Over the Dochula Pass to Punakha

Saturday 26th

The only road connecting the capital with central and eastern Bhutan is barely wide enough for two trucks to pass and climbs out of Thimphu in a series of hairpin bends to ascend the 3140m Dochula Pass. We reach the pass about 11am, and stop to marvel at breath-taking views of snow-covered Himalayan peaks in the distance. It's cold up here!

A graceful collection of 108 (an auspicious number) chortens rise above the pass. These were built by the Queen Mother in 2005 to atone for an incident when the Bhutanese army flushed out Assamese militants from the south of the country, and some lives were lost. This morning the chortens are dusted with fresh snow.

Just below the pass we stop at a tea house, and warm up with our cheerful guide, Chimi, by the wood-burning stove.

The road then descends towards the Punakha valley, and we enjoy the changing scenery. The high altitude oak, maple and blue pine gives way to a lush forest of hemlock, cypress and fir. We spot the delicate white flowers of daphne bushes, whose bark is used to make paper, tiny blue primula, and numerous rhododendron which will bloom in a couple of weeks.

On a peak across the valley we see an important Buddhist university, and below us are the terraces being cultivated by subsistence farmers. 

Chimi has insisted there will be no lunch today, to put us into the right (fasting) frame of mind to visit Bhutan's holiest temple, the Punakha Dzong, the winter home of the Thimphu monks. She has us completely fooled until we pull into a field beside a cool river (where we're to wash our feet!) and find a picnic laid out for us. A wonderful interlude before going on to visit the Dzong. It is another spectacular fortress/monastery, alive with young monks. They have some time off on Saturday afternoon and some are meandering by the river, washing their robes or relaxing in the grounds. But others are taking part in rituals in the temple, and this young monk is being admonished by the whip-bearing Dean of Discipline for being late to a service!

We drive another half hour beyond our night stop to see the Wangdu Phodrang Dzong, founded in 1638. It's one of the oldest monastic buildings, still with a wooden tile roof held down by stones, and is in the process of being restored with aid from the Indian government. It provides a nice contrast with the better kept larger dzongs, and here too it's very much alive with a community of young monks, such as this one enjoying a moment with his cell phone. Then we double back to the Damchen Resort, where our rooms overlook the river, and we're more than ready for dinner and a good night's sleep.