Thursday 10th September 2009
I slept well and woke early to a warm, sunny day. The attraction of the Amankora Punakha is that the main building is about 50 years old and built in the Bhutanese farmhouse style. The royal family own a lot of land in the beautiful Punakha Valley and this building was originally owned by the royals. After a pleasant breakfast, I took plenty of photographs to illustrate the layout and construction. Pictures of the Amankora Punakha.
I met Tashi at 9.00 a.m. and we followed the usual routine - buggy to the bridge, cross the bridge, meet Karma and the 4 x 4 on the other side. We drove a few kilometres south and stopped at a small village. Leaving Karma with the car, Tashi and I walked through the village to the rice fields behind. They usually get two plantings of rice in this area. The first planting was turning yellow and ready for harvesting, this second was green and still immature. Our path led us across the narrow dyke separating two rice paddies, past a chorten with prayer wheels and uphill through another group of houses.
At the summit of the low hill we came to our destination, the temple associated with fertility. Women who have difficulty conceiving are advised to visit this temple for the prescribed ritual and tales abound of pregnancies following. Whatever other properties the site has, it's a very beautiful spot, looking down on the river and the mountains beyond and festooned with dozens of poles supporting prayer flags. I was also interested in the new building being erected in Bhutanese style and the radio transmission equipment which included a large satellite dish. In a classroom next to the temple young monks - children really - were engaged in their studies.
We retraced our steps down the hill, thnrough the rice fields and back to the village on the main road. The local bus was waiting and sounded his horn to chivvy late passengers. I hoped that the bus company name was not prophetic - 'BUMPA TRANSPORT SERVICE'. Pictures on the trip to the Fertility Temple.
We travelled back north through Kruruthang - the 'New Punakha' - and made a photographic stop just before arriving at Punakha Dzong, which some say is the most beautiful of the Dzongs. We parked adjacent to the Dzong but on the other side of the river and reached the Dzong by a modern pedestrian bridge in the traditional 'cantilever' style provided by Germany. The Dzong is certainly impressive internally and the administrative courtyard features a chorten and a now-mature tree donated by the Prime Minister of India. By the time we emerged from the Dzong, Karma had somehow moved the car across the river. All was revealed as we set off north, because we came to a Bailey Bridge over the river which led us back to our original road and the Punakha Lodge for lunch. Pictures of Punakha Dzong.
After lunch we had one more trip planned. Karma drove us north a couple of kilometres, turning right by the houses where we'd paused on the bike ride and then driving downhill to the river bank. Another pedestrian suspension bridge let Tashi and I cross the river. We made our way to the impressive bulk of a wooded hill surmounted by an elaborate chorten, the Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten, often just called the 'Royal Chorten' for simplicity. In the hot sun, it took just over half an hour to follow the track up to the large chorten. If I understand its significance correctly, it was erected by the former queen to make the future of her son more auspicious. Although it's referred to as a 'chorten', internally it's laid out as temples on various levels. At the top of the building, there's an outside viewing gallery giving stunning views of the river valley. Pictures of the 'Royal Chorten'.
By now the afternoon was cooler and it was a pleasant walk down the hill and across the bridge to get back to the car. A short drive took us back to the Lodge in plenty of time for dinner.
