Seat of the dragon kingdom - Day 6, 7 & 8 in Bhutan

It was another long drive towards Thimpu, which is the capital of Bhutan. However before we got there, we stopped by at Phobjikha Valley to see the black-necked cranes, but unfortunately there was none as the weather was too cold so they were all hiding. The valley did look rather majestic though I sadly cannot find any pictures of it.  

Along the way to Thimpu, we stopped at another pass which CS described as looking like the set of Game of Thrones after the white walkers fought with the crows. 

We finally reached Thimpu after yet another long drive and boy that was the first time we saw so many people! By Singapore standards, the population is quite small but by Bhutanese standards, it was a huge city and was the first time in our trip we experienced so much traffic. Our guide told us that there would be traffic jams during peak hours, which is understandable since it is the capital and tons of people are living and working there. 

Since it was the capital, we encountered crowds everywhere we went, which was a bit of a shock to the system after having the luxury of being able to have most places to ourselves as we slowly wandered around. We did manage to have the most wonderful lunch before we went to the various attractions. 

the small bowl of chili is similar to the sambal we eat in Singapore and it was so good I could eat it with plain rice

it doesn't look like much but even now in 2023 I remember how good it tasted

While we did do the touristy stuff like visiting the National Memorial Chorten as well as Buddha Point, we also asked our guide to bring us to the local market where we had a good time walking around and looking at what the locals buy. It's very much like a wet market in Singapore just that they have way more of each items. 

We also finally bought prayer flags and went to Chelela Pass to hang them to make merit and for general good fortune. More explanation on the different colours of the prayer flags and what they meant can be found here. 

It is a popular place to hang prayer flags and the sight of so many of them fluttering in the wind is really quite calming and soothing. 

Edit : Posted in 2023 though the trip was in 2018. 

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.