We finally arrive at the hotel just after 6pm (on Wednesday, 30 March) - what a crazy LOOOONG day (I left the hotel at 7.36am)!! And all we have done is drive, drive and more drive. Poor Ringo Star must be exhausted! We are offered a hot drink; I'll have that standing up thanks. We then head to our room, the hotel manager had kept his word and saved us the room they had mentioned when we were here a few days ago for lunch which is nice. It opens up to a large balcony which has awesome views over the valley. It’s so nice not to be in the car anymore!! I definitely didn’t grow up with road trips, and boy am I thankful for that!
Dinner is tasty - we have been lucky with our meals, except one. Long May that continue. Sunny has booked in for a massage at 9pm, so we decide to head out for a walk up to the "town". I'm super excited I can get my torch / flash light out!! It's the small things in life.
We are definitely not in Kansas City anymore Dorothy…..gone are the street lights! Thankfully there is the odd vehicle that drives by which offers some lights, and on the other hand shows the dust that follows them. Totally to be expected when you are walking on a dirt road. On arrival in the “town”, which really is no more than 5 minutes away, there are quite a few people milling around even though all that seems open is the fruit and vegetable market and a few other stores (which I’m thinking are more restaurant type places).
Thursday, 31 March our wakeup call is brought to us by a chorus of dogs and birds. At least they waited to 5.30am!! I had planned to head out for a run so it wasn’t too much earlier than my alarm. Just before I leave the hotel room our wakeup call round two is brought to us by Chinese ladies yelling outside our room – I mean please!!
I head out in the same direction as our walk last night, things are basically the same as last night except its day light and there are a lot more people and dogs around. I continue up the road, and when I say up I mean uphill; it’s a mix of running on dirt and running on freshly made tar seal which is still closed off to cars. A refreshing change!! In-between the changes under foot I also have to run around/through stray dogs – definitely not my idea of fun. Thankfully a local comes to my rescue and shoos them away….I survive another few meters. I have an MA moment and no one to share it with
- next time! When I stop to walk I notice a bunch of children walking in front of me, I assume they are walking to school. I end up catching up to them and after saying good morning I walk passed. One of the boys decides to speak to me so I chat back; before I know it they are following my actions so I start to add in a few unusual things (quickly stopping; turning around; holding my arms up; and running quickly) – they all continue to follow me! The locals around are all laughing at us, or perhaps it me. Either way I don’t mind, I’m having fun! Unfortunately it ends all too quickly as they head one way to school and I continue along the road back to the hotel.
The views from the balcony are amazing! Shame it’s not a clear day.
Sunny and I enjoy breakfast with the views behind us, if only we had another night here but it’s not to be! We meet Chimi Choo Choo and Ringo Star in the lobby area before heading to the car…..thankfully we have the morning here so it will be a lot of in/out.
Ringo Star drops us at an entrance to a dirt road, which is just passed where I ran to earlier. We are hiking (I would call it walking given it won’t be more than 40 minutes and seems to be 98% flat) to Chime Lhakhang. To reach Chime Lhakhang we walk through rice paddies which is very cool.
Chime Lhakhang (or the Temple of Fertility) is a Buddhist monastery built back in 1499 on a round hillock. People come here for two reasons – either to get a fertility blessing or to choose the name of their child.
On arrival the first thing I notice is a monk on his telephone hanging out the window…..technology definitely is everywhere! We then enter in the actual compound where we notice groups of young monks either playing musical instruments or sitting in circles chanting. It looks like the heavens are about to open so we don’t hang around, time to head inside!
The paintings inside the monastery are amazing!! Such a shame no photos are allowed, but on the flip side it does protect the paintings. Before we start the “hike” back to where we were dropped off Chimi Choo Choo has a blessing from one of the monks.
Dinner is tasty - we have been lucky with our meals, except one. Long May that continue. Sunny has booked in for a massage at 9pm, so we decide to head out for a walk up to the "town". I'm super excited I can get my torch / flash light out!! It's the small things in life.
We are definitely not in Kansas City anymore Dorothy…..gone are the street lights! Thankfully there is the odd vehicle that drives by which offers some lights, and on the other hand shows the dust that follows them. Totally to be expected when you are walking on a dirt road. On arrival in the “town”, which really is no more than 5 minutes away, there are quite a few people milling around even though all that seems open is the fruit and vegetable market and a few other stores (which I’m thinking are more restaurant type places).
Thursday, 31 March our wakeup call is brought to us by a chorus of dogs and birds. At least they waited to 5.30am!! I had planned to head out for a run so it wasn’t too much earlier than my alarm. Just before I leave the hotel room our wakeup call round two is brought to us by Chinese ladies yelling outside our room – I mean please!!
I head out in the same direction as our walk last night, things are basically the same as last night except its day light and there are a lot more people and dogs around. I continue up the road, and when I say up I mean uphill; it’s a mix of running on dirt and running on freshly made tar seal which is still closed off to cars. A refreshing change!! In-between the changes under foot I also have to run around/through stray dogs – definitely not my idea of fun. Thankfully a local comes to my rescue and shoos them away….I survive another few meters. I have an MA moment and no one to share it with
- next time! When I stop to walk I notice a bunch of children walking in front of me, I assume they are walking to school. I end up catching up to them and after saying good morning I walk passed. One of the boys decides to speak to me so I chat back; before I know it they are following my actions so I start to add in a few unusual things (quickly stopping; turning around; holding my arms up; and running quickly) – they all continue to follow me! The locals around are all laughing at us, or perhaps it me. Either way I don’t mind, I’m having fun! Unfortunately it ends all too quickly as they head one way to school and I continue along the road back to the hotel.
The views from the balcony are amazing! Shame it’s not a clear day.
Sunny and I enjoy breakfast with the views behind us, if only we had another night here but it’s not to be! We meet Chimi Choo Choo and Ringo Star in the lobby area before heading to the car…..thankfully we have the morning here so it will be a lot of in/out.
Ringo Star drops us at an entrance to a dirt road, which is just passed where I ran to earlier. We are hiking (I would call it walking given it won’t be more than 40 minutes and seems to be 98% flat) to Chime Lhakhang. To reach Chime Lhakhang we walk through rice paddies which is very cool.
Chime Lhakhang (or the Temple of Fertility) is a Buddhist monastery built back in 1499 on a round hillock. People come here for two reasons – either to get a fertility blessing or to choose the name of their child.
On arrival the first thing I notice is a monk on his telephone hanging out the window…..technology definitely is everywhere! We then enter in the actual compound where we notice groups of young monks either playing musical instruments or sitting in circles chanting. It looks like the heavens are about to open so we don’t hang around, time to head inside!
Ringo Star is there to meet us when we return – always such a friendly happy guy!
From here we drive to Punakha Dzong, which is the fortress of the Punakha District; its meaning is “the palace of great happiness or bliss”. Punakha Dzong is the second oldest, and second largest, Dzong in Bhutan.
We arrive just before 11am and as it doesn’t open before 11am we have to wait outside as it slowly starts to spit. Not the best timing in the world for the rain to arrive.
Finally we are free to enter the complex; walking over the covered wooden cantilever bridge the water below is far from clean. I would say clearly a sign it’s raining at the source of the river. We manage to wander around a little but before the heavens really open and it’s a mad dash to walk up the extremely steep stairs that lead into the actual Dzong area. What a pain it’s raining! Like all good Dzong’s we are able to walk around while being under cover the majority of the time.
Our visit was definitely cut short by the weather; thank goodness we really haven’t been too affected to date.
We head back in the area were we did the “walk” this morning for lunch. The views of the rice paddies are amazing!!
Time to get back on the road again, this is our last road trip – I have very mixed feelings which is odd given a few days ago I was crawling up the walls of the car.
Once we turn onto the Thimphu-Paro highway (well that’s what I’m going to call it!) the great road signs start again. “This is highway not runway”; “Peep peep don’t fall asleep”; “Keep your nerves sharp on the sides”; Drive don’t fly”; No parking on bridges” (why people would ever think of doing this is beyond me…); “eager to last ten why fast”; “nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished”; “if you are married divorce speed”; “mountains are a pleasure only if you drive with leisure”; “lets go green to get the globe clean”; and “don’t hurry on curves”. Goodbye dirt roads – hello normal tar seal roads.
Paro here we come!
No comments:
Post a Comment