Friday 11th September 2009
I left the Punakha lodge at 9.00 a.m. and we made the three hour drive back to Thimphu. Land slips are quite common and at one point the road was completely blocked by an excavator shifting away fallen rocks. We were only delayed a few minutes. A little further on, a series of lorries blocked the road. They appeared to be being loaded with the fallen rock. After a short delay, we moved on.
Then, we came upon what appeared to be an accident between a red car going one way and a large lorry going the other way. There was just room for a single line of traffic to pass the accident by driving on the unsurfaced verge. Next to this accident, there was a Pelyab Transport Service bus in trouble. As far as I could make out, the bus had got past the accident by driving on the soft verge but, in so doing, had managed to get a large piece of wood stuck between the tyres of one of its double back wheels. The bus was easing backwards and forwards while two men tried to lever out the timber. We carried on a few minutes and came across a minor land slip where the edge of the road nearest the lower slope had fallen away. A crude wooden fence had been rigged to draw attention to this hazard.
As we came nearer Thimphu, the apple harvest was still in full throw then we were stopped by a queue of thirty cars waiting for an excavator to clear the road. This was the same worksite which had delayed us on the way east a few days before but this time the delay was 25 minutes. When we did move off, a narrow track had been cleared through sandy soil about three feet deep.
We reached Thimphu without further incident and drove to the Amankora Lodge Thimphu where I'd stayed on my arrival in Bhutan. Here, I took lunch before we carried on west to Paro, where I was to spend my last two nights in Bhutan at my fourth Amankora Lodge.
Pictures on the road from Punakha to Paro.
When we arrived in Paro, rather than proceed directly to the Lodge, we turned off the main road and took a winding, country route which eventually climbed to the National Museum, set on a hill overlooking the Rinpung Dzong. The museum is in an ancient tower which once served as a watchtower protecting the Dzong. Some say it’s conche-shaped: it’s certainly not just round. The exhibits are spread over a number of floors and the visit provided a useful insight into Bhutanese traditions and history. On leaving the museum, there were superb views of Paro and the surrounding district.
As we descended from the museum by car, the road was blocked by a T.V. Film Crew. A famous Bhutanese director was coaching a group of young male and female dancers in modern dress in a lively song-and-dance routine. He was attempting an ‘arty’ against-the-light take facing the setting sun. Along with a number of schoolchildren we watched for a while before returning to the Lodge.
