25 May 2013

Bhutan: Punakha to Bumthang

by | posted in: Uncategorized | 10
4th April 2013
Previous posts:
Majority of tourists limit their travel to Western Bhutan
covering the districts of Paro, Thimphu and Punakha. Only a small minority head
towards Central and Eastern Bhutan. One reason is that the tourist facilities
get limited as we go deeper into east. And it involves long road journeys for
several days.
We decided to continue our journey towards central Bhutan. We
started little early at 8AM as the journey would be long. The road goes next to
Puna Tsang Chhu River.  The vehicle
traffic thinned down after we crossed old Wangdue town.  It was mainly trucks carrying supplies for the
construction of hydro power project in central Bhutan. The road was spoiled
because of these trucks. At many places road widening was in progress that
slowed our journey.
After two hours we reached a village of Nubding. We had to
wait here for the JCBs to clear the debris of road construction. After the
town, climb to Pele La started. Unlike the monster passes that we see in
Ladakh, the passes in Bhutan are very gentle!! And it is surprising that even
at 11,000 ft we do not find snow . It was still beginning of spring.
Somewhere during the climb, the road to Phobjika valley
diverges from the main road. Phobjika valley is home to vulnerable Black necked
crane. Winter is the best time to see them. White bellied Heron which is almost
close to extinction is found in this area. There are only about 27 – 30 of
these birds left in Bhutan (and possibly few more outside Bhutan). The series
of hydro power projects in central Bhutan might seal its fate.
On top of Pele La was a stupa. It was very cold on top of
the pass. My daughter’s clothing and expression tells it all!!
While going down Pele La, we also see another Stupa on the
right side. This is a big one with Nepalese architecture.
We had our early lunch at a restaurant near the stupa. At
11:30AM, it was too early to have lunch but it was a wise thing to have food
when it was available!!
Once down from Pele La, we can see the “Black mountain”
ranges on the right side. The jungles looked extremely dense with a snow capped
mountain in the background.
As we proceed further, the road gets narrower as it passes
though steep valleys. On the other side of the valley is the road leading to
the hydro electric plant.
At 1PM, we were nearing the town of Trongsa perched above a
gorge. It looked very near on the opposite hill but then we had to meander
through the hills to reach the end of the valley, cross the river and then
climb to Trongsa. The great views of Trongsa and the Dzong can be seen from a
view point.
At Trongsa, the highway diverges where the other route goes
southward to the town of Galepu at India-Bhutan border.
Trongsa is exactly at the center of Bhutan. The main
attraction of the town is the Dzong that rises above the gorge of Mongde Chhu
River.
We spend some time in the Dzong before proceeding to
Bumthang.
From Trongsa, the road climbs to Yotangla Pass. At 11,000 ft
this is the highest pass we will be crossing on the stretch of our journey.
Early April and we do not see any snow at this height. This is strange.
Top of the pass was fully covered by mist. Prayer flags hang
on top of the pass.
The road after the pass climbs down to Bumthang. Bumthang
encompasses four valleys: Chokhor, Tang, Ura and Chhumme. The road first enters
the Chhumme valley. Small villages start appearing and the road is lined with
Apple and peach trees. It is blooming time and flowers are seen everywhere.
From Chhumme we enter Chokhor valley to reach the town of
Jakar. We are welcomed by rain as we enter into this quite town. Our hotel
Wangdicholing resort is at the beginning of the town. Built on a bluff it
overlooks the valley and the town.  And
we will be the only people in the resort for next two days. Superb!! 
Jakar is at the altitude of 8500 feet. It feels very cold even before the sunset. Thankfully, the room has fireplace which keep us warm.

10 Responses

  4. indiantopblogs.com
    | Reply

    Dear blogger friend,

    We take this opportunity to inform you that your blog has been listed in the Directory of Best Indian Blog, 2012-13 edition. [The announcement can be seen here.]

    We have been bringing out this Directory since 2011 and the present one is its third edition.

    If you are hearing of ITB for the first time and are curious about it, you might like to see our blog selection criteria and the process we follow for selecting blogs for this Directory.

    We don't know how much you care for your blog’s listing, but we assure you that we work hard to select blogs for the Directory. ITB badges on hundreds of Indian blogs are a testimony of the trust bloggers pose on us.

    Our hearty congratulations on your maintaining a quality blog, and we wish that your blog reaches new heights.

    Best wishes!

    IndianTopBlogs team

    PS:

    1. If you have any reservations about your blog's inclusion in the Directory, do email us and we’d remove your blog from our listing.

    2. If you feel like, do place ITB badge on your blog. It is purely voluntary but we are sure it will add value to your blog in terms of reputation, popularity and position on search engines.

    3. We have started a blogging community in Google Plus, with a few members to start with. We intend to make this community a place to exchange ideas about the craft of blogging. The Indian blogging community will benefit if you agree to join the G+ community page. Joining is very simple: Kindly go to the URL given below, join / sign in to Google Plus and click on 'ask to join'.
    https://plus.google.com/communities/112035804567703045429

    4. We are posting this message here as we could not find your email ID on the blog. Or did we miss it?

  6. Aravind GJ
    | Reply

    Santosh,
    Thanks. Nope… no idea why there is less snow in that part of Himalayas.

    Niranjan, Vineeta, Desi Traveler,
    Thanks for your comments.

    IndianTopBlogs,
    Thanks for putting my blog in the list. I see that you have taken quite an effort to prepare it. Good job.

Leave a Reply