second oldest and second largest dzong. Jacaranda trees grow around the dzong, blooming with mauve flowers in the spring, and there is a unique reconstructed cantilever bridge to enter the building. The Dzong is strategically placed at the confluence of two rivers, the Po Chu and the Mo Chu. It is spectacular and one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. It was never the home of the kings, they lived in a small cottage palace in the woods behind. It doubled as the seat of government and as a monastery. It was used in 2008 for the coronation of the current king and again in 2011 for his wedding. In order to enter, Will, who was the only one still wearing his Gho, had to put on another piece of white material around his outfit and a monk helped him put it on. Then we went inside. There are three separate beautiful courtyards with bay style windows. At the last one there was a beautiful temple which we were allowed to go in, but not photograph.

When we got to our accommodation in Punakha, the man who owned the place off loaded all of our luggage and accidently dropped Will’s bag in the little river beside the house. Luckily it was his clothing bag and not his electronics bag. He was very accepting and just laid everything out in our room. We stayed in a local traditional farmhouse, where we experienced a genuine slice of Bhutanese life and hospitality. The facilities were rather basic, but the accommodation is exactly how a typical Bhutanese family lives, and the food is in no way adapted for tourists. It was beef chunks, potatoes in a sauce, veggies and rice. After we ate, Will, set up fairy lights and got our hosts to set up a white bedsheet for a screen and he played the movie Baraka (a travel documentary) from his laptop. Then we all toddled off to bed. I shared a room with Will and we all slept on thin mattresses on the floor. For the first part of the night there were dogs barking and fighting nearby.