Part 1 : Paro
Till the day we went we weren’t certain we would go as the country had just opened it’s doors to outsiders and there was a lot of confusion regarding tourists travelling by road.
But we left with hope in the morning of Sept 26 and entered Bhutan from the Indian border town of Jaigaon in minutes, thanks to their seamless immigration system.
Most tourists visit three places in Bhutan, Thimphu, Paro and Punakha. We did the same.
From Phuentsholing(their border town), we headed straight to Paro and we reached there by nightfall, just in time to have dinner and then call it a day.
So officially, our first day in Paro began the next day. We(my husband and I) had breakfast at our hotel and headed towards the highest driveable point in the country Chelela, stopping on the way to get a bird’s eye view of the only international Airport of Bhutan. It is tiny no doubt but is a thing of beauty… surrounded by scenic hills, the river flowing on one side and above, the umbrella of the endless blue sky. From where we were looking at the view, I could sit and do that the whole day… it was that pleasing to the eye.
Well, everything in Bhutan is charming and beautiful. From the big broad roads, to the gigantic hills, to the river flowing beside you wherever you go, to the pine trees perched on the river banks and the hills, to the fortresses, to the monasteries and then.. it’s people. They are so calm, nice and respectful.
Chelela was cold, ofcourse at an altitude of 3988m it had to be. We hiked to about 4300m till we could withstand the weather, but it wasn’t getting any clearer so we returned as there would be nothing to see in that envelope of fog even if we reached the highest point.
After reaching back, we had yummy Bhutanese lunch at ‘My Kind of Place.’ If you are in Paro, you have to eat atleast one meal here. The host was as charming as the place and the spread which my husband and I scraped off in minutes.
Our next stop was the Paro Museum. If it hadn’t been for the beauty of the monument I would’v skipped it. It is drop dead gorgeous… I dont know if a building can be called that..???
Anyway, the museum was interesting too but my loyalty lay more to the exterior than what was inside. Another good part about the outside was the view of Paro… again a place where you can just sit and keep looking. By the way, we also saw two aircrafts land… quite a daring manoeuvre of the pilots to land through a perilous landscape as that.
While going to the museum we had spotted a small monastery, so on our way back we visited it but it was closed so we just admired the facade. We were told that it was one of the oldest monasteries in the region. Bhutan has many old monasteries, some are open to tourists, some are not.
After coffee we strolled along the streets of Paro. I couldn’t help feeling that I was somewhere in Europe; the wide roads with the back drop of the hills, the uniformly coloured buildings, the cleanliness, the road discipline and the imported cars… all lent to that look. Another thing I noticed, like in countries abroad, vehicles there stop if a pedestrian sets foot at a zebra crossing… wow! I was amazed!
As it became too dark to walk, we headed to Yugen Village Homestay, the most intriguing part of Day 1. It was for our stone bath and dinner. Now hot stone baths are quite a hit among tourists visiting Paro. We didn’t know what it was until we did it. Basically it’s a hot water bath infused with local herbs and aromatic plants. The interesting thing is that the wooden tub extends out of the room into which freshly fire-heated rocks are put, the heat lets out the minerals from the rocks into the water, so we were in for a medicinal mineral water bath. The more heat you want the more they will put. One fourth of the tub where the rocks are put is barricaded from the rest(if you were thinking OMG, hot rocks in the tub!) so there is a wall inside the tub between you and the hot rocks and also a wall between you and the person who puts those rocks. The baths are in several small wooden rooms, they are fully enclosed, private and safe.
It was therapeutic and relaxing and an experience of its own which was followed by Bhutanese dinner, as earthly and as genuine as it can get. However, this spread was a little too bland for my taste, so I didn’t enjoy it as much.
Before I write more, I need to mention one vital part of our holiday… the two amazing people who doubled the fun; our tour guide Dorji 1 (whatsapp +97517474900) and our Driver Dorji 2. We named them 1 & 2 for convenience🙂. Without these two wonderful guys, our trip wouldn’t have been the same. They were both gentlemanly, courteous and reliable. Dorji 1 had a great sense of humor and his one line punches were out of this world… I wish I had recorded a few.
We had good fun with them! I hope they felt the same too😊
The next day was what I was looking forward to the most in the entite trip; our hike to the Tiger’s Nest. I had visited Bhutan back in the winter of 2003 but hadn’t done that.
Because we left early in the morning, our hotel had packed sandwiches and bananas for breakfast which we had at the base. Around 9:30a.m. we started the climb. When I looked at our destination from down there(6.4kms round trip), the hike looked impossible. Dorji 1 accompanied us and I think he had initially underestimated our stamina because when we reached the mid point in about 45mins, he was quite impressed and said that we had outdone most Bhutanese people… ofcourse we are also from the hills so the rugged terrain wasn’t new to us.
After a tea break and then another tiring uphill hike of 30/40 mins, we reached the opposite hill. That’s the photography spot. We stopped to take pictures and right there, looking at the monastery in the backdrop… I became speechless! The sheer architectural gem that the place is… it makes you wonder how they managed the incredible feat.
Tiger’s Nest is much like the cultural icon of Bhutan. The monument is literally in the middle of wilderness, perched on one side of a rocky treacherous hillside. It’s as if someone planted it there… readymade. I mean you have to see it to believe it. Among many others, one of the legends has it that Guru Padmasambhava who used these caves to meditate flew on a tigress to this place… maybe that’s why the name.
After taking enough pictures and wondering enough about it’s unbelievable architecture, we then descended several flights of staircases and ascended several to finally reach the monastery. Photographic devices are not permitted so we needed to deposit everything in lockers before we toured the temple.
Although I am not much of a believer, I do find several places of worship exuding divinity, Tiger’s nest did that… in abundance! I was enchanted by the fragrance, the aura, the Buddhist charm, chants and the vibe… it was divine and humbling.
So, carrying the positivity of the temple with us, along with the accomplished feeling of the hike and our rumbling tummies, we headed down making just one stop for lunch at a restaurant; the only one at the midpoint of the hike. It’s a beautiful place(with a stunning view of the Tiger’s nest) that serves yummy set rice meals for lunch and several types of beverages.
Distracting Dorji 2 while driving with endless tales of our mini adventure, we travelled back to town and the boys left us for the night at our hotel. We freshened up and headed straight to a pub, Park 76. After all we needed to unwind and toast our achievement of the day … lol… peene waalo ko peene ka bahaana chahiye…🥂
After a restful night tucked warmly in the comforting bed of our hotel, we travelled to the captial city the next day. This I will save for another time along with some important travel info.
Till then… hope you enjoyed reading about Paro as much as I enjoyed being there.
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This blog post is a part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Baked Happily Ever After.
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