Tuesday 8 September 2009

By road from Thimphu to Gangtey

Monday 7th September 2009

After two very comfortable nights in the Amankora Thimphu, on Monday it was time to move on, to the Amankora Gangtey. A couple from Tokyo who had been staying were making the same trip but with their own car, driver and guide. Before leaving, the three of us were invited to take part in a simple ritual outside adjacent to three prayer wheels. A young monk intoned the prayer for leaving before tying a coloured thread around each of our necks. This thread is the 'Sungkay' which wards off evil, protects against illness and avoids misfortune. It should be kept in place for at least three days. Finally, there was the, by now, familiar ritual of the holy water. The monk poured a little water into our cupped palm. This is sipped and the balance spread across the top of the head.

Before leaving Thimphu, we drove to the top of a nearby hill surmounted by a transmission tower called 'Radio Hill', noted as a vantage point. The gate to Sangaygang Transmission Tower was closed, but a number of dogs were sitting, expectantly watching the gate. It was clear that, at some point, the watchman would feed them but they were still patiently waiting when we left. A footpath to the left of the gate lead to the summit of the hill which is a favourite picnic spot for locals. The whole area was covered with prayer flags, fluttering in the gentle breeze.

We returned to the town one last time, parking opposite the Post Office. Bhutan has only had a national postal service since the 1950s. The country has built up a useful business in imaginative stamp designs and frequent collectors' editions are issued. I examined the range on offer and was amazed at the various events and personalities Bhutan has chosen to honour with its issues. My pictures of Thimphu.

We headed out of town, past some of the Indian migrant worker's homes at the start of a fairly long road trip to Gangtey. We hadn’t gone far before we came to a traffic queue. Apparently, when roadworks are to be done, it’s commonplace for roads to be closed for half an hour or an hour without warning. Ahead, we could see a ’Komatsu’ tracked excavator scraping at the hillside with its bucket while perched at a very unsafe-looking angle. Every so often, sandy soil would roll down the slope to gather on the road ahead of us. After perhaps ten minutes, the excavator reversed down to the road level and used its bucket to pick up most of the spoil from the road and pile it clear of the roadway. Quite a queue had built up behind us by the time we moved off – an even longer queue was waiting to come through in the opposite direction.

This is apple-growing country and the harvest was in full swing. Every so often, we passed large stacks of wooden boxes which were being filled with apples for collection by lorry. We stopped to make a hike up a track to a famous temple. We passed a rather derlict chorten and then a number of simple houses with the owners tilling their vegetable plots, climbing all the time. Clusters of prayer flags were sending their message to the skies. At one point, an unconcerned cow blocked the narrow path and had to be shooed ahead until there was space to pass. We met a local woman who, she told Tashi, spends a lot of time in a nunnery. She insisted on wearing her rosary and fastening the button of her jacket before being photographed. She also asked if it was possible to have a copy of the photograph – photographs are not commonplace in much of Bhutan.

We arrived at the temple, which had a large, well-maintained chorten outside. Two large prayer wheels flanked the locked main door to the temple. A courtyard at the left of the main building had a teaching room where a number of young monks were practising the making of complex ritual cakes from a thick pastry mixture. The caretaker let us into the temple through a side door. After we’d examined the temple, the youngsters had broken off from their labours and were playing with three dogs. To the right of the main building there was a wider track, suitable for vehicles, and we descended by this track, passing a stream on which three water prayer wheels had been built. More farmers were working in their small fields.

We rejoined Karma and our 4 x 4 and continued along the twisting road, climbing steadily before making a halt to inspect the 108 chortens at Dochula. The hillside behind the chortens, festooned with prayer flags, is a popular picnic site. A little further on, we stopped at Dochula Resort. We’d brought a picnic lunch but it was raining intermittently, so we used the Observation Lounge at the Resort which looks out towards the Himalayas. The view was impressive enough but low cloud obscured the high mountains which can be seen in good weather. I met the owner of the resort, Ugyen Dorji, who is a master embroiderer and painter.

Leaving Docula, the road then descended via a long series of zig-zags which seemed to go on forever. We passed the turn for Punakha and carried on along the main road which runs close to the river until reaching the important town of Wangdi Phodrang, with its imposing Dzong. Here we paused for a brief immigration check before taking the road east. This road started to climb again with a series of hair-raising hairpin bends. These roads are a real test of the vehicles using them and we passed a large number of heavy lorries of various makes grinding painfully upwards and often belching smoke.

At last, we turned right off the main road and, after a few kilometres, came to Gangtey. Here, the road was completely blocked by a small tractor and trailer off-loading sacks of potatoes and an ‘Eicher’ lorry, sheeted-up, presumably already loaded with potatoes. After a short while, the driver of the lorry started it up and the whole area disappeared in clouds of smoke from the exhaust. Once he’d moved a few yards, we were able to finish our journey to the Amankora Gangtey Lodge. The usual warm welcome awaited and, since the rooms at different lodges intentionally have similar facilities and layouts, I soon felt at home again. The setting is quite different from Thimphu – the lodge looks up a long, flat valley with the Gangtey Goemba (Monastery) in a commanding position on its hill on one side of the valley.

Sunday afternoon in Thimphu

Sunday 6th September 2009

I've already described the morning jaunt when I was a little unwell. Recovered in the afternoon, we set off again for Thimphu town, this time to look at the huge Trashi Chhoe Dzong.

In Bhutan, the religious and the secular are combined in the Dzong which is both monastery and the seat of civil power combined. The Dzong in Thimphu is special in that the present King has his offices in this complex so there is a very active security presence. Because it was Sunday, the entrance to the civil offices was closed but, further along the massive building, a second entrance gave access to the monastery section. Security was still high and at least one of the guards, a uniformed young girl, carried a gun. There was also an X-ray machine to make a cursory check of my handbag. Passing through the outer wall, we entered the courtyard originally used for all important ceremonies. With the increasing significance of tourism, they have built a more spacious location for these ceremonies just outside the Dzong to give more accommodation for visitors. All of the walls of the Dzong provide accommodation either for offices or monks quarters but the courtyard is dominated by two massive buildings - the main temple and the monk's building. We were able to look around the main temple. There were a few other European tourists visiting the Dzong, in twos and threes. The fourth king, who has four wives, abdicated a few years ago in favour of his son and he has a palace on the river side of the Dzong. Pictures of Trashi Choe Dzong.

We then went by car to the middle of the town and parked. The Government have recently appointed a private parking contractor to collect parking fees on their behalf and a yellow-jacketed attendant was soon collecting the fee. I looked at a very nice antiques shop but emerged only with a map of Bhutan. Sunday is a holiday and there was quite a festive spirit with young people promenading. Western dress is probably more common on a Sunday, usually tee-shirt and jeans (I liked the plaintive 'This is not the life I ordered' tee-shirt). Weekdays, school children and people with a 'proper job' wear the appropriate national dress. One area of town was particularly crowded. My guide pointed out that most of the people in this area were temporary workers from India, working on various infrastructure projects, and waiting for the cinema to open. In Clocktower Square, I was amused to find young people playing cricket Bhutan-style. There were no stumps, the wicket was rather long and a tennis ball was in use. Nonetheless, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. My pictures of Thimphu.

After a tiring but enjoyable day, I was taken back to the comfort of the Amankora Lodge.