Of monasteries and prayer flags - Bhutan Day 4 & 5

The next day, we readied ourselves for the long drive towards Bumthang. Not as many tourists visit Bumthang as you have to either drive there, which meant almost an entire day of driving, or fly there, which meant additional costs. On top of that, there are usually landslides during summer due to the rain which meant roads would be closed and driving would not be an option. 

While there were planned stops to do sightseeing, we didn't really do much of that but the scenery along the way was amazing. We stopped here and there to take some photos but most of the day was spent sleeping and chit chatting about various topics with our tour guide and driver. According to our driver, Bumthang is where all the pretty girls come from in Bhutan. And later as we found out, they also made very good apple cider. We also listened to a lot of Hindi pop as our driver preferred that music to keep himself awake. 

One of the places we stopped along the way was Trongsa Dzong, which according to Wikipedia is the largest in in all of Bhutan. As was becoming the practice, once we started walking towards the dzong, one of the stray dogs sleeping outside started following us. It's almost like they are showing us the way in, which is kind of cute and reassuring at the same time. It was pretty quiet at the donzg when we were there, probably due to the late timing 

After that it was another long drive before we reached Kikila Pass. There were probably thousands of prayer flags. It felt really really serene and calm and I really enjoyed looking at the prayer flags fluttering in the wind. 

We had a short walk around the town where we got a bottle of Bumthang apple cider before heading to the hotel to get some rest. We lost our driver for a while as he was on a hunt to get some betel nut leaves which was supposedly only found in that area. It was quite funny though and with the extra time we had, we walked around 

The next day, we visited Jambhay Lhakhang which is said to be one of the 108 temples built by the Tibetan King Songster Gampo in a single day, to pin down a demoness to earth. From there we did a short walk to Kurjey Lhakhang. We met a stray cow along the way which to us city dwellers looked really cute. Then it was off to Tamshing monastery for more temple hopping.

Edit : This is posted in 2023 thought the trip was in 2018, a lot of memories have faded, posting this so as to remember the trip.