We departed Punakha at 09:30 and joined the scenic highway for our 120 km trip to Paro. As had been the case earlier in the week the mountain pass became very foggy as we approached the high point at Dochu La.
Forest in mist, approaching high point at Dochu La, Bhutan
A few kilometres before reaching Dochu La we stopped at a small chorten just off the side of the road. The area was adorned with prayer flags extending in every direction and there were literally hundreds of small, gold painted Buddhist temples perched on the road-side rocks. These are ‘offerings’ to hopefully bring health and well-being.
Our bus parked on side of road, approaching high point at Dochu La
Miniature painted Buddhist temples
The chorten had a one metre high prayer wheel inside being turned by the flow of water past paddles beneath. The prayer wheel struck a bell on each revolution and made a sound that reverberated amongst the misty surrounding forest.
Chorten with prayer wheel
Prayer wheel inside chorten
Along the side of the road we noticed large numbers of wild miniature strawberry plants in flower and quite a few had little strawberries ready for eating.
Wild strawberries
We crossed over the Dochu La pass but did not stop as the low cloud meant that any Himalayan mountain range view was out of the question.
On descending the highway towards Thimphu we diverted to visit the Simtokha Dzong. This historic Dzong was built by Zhabdrung Namgyel in 1629 making it the oldest fortress in Bhutan.
Simtokha Dzong
The Dzong is now used as a monastery and houses the Bhutan School for Buddhist Studies.
We cautiously entered the main central prayer hall to find about fifty monks squatting on long parallel mats chanting Buddhist text and ringing bells every few seconds. At one stage the chanting stopped briefly and leather drums were beaten as long brass trumpets let out mournful sounds reminiscent of bagpipes.
We then bypassed Thimphu and headed for Paro with the only stop being to view an ancient house built over 400 years ago. We suspect that the red corrugated iron roof was not from the 17th century! Also at this stopping point was a roadside shop selling vegetables, fruit and white yak’s cheese. The cubes of yak’s cheese were threaded onto strings which dangled from the shop’s awning.
Traditional Bhutanese house
Roadside vegetable store selling yak's cheese
Having now arrived in Paro we had a late lunch and then visited the Ta Dzong which was formerly a watchtower but since renovation in 1968 it now serves as the National Museum of Bhutan.
We first entered an adjacent annexe displaying modern day Buddhist art work by Penjor Dorji all done using natural dyes and colouring agents. In an adjacent room were hundreds of Dharma masks worn during sacred religious dances.
There were other artefacts in display too including a 10th century copper head of Buddha which is believed to have been damaged by fire.
Dharma masks
Copper head of Buddha
The unusual main museum is a circular four storey building said to be in the shape of a conch shell with 2.5 m thick walls and an underground tunnel thought to lead to water below.
National Museum of Bhutan building
Common raven, Bhutan's National bird in the grounds at National Museum of Bhutan
The extensive collection includes antique Thangkha paintings, textiles, weapons and armour, household objects and a rich assortment of natural and historical artefacts.
A number of stone adzes from around 2000 BC were on display. Some were actual meteorites and the story goes that the early Bhutanese farmers thought these stones from the heavens were ‘namche tare’ or powerful axes hurled down as weapons to assist in battles.
There was also a tooth relic of Zhabdrung’s pet dog. Zhabdrund was a great 17th century Buddhist leader and statesman.
A further exhibit of peculiarity was a mare’s egg! A mare allegedly gave birth to this egg in her stable in the 1920s. It attracted a lot of attention and was later donated to the museum in 1968 by the late queen mother.
One final display that caught our interest was the water clock which measures astrological time which is apparently 2.5 times slower actual time!
Mare’s egg
Chusangkhorlo (Water Timer)
From the terrace outside the museum we could see the rich paddy fields below and the airport where we’d landed last Sunday. We watched a plane make its precarious final turn after leaving the valley and come in and land.
View over Paro from National Museum of Bhutan
We then moved to our accommodation at the Hotel Kaachi Grand.
Tomorrow we have five hour mountain trek to visit the Taktshang Monastery offer referred to as the Tiger’s Nest.