Bikomaniacs Bhutan Memories Part 4

Going for a long bike trip is like doing meditation. It is a pilgrimage.

You are all alone and free, with a companion who does not disturb you, for more than 10 hours a day. A boon to have. You get a chance to see your life - clearly from distance and understand it better. Life changing ideas, thoughts appear spontaneously.

We lock up ourselves to a tiny part of heaven, gifted to us by God; live almost our entire lifetime within a few kilometres radius. Like circus animals, keep doing same things again and again and again and die. 

What a pity!

Unfortunately we fail to realise this. Trips like these may open up our minds and eyes.

1st June,2017

This was day 4 of our trip. By 12:30 AN, after getting extended permits to visit protected interior parts of Bhutan, we were cruising along on Thimphu - Punaka highway towards Phobjikha valley.

The distance between Thimphu and Phobjikha is around 140 kms. Two important tourist attractions are there on the way- Dochula pass and Punaka.

Dochula Pass

Dochula pass is one of the high altitude mountain passes in the Bhutan, situated at 10,200 ft altitude.This pass is famous for it’s 360 degree panoramic view of himalayan mountains. And the highest peak of Bhutan ‘’Gangkar’’ can be seen from here. We were unlucky, misty weather played spoilsport. Could not see the views.

Apart from the views, it has 108 “memorial chortens” or “Druk Wangyal Chortens”built to honour Bhutanese soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Dec 2003 battle against Assamese insurgents from India. These beautiful three layered structures were erected on a central hillock. There is an interesting story behind this.

In 1990, India launched operations “Rhino and Bajrang” against Assam militant groups. So, they relocated their base from Assam to Bhutan. Camps were established to train militants,store equipments and raise funds. They started attacking Indian territory from there. India put diplomatic pressure on Bhutan.Being a nonviolent Buddha kingdom, they tried to solve the problem peacefully by conducting talks with the groups. But failed. Forced to launch it’s first military operation “Operation all Clear”and eradicated the insurgents. India provided support.

During our visit we noticed the presence of Indian army in Dochula pass.The only place where we saw Indian army on Bhutan soil.

Thick forest, cold weather, ghat roads - excellent conditions for bike ride. We were slowly trotting on the zig zag mountain roads enjoying the nature.I was wondering how come they were able to maintain such nice roads in a hilly terrain. I got the answer after crossing Punakha. Realised that well maintained roads are only restricted to Paro,Thimphu and Punakha. Abruptly good roads came to an end. Roads became dusty, “unpaved -beaten path”without any asphalt cover. Construction activities were going on in many places. Our riding mode changed to snail paced , less enjoyable and adventurous- once again.

Punakha 

Detoured around 20 kms from the main route to visit Punakha Dzong and Suspension Bridge. 

Punakha is a beautiful small valley town, which was Bhutan’s capital till 1995. Compared to Thimphu it has better weather conditions throughout the year since the altitude is lesser at 1200 meters. Now,Punakha is winter capital of Bhutan.

This valley has many small villages and famous for rice farming.

Punakha Dzong

Apart from religious purpose, this building serves as the administrative centre for that District. It is situated in a small island formed by two rivers on either side - mo chhu( mother river) and pho chhu( father river). Both the rivers confluence to become one at this juncture. 

The Punakha Dzong appeared picturesque with the backdrop of thick blue sky,white clouds and bright sunlight.

Suspension  Bridge

It is very close by the Dzong. This is the longest suspension bridge in Bhutan. Connects Dzong to nearby villages. The bridge is reasonably a stable structure - without any fear we can walk - even jog on it.

Enjoyed an another beautiful view , the suspension bridge in the background of mountains,clouds and sky. Gentle wind was blowing across. Felt very pleasant to stand there silently admiring nature.

Almost it became evening when we left punakha. Roads were gradually deteriorating. When 20 km more to our destination - Phobjikha valley - Dewacchan Resort, day light started saying good bye.

It was pitch dark as if someone had painted the night with thick greasy black colour. The kind of darkness you see only in wilderness. No human being or any man made structure was visible for some time.Being in a remote place of an another country without any navigation guidance created anxiety and mystical feeling.

Phobjikha valley is a U shaped glacier valley. Need to climb up and then drive down hill. 

After 30 minutes of blind drive,  we saw a man on a bike - fortunately he understood what we talked. He told us to follow him and guided us till the Phobjikha village. From there we called up Dewacchan hotel. They told us landmarks and directions. 

The roads were narrow, up and down sloping with lots of loose gravel. Driving became slippery; difficult to manoeuvre our bikes with heavy luggages on. 

We took wrong path, struggling to find the hotel. 

Almost one hour we were going here and there like headless chickens. 

Coldness penetrated the thick layered riding gears upto our bones. 

Felt desperate to shelter into a warm place.

Finally reached Dewacchan hotel. 

The room was spacious with a fireplace inside. Took hot water bath to soothe our tired bodies and rushed to the spiritual bar to warm up our tired souls. Buffet dinner was good. 

The night sleep was full of nightmares. One of the uncomfortable nights, I have ever experienced. I did not  know whether it was due to the coldness or the altitude (9800ft). Remembered, I had similar experience in Sarchu during Leh, Ladakh trip. Did not ask Shankar and Karthi about their nightmares. Hoped they also had it 😉😄!

Phobjikha valley 

We missed to see early morning hours of Phobjikha valley. Woke up bit late around 7 am. When I came out of the room, the view I saw made me to forget the nightmares in a second. It was a magical, mesmerising view. There was a infinite valley with green carpet , mountains at distance , floating clouds with different white and grey shades, dark shadows of hovering clouds on the green cover, grazing ponies and cattle, musical insects chirping , buzzing. It resembled an European country side. 

                                       

Phobjikha is a large U shaped glacial valley - in contrast to V shaped river valleys. Glaciated valleys are formed when glacier travels across and down a slope,carving the valley by scouring over thousands of years. This marshy land is rich in biodiversity. It shelters  many endangered species including “black necked cranes.”

The valley is covered fully with snow in winters.

Due to the delay in Thimphu, we could not spend a day in Phobjikha, as we planned initially.We had to pack up and leave.Felt very sad.We left the resort at around 11 am. Within a kilometre we stopped in a place where the view was better than what we saw from the resort.

Our eyes see thousands of images everyday. Only a few of those get embedded into our mind and are stored life long. What we witnessed was one of those dream like surreal views. 

Spent five to ten minutes just standing there, but felt like lived a whole lifetime over there.Time just freezes in such places. We can feel that the time pauses to enjoy the sublime beauty and reluctantly restarts slowly. Felt like I was in a paradise. Those five blissful minutes I would never forget in my life. Promised myself that I would return back again to this heaven and stay back for a few days.

With a heavy heart, departed Phobjikha valley.

To be continued...

Buddhan Rajarathinam

29-04-2018