Bhutan, Day 2
Trip Start
Aug 23, 1996
1
406
450
Trip End
Ongoing
Dochu La,
Bhutan
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Taktshang Goemba
This is the most famous monastery in Bhutan. In English, it translates to tigers nest. It's not a bad description as this place clings to a cliff !!! Basically, the only way to get there is by trekking, it's also something that we haven't done since we left Nepal in 2006, but as we had done loads of walking in Liths and Kolkata, we were up for it. And then we headed off, and not long into the trip I realised two things
1) I spend way to much time behind a desk
2) I am so unfit !!!
Sweat was pouring, but there was some consolation, the monastery was getting closer. At the ninety minute mark, it looked as though you could reach out and touch it, but then we looked, and there were stairs going down, way down, and then back up again. My heart sank, but I set off, and thirty minutes later, at 3180 metres, I had arrived, and lets face it, I was fucked !!! We took off our shoes and hit the different rooms. Once again the majority of the paintings I have seen before, but the views were great. The only problem was that you weren't allowed to take cameras anywhere near the outside !!!
After an hour of running around, we headed back. I looked at the steps and was thankful that we had come in the morning as the stairs were now crowded with touros !!! I stood up and my legs were jelly, but we headed off. I didn't look up until I had reached the top and the monastery was at eye level. Trust me, going down was alot easier !!!
Once at the bottom, I realised why I dislike tours. The guides itinerary and Lucy's were different. She had the latest and this had not been passed on. We discussed it, and the guide went our way !!!
Dochu La
We left Paro and followed the mountains for over two hours, and then we climbed. Around an hour later, we reached Dochu La pass. Once again the views were great, and as an added bonus, there were 108 chortens to check out. They were all the same bar the large centre one, and had been built for winning a one day war which nobody seems to know/care about !!! Above it was a forest with prayer flags over it, so we joined in the fun and added a couple which had been blessed by the head Lama for this country, or so we were told when we bought them !!!
And then we went down over the other side. We were driving for around threeish hours, when we turned off abruptly. Lucy questioned the guide why we were staying in a different hotel, and he couldn't answer. Once shown the room, I said to Lucy, either you ask for another room, or I will, and realising it was best if she did, we swapped into another. Once settled, the guide came and explained that the owner of the company said our chosen hotel was fully booked, even though there had been correspondence between him and Lucy up until we left !!! This was not going down well at all !!! And during dinner, it came to a head. I told the guide that we were paying a stupid amount of money, and the hotel we were staying in wasn't up to it. Trust me, we stay in cheapies all the time, but when you are paying US$460 per day, you kind of expect hot water !!! I explained this, and he assured me that it would be there tomorrow, so I appologised for losing it, but also told him that if there was no hot water, my bags would be packed and he would be finding us a new hotel !!! I don't think he believes me though !!!
And Finally
We both knew it wouldn't last, we both can't stand tours. Oh well, five more days to go !!!
