ON OUR WAY FROM PARO TO THIMPHU –BHUTAN JOURNEY

BLOG POST 3
From airport we sped on our way to Thimpu ,the distance of about 50 km from Paro airport to Thimpu takes around 1hour excluding the stops. We drove south following the Pa Chhu River heading to the river confluence at Chuzom.

Coming from a city where even viewing a clear blue sky is a rarity ,it was a feast to our eyes to see sky blue sky with white clouds playing’ chasing’ and ‘catch me if you can’  games , the heavier, older and more mature clouds were trying to gather their naughty young ones under their sari pallus so they do not  get blown away in the flurry of their game.

 The river Pa Chhu  or Paro Chhu is a river of western Bhutan. It is a tributary of the Wong Chhu  and flows through the Paro Valley, site of one of Bhutan's main towns, Paro, and many important monasteries. As we went on, it accompanied us placidly

Our guide however informed us that it could certainly become ferocious at times , we could see green mountains on both sides with houses perched precariously .

As we traveled I was quizzing our guide on the culture and various other aspects of Bhutan . Luckily for us he spoke fluent English and a spatter of Hindi too to our surprise , he told us he had studied for 2 years in Delhi University.

 In Bhutanese families, inheritance generally passes  matrilineally  through the female rather than the male line. Daughters inherit their parents' house. A man is expected to make his own way in the world and often moves to his wife's home after marriage.

Love marriages are becoming more common in urban areas, but the tradition of arranged marriages among mutually known families is still prevalent in the rural areas. Although uncommon, polygamy is accepted, maybe to keep property in the family unit rather than dispersing to others,but the husband does need permission from the first wife

 The economy of the country is based on agriculture and forestry.The main livelihood for more than 60% of the population, agriculture consists largely of farming and animal husbandry. Rugged mountains make the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive, practically there are no railroads in Bhutan

Hydro power exports to India have boosted Bhutan's overall growth,all Bhutanese love India and value the friendship existing between the two countries and everywhere we went we could see people avidly watching our Hindi Saas Bahu serials ,Sharukh Khan ,Priyanka Chopra and Juhi Chawla are loved by all
Our guide told us we had come in the right season which was May ,as Autumn is from October to November when it's generally sunny with some snow at higher elevations. Late November to early March is dry with pre-monsoon showers starting in May.
The best time to visit Bhutan is during the spring months of March to May when the valleys come alive with flowers in bloom which we found true as we found flowers welcoming us with gay abandon throughout our stay

Along the way to Chunzom, we first passed villages like Bondey, Shaba and at Isuna, the road crossed bridge to the other side of river.
 About 18 KM southeast of Paro, our car stopped to the side and our guide asked us to step down .
We were a little apprehensive about leaving our bags with our passports in the car but the guide assured us that as long as we were in their country we were safe and our silent but smiling driver affirmed his statement vehemently
We had to walk down a mud road along a steep slope to see the Tamchog Lhakhang, a private temple owned by the descendents of famous Tibetan bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo.

Here I do have to tell my readers that our trip to Bhutan involved a lot of walking and climbing ,one needs sturdy shoes and a walking mind set because the Bhutanese walk everywhere and are as nimble as goats when climbing. Almost all the monasteries require climbing innumerable number of steep steps and require fair amount of patience to walk miles and miles
we sat for sometime on some logs there gazing  at the splendid views around us ,we could see some chilli fields being prepared for farming

We saw the Tachogang  Lhakhang Bridge, an iron-chain hanging bridge that crosses the Paro River and leads to the small  hilltop temple.

As history goes, the original bridge was erected in the 1400 s by the infamous “madman of Bhutan,” Thangthong Gyalpo  but was destroyed in 1969 by severe floods and  was rebuilt in 2005 using strands of chains from the old bridge.
 Thangtong Gyalpo(1385-1464) is very significant in Bhutan,he was a saint, blacksmith, architect, physician and an engineer. He built numerous iron suspension bridges and temples across Bhutan and Tibet which are still under use ,it is said that he used to nail the bridges with his bare hands. He was also the founder of Tibetan opera called ‘Ache Lhamo’. He traveled to Bhutan in 1433 from Tibet.

The legend of Thangtong Gyalpo says that the money needed to build his iron bridges was raised from his opera performances, such was his passion!
 The bridge was festooned with multi-colored Buddhist prayer flags and was supposed to move and sway dangerously when walked upon. Alas now no one was permitted to use it and was barred much to my utter disappointment , I got reminded of “ the road not taken “poem by Robert Frost ! The bridge was also shown in the movie Little Buddha by Bernardo Bertolucci
The ends of the bridge had white stucco structures that may have served as mini-forts to protect the bridge from invaders.

There was another bridge next to this iron bridge which was now being used by all. As we stepped on it, though it was not swaying dangerously, it was quite thrilling to watch the rapid flow of river waters under the bridge

Tachogang Lhakhang temple was built by Tangtong Gyelpo in the fifteenth century. While the Tibetan master was meditating here, he had a vision of a spiritual horse emanation of Avalokiteshvara and decided to build a temple as well as an iron suspension bridge at this location .Tachogang means ‘temple of the hill of the excellent horse’. The temple is privately run by the descendents of Thangtong Gyalpo now.
After we went across the bridge we entered the temple and climbed onto the top floor through a creaky wooden staircase ,there we could see statues of Lord Buddha, Guru  Padmasambhava and the walking stick of Tangtong Gyelpo  preserved .

We had a great view of the bridge, the rushing river, and the rows of prayer flags fluttering furiously in the wind.

Prayer flags are  dominantly seen across every river, bridge, mountain road or open space in Bhutan. Fresh colorful strings represent all five elements the air, wind, water, fire,wood  for luck and for prayers
 People hang the prayers where there are strong winds, an image of the wind horse in the center representing the power of the wind to carry the prayers fast and wide. They consult astrologers for the best place, and hang tall flags in front of their houses representing  their own element, or a local protector

Everywhere near Monasteries and temples in Bhutan we find prayer wheels which have to be rotated clockwise and these have a lot of religious significance in Budhism  

I found many tiny stupa shaped clay vessels called tsatsas  near the temple and all around it ,tucked under the rocks and everywhere ,I happened to see them all over Bhutan near monasteries and temples. They contain the ashes of loved ones and are placed by their relatives at holy places to liberate their souls

Chhuzom (Confluence) is the juncture of Thimphu river (Wang Chu) and Paro river . Chuzom is also a major road junction, with southwest road leading to Haa (79km), south road to Phuntsholing (141km) and northeast to Thimphu (30km).
There we stopped for a while ,I liked the board displayed there

.Everywhere in Bhutan we could see many dogs which apparently are revered as God’s messengers and they appeared tame
I  also found many improvised dustbins which cost mere pittance

From Chuzom, the road followed Wangchu River upstream as we passed through villages and suburbs to the capital, Thimphu. There were extensive rice paddies, apple orchards and several old houses.