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This is the third blog post from a handful of posts from my trip to Bhutan, a Buddhist country in Southern Asia. My visit to this little-known country in the Himalayas was one of the highlights of the many trips I took in 2018. To read the previous blog post, focused on the capital Thimphu, click here.
FRIDAY, September 21st
After having had breakfast and checking out of the hotel, we departed Thimphu. We set off on a drive east towards Punakha. At about the midway point, we stopped at Dochu La Pass.
At 3.100 m (~9,300 ft) above sea level, the mountain pass has a wonderful view of the Himalayas…if you’re there on a clear day.
It was cloudy at the time of our visit. That however didn’t mean that Dochu La was for nothing.
We took some time to have a look at its 108 chortens. These chortens form a memorial for a handful of Royal Bhutan Army members who died fighting Assamese militants in southern Bhutan.
There weren’t 108 casualties, that number was chosen for spiritual reasons. Assam is one of several Indian states that border Bhutan. However, there’s a significant militant separatist movement in Assam. They used the relatively unguarded border to set up camps in the dense forests of southern Bhutan. India asked the King of Bhutan to remove the Assamese militants. Fighting broke out between the Bhutanese Army and the militants.
After walking around the chortens, we did a 4-hour roundtrip hike up to Lungchuetse Monastery, 3.659 m (~11,000 ft) above sea level. This was the highest point of elevation I had ever been to. We were going to surpass that on a trek later during the trip though. Because of that, it was a great opportunity to get accustomed to hiking at higher altitudes. I had bought new trekking boots for the purpose. It was a good chance to break them in as well.
The clouds and fog that surrounded the pass itself remained with us throughout the hike. Thanks to that, we never saw more of the surrounding scenery than the forest immediately around us. However, we saw several grey langur monkeys as we made our way uphill.
This type of monkey lives mainly in the Himalayas. Stopping to watch them was a perfect opportunity to take a break and catch our breaths. They were sitting high up in the tree tops and kept their distance. I had to zoom in a lot to get decent photos of them.
We continued towards the Lungchuetse Monastery. The fog was dense as we got up there.
We entered the temple to have a look inside. After that visit and a brief pause to rest our legs, we hiked back down to the Dochu La pass.
After the 4-hour hiking trip I was quite hungry, so fortunately there’s a good cafeteria at Dochu La. They serve a warm buffet with a good mix of ingredients. It was a welcomed change from the somewhat bland meals I had eaten up until then.
We got back in the car and continued driving towards Punakha. As soon as we descended from the mountain pass, the weather improved. By the time that we reached the valley it was sunny again. Before continuing to the hotel, we made a stop at the Chimi Lhakhang monastery.
Also known as the “fertility temple”, it was built in 1499 by the cousin of Lama Drukpa Kunley. He is known as the “Divine Madman” throughout Bhutan, because his religious teachings were very, very unorthodox. He was known as a womanizer, and was very eager to break down the barrier between sex and religious teachings.
Lama Drukpa Kunley was known for stripping down naked often. Women even sought his blessings in the form of sex. While this sounds like abuse, there was actually a reason for his methods, believe it or not. His main aim was to teach that celibacy was not necessary. According to Kunley, being a “free spirit” was a better way of achieving the true teachings of Buddha, rather than sticking to the strict, conventional social norms. Not all of his actions or teachings were obscene or sexual. The Divine Madman resonated with the common people, and the culture surrounding Buddhist practices was somewhat relaxed.
The Divine Madman, according to legend, fought off evil spirits with his own penis, or as it is also known, his “thunderbolt of wisdom”. Images of this certain body part are painted on many buildings throughout Bhutan, particularly around Punakha. Sometimes, wooden replicas are hung from the corners of the house instead. It is the same reason clowns at the religious festivals carry around wooden phalluses. Because of the Divine Madman’s activities around Punakha, the Chimi Lhakhang temple has become associated with fertility. Childless women, particularly those who have struggled with fertility issues, come to the temple to receive blessings. There are a couple of stories from international visitors who got pregnant after having made visits to the Chimi Lhakhang.
After having visited the temple, we walked back down to the village below it. In this village, there’s several examples of “thunderbolts of wisdom” painted on the buildings.
There’s also several shops in the village selling souvenirs of well, wooden thunderbolts in all kinds of colors. For someone coming from the West, this was all a very odd sight.
We continued driving to the hotel, which was actually located near the town of Wangdue Phodrang. However, most of the sights of the region are in the part of the valley belonging to the province of Punakha. We checked in at the hotel, and I went to my room to rest a bit.
After I walked out of my bathroom, I spotted the silhouette of a massive spider behind the window curtains.
I was about to take care of it myself, but then I realized I had no idea how dangerous the spider could be. It was huge. I’ve traveled in Africa before, so insects and wildlife are nothing new to me. However, I wasn’t camping outside, or staying in a cheap hostel. This was a nice hotel, so I figured it wouldn’t be too much to ask to have a hotel room free of potentially hazardous arachnids and insects. The spider was right beside the handle to open the window, and it crept behind it to hide. Simply opening the window to lure it outside was no option. I figured that risk was for the hotel staff to take care of. Partly because it wasn’t my responsibility, partly because I didn’t have any tools available to properly capture the spider.
I had dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, which served a pretty decent buffet. Not long after that I went to sleep.
SATURDAY, September 22nd
After breakfast we drove towards the north of Punakha Valley. Our destination was a temple, but first we made a photo stop across the river from the picturesque Punakha Dzong. Ugyen, my guide, considers it the most beautiful dzong in all of Bhutan.
I think he is right. We were going to return to visit the dzong itself later during the day.
About 20 minutes later we arrived at a small parking lot next to a pedestrian bridge covered in prayer flags.
From there began a trail for hiking mostly between rice paddies, followed by a winding path up the hill.
After half an hour, we arrived at the Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten. This temple-like monument was consecrated in 1999, and is dedicated to the current, fifth king. Officially it is also meant to protect Bhutan in a spiritual sense. Once again, I don’t have any photos of the beautiful, colorfully-decorated insides as photography was not allowed. However, the surrounding landscapes and the outside of the temple were perhaps just as nice.
We climbed up to the top floor. There’s an outdoors viewing platform with great views of the surrounding valley and the river snaking through it.
We hiked back down through the rice fields and met up with our driver again on the other side of the river. Next up, we drove over to a nearby bridge that is the longest suspension bridge in Bhutan. It connects one village across the river with the Punakha village and its dzong. The river in that section is particularly wide thanks to a tiny island in the middle of it. Hence, this suspension bridge is very long.
Apart from walking across the bridge, there’s nothing much to see there. That being said, the long bridge is prone to swaying in the winds that sweep through the valley. This makes it quite an experience in itself.
I agreed with the guide and our driver to make a quick trip across for photos from the other side, while they waited at the riverbank.
After I returned, we drove to a nearby pavilion next to a forest. The guide and our driver had prepared another picnic lunch. When we had finished eating, Ugyen, my guide, told me to start walking towards the Punakha Dzong, while they cleaned up and put all the pots and plates back in the car. It wasn’t possible to see the building thanks to a small, but dense forest. I was told to simply walk on the main trail alongside the river, and wait as soon as I saw the dzong.
After almost 10 minutes I was convinced I should have spotted the dzong already, but I still couldn’t see it. I pondered turning around, but in a small opening in the forest was an archery practice range. I figured I was going in the right direction. Just a few moments after walking past a couple of archers, I finally saw the dzong (temple-fortress) through an opening in the forest. I waited for my guide there. It turned out Ugyen was only a few minutes behind me, although I never saw him until then.
The two of us walked over to explore the Punakha Dzong. In the meantime, Tandin, our driver, moved the car to a parking lot nearby, where he would wait for us. The dzong is incredibly photogenic.
It is one of the largest and most historically significant dzongs in the country. Punakha Dzong is the second-oldest to be built, behind the Simtokha Dzong near Thimphu. Until the 1950s, the Punakha Dzong was the official capital and seat of government. All of Bhutan’s kings up until today have been crowned here.
A monk looking out from a window in the central tower.
The large, imposing tower in the center of the dzong and its several courtyards does give the building a majestic look.
The elaborate wood carvings and the colors of the buildings and the temple have an incredible attention to detail.
It’s a truly beautiful complex from every angle, but the light from the sun certainly helped.
The Punakha Dzong is the winter residence for the official monk body of the country. Punakha is at a significantly lower elevation than Thimphu, and it’s warmer in the winter.
There were a few monks from the local, provincial monastic order that we came across around the dzong. Contrary to popular belief, they are actually allowed to use cell phones!
Before leaving the dzong, we also had a look inside the adjacent dzong chung, which means “small temple fortress”. It’s actually not much more than a large temple. Because it has defensive walls, it is categorized as a dzong chung. There are very few of these throughout Bhutan.
After we exited the temple, we walked across the old wooden bridge that connects the Punakha Dzong with the old village of Punakha.
Most of the former village’s population has actually been resettled in a modern village further down the river. On the other side of the bridge, we rejoined Tandin and our car.
While driving to our destination, we stopped at a special rock. This particular rock, according legend, has an imprint of the Divine Madman’s scrotum. Yes, you read that right.
Also known by the name of Lama Drukpa Kunley, he’s the one that, according to legend, could fight off evil spirits with his penis.
After that, we drove south and up the hillside towards a new nunnery. This particular nunnery sits across the road from a house belonging to relatives of the Queen of Bhutan. They helped fund the nunnery.
At the nunnery, across from the temple, is a large Nepalese shrine. We entered the temple to have a look around. The female nuns all look like male monks because they have to shave off their hair, and wear similar, red robes. Once again, I’ll have to leave that up to your imagination, as photos are strictly forbidden inside Bhutanese temples.
Afterwards my guide and I once again split from our driver, and the two of us hiked downhill. We walked through several levels of rice paddy fields, and passed through a couple of villages.
Like most other small towns and villages, the houses are built in a traditional Bhutanese style.
Ugyen, my guide, grew up in this particular area. He knew a few of the villagers and stopped to say hi to them.
As we continued downhill, I slipped and fell once on the muddy slopes between the rice fields. At least the ground was soft, so I didn’t get hurt. Fortunately, neither did the camera that I had around my neck.
At the bottom of the hill we met up with Tandin again. We returned to the hotel. On the way there, I spotted one truly unique thing about Bhutan. Because spirituality is such an important part of the Bhutanese culture, it sometimes even has priority over road safety. For whatever reason, there’s a small chorten in the middle of the road between two villages. It’s not used to display signs or anything, it is there purely for spiritual reasons.
Once we got back to the hotel, I relaxed for a bit in my hotel room, until the hotel’s restaurant opened it’s dinner buffet. After eating, I stayed in the hotel’s lobby for a bit to use the internet. Then I returned to my personal room and went to bed.
SUNDAY, September 23rd
I got up, had breakfast and checked out of the room. Then I met with the guides as agreed in the hotel reception. We departed Punakha to drive further east towards our destination in central Bhutan.
The longest day of driving was ahead of us. The approximately 200 km (125 mile) journey from Wangdue Phodrang to the town of Jakar would take ~6-7 hours without stops, depending on the road conditions.
Before leaving the valley, we stopped for photos of Wangdue Phodrang Dzong.
It looks nothing like it used to, having been damaged by fire in 2012. Most of the temple-fortress was destroyed, and is being demolished to be rebuilt anew. It will take several years before reconstruction is done.
As we got further away from Wangdue Phodrang, the condition of the road got much worse. The government of Bhutan is working to expand the road network, paving the highway between between Thimphu and central Bhutan. So far, most of the rest of the “highway” is a narrow mud road. In some sections it is barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other. Sporadically, there are short stretches of bitumen and/or asphalt, particularly around larger villages and towns.
What doesn’t help the expansion, is that in some parts the hillsides have eroded. Some of the already asphalted roads have collapsed. Other areas of the road get flooded easily.
After a couple of hours on the road, we stopped for morning tea at a restaurant near the village of Nubding.
As we continued across some mountain passes, the road and its surroundings got shrouded in fog.
About an hour-and-a-half after our morning break, we made another stop. This time at the Chendebji Chorten, to have a look around.
There’s no way to enter the Nepalese-style chorten itself, but off to its side is one long wall of prayer inscriptions.
We continued driving to have lunch just a few minutes further down the road. There was a small privately owned resort named after the Chendebji Chorten. Their restaurant served a pretty good mix of typical Bhutanese food.
After lunch we got back in the car to continue further east along the muddy road. Not long afterwards, less than half an hour, we came across a local darts game beside the road.
Bhutanese darts are different from your regular game of darts.
Much like with Bhutanese archery, the target is low and close to the ground. There’s two targets at both ends of a certain distance.
It’s a match between two teams, but the teams have split, so there’s two halves of each team at both ends. The darts themselves are much larger than “standard” darts.
It’s pretty fun to watch, because you can get quite close and the participants don’t mind you being there. The players get into it as well, cheering each other on.
It’s mostly a game of getting as many darts on the board as possible. There’s not as many zones and different points as on a regular dart target. Whenever one of the teams hit within the target, both halves of that team will break into a little celebratory dance at both ends.
After about 45 minutes we continued along the road. We couldn’t stop for too long everywhere, to ensure that we would get to our destination, Bumthang, before dark. This was particularly due to the deteriorating road conditions.
The next major point of interest that we passed was the town of Trongsa. It is home to the biggest of all dzongs in Bhutan. We were going to explore it on the way back towards western Bhutan. There was only limited time, so instead of rushing through it, we decided to put it off for later.
We did however stop at a nice viewpoint on the other side of the valley, before entering Trongsa. From there you had a great view of the massive dzong at its hillside location.
From the viewpoint it was another 45 minutes before we actually drove through the town of Trongsa. Past Trongsa, the road got muddy again. The mud slowed us down even more than all the mountainside hairpin turns already did. As we moved further east, we drove across yet another mountain pass covered in dense fog.
After several hours, we made a brief stop at Chumey Weaving Centre before entering the Bumthang Valley. For most of the day, we had been driving in tandem with a minibus from the same tour company. This would have been useful, in case of a breakdown, but fortunately that never became relevant. However, their tour group wanted to stop at the weaving shop, so we did as well.
I had already spent enough money on the gho I bought earlier in the trip, so I wasn’t looking for more textiles.
Within the next hour we finally arrived at the hotel. My guide and our driver were also staying there, instead of elsewhere in town as they did previously. I checked in, went to my room and dropped off my bags.
Not long after, the hotel’s dinner buffet had opened. The hotel was family owned, and the food was home-cooked with a regional influence. Some of the ingredients were noticeably different than what I had eaten up until then. When dinner was over I walked back to my hotel room to relax.
MONDAY, September 24th
On Monday, it was time for a local traditional festival, the Tangbi Mani, held in nearby Tang Valley. That’s exactly where we went to after breakfast. Before we set off, my guide and our driver assisted me with putting on the gho I had bought. It’s not easy to put on this traditional Bhutanese dress on your own.
A picture of our driver, myself and my guide, taken before the festival began, with all of us wearing ghos.
We got to the temple where the festival was going to take place before it all started. There was however a tiny pop-up market on a lawn behind the complex, so we walked around there for a bit.
Not long after, the festival itself began, which started with a short dance inside temple.
It wasn’t more than 20 minutes before the monks then went outside for the true highlight of the festival, a “fire blessing”. Most of the locals didn’t even bother coming inside the temple. They had already waited outside for the fire blessing to begin. Two larges pile of firewood and dry grass, as well as the name “fire blessing” itself, made it evident what was going to happen next.
The monks did a brief dance on the grass surrounding the firewood, before it was lit on fire. What followed was quite unbelievable, even though my guide had already told me about it. The fire blessing consisted of local worshippers running through the fire, through a narrow gap between the two large stacks of firewood. There was a good reason why some of the locals had remained outside. They wanted to be first in line, and run through the fire before it really got going. Some unlucky people got stuck in the middle of the line, and ran through quite an inferno.
It was a chaotic scene, as everyone kept running through. There were a lot of people pushing, and the fire was intense. However, that didn’t keep the line of worshippers from running through the fire. Some of them stumbled on the way out, but seemingly everyone survived.
Even some foreigners were running through it as well. I didn’t feel like taking the risk of lighting my hair on fire. Still, just from watching it, the heat became so bad that we needed to move further away. As the fire started to burn out, more people kept running between what was now two bonfires. Perhaps they were smarter for waiting until the fire had died out somewhat.
Eventually the firewood had burned out, and the festival continued inside the temple. This time it became more crowded, as most of the worshippers went inside the small temple courtyard. There were no seats of any kind. I found a spot on the corner of someone’s carpet, thanks to my guide who had asked for permission. He stayed behind the crowd in the corner of the temple, as I sat among the locals. It was nice gesture of everyone that they made room for me. Unfortunately, sitting on the ground behind several other families wasn’t a good vantage point. I moved to a different spot and stood up for a better view.
Throughout the day, the festival consisted of various masked dances and cultural performances. Some of these were similar to the ones I had seen at the Thimphu Tsechu festival. Other dances were unique to Bumthang and central Bhutan. In the morning, the monks were performing what was commonly referred to as “black-hat” dances, similar to the ones in Thimphu. Another similarity was the use of a women’s volunteer choir in the intermissions between dances, as the monks went into the temple to change their costumes.
For lunch, we drove to a quiet lawn that was close by the temple. The staff at the hotel we stayed in had arranged a nice picnic lunch for its guests, which included myself, the group of women from Macau who were traveling with the same tour company, and a couple of other guests.
To protect myself from getting sunburn from sitting outside all day, I was wearing my Arizona State University Sun Devils hat. By pure coincidence, I happened to be seated across from an ASU grad at lunch. That was quite a cool moment, and made me reminisce about the years I lived in Arizona. It’s a small world.
After lunch, I walked back to the festival, and my guide and our driver would simply meet me there. The temple was well within walking distance of where we had lunch. Once I got inside, I had initially found a spot on the ground in a empty space next to a few families. Then some of their friends showed up. I had to give up the space and sat somewhere else on the ground. Then that place became so tightly squeezed by everyone around me, that I couldn’t move, or take any photos. I gave up on sitting down and decided to stand near the back of the crowd. It was a better spot for photography.
The festival had continued in the meantime while we had lunch, and went on throughout the afternoon with more masked dances. The clowns were a bit different than the ones in Thimphu. One of the clowns made an entire dance on his own, which was unique to smaller, local festivals like these. This took place while the rest of the monks were changing costumes inside the temple building.
Although technically some of the masked dances were also different from the ones at the Thimphu Tsechu, it was difficult to distinguish for a casual observer like me. The costumes looked much the same, but slight adaptations to the colors or minor changes to the masks were noticeable. For one of the dances, the monks were carrying little wooden swords, which was also a unique part.
Even though I had moved towards the back of the crowd, the small courtyard inside the temple still guaranteed an intimate setting. The dancers were very close throughout. At one point, one of the clowns made a round through the onlookers to ask for donations.
The last dance which we saw was one with masks resembling different animals. The costumes worn were once again very colorful, and it was quite cool to see them up close.
There was another dance on the schedule for the festival. However, my guide mentioned that this wasn’t as interesting or spectacular. This was also made clear by the fact that most of the locals had begun leaving during the previous dance. I took another 30 minutes to enjoy the opportunity to see the dancers up close. This was also the last festival which was on my two-week itinerary through Bhutan.
Afterwards, we decided to make the drive back to our hotel. As had become the norm, I had dinner once again at the hotel.
TUESDAY, September 25th
In the morning we started with a walking tour of nearby temples. There’s a cluster of temples that are within a reasonable distance of each other. It’s possible to make a hike to see all of them.
First of the four temples was the Jambey Lhakhang. The year that the temple was built has not been verified, but it was believed to be around 659. This would mean that it was built at the same time as Kyichu Lhakhang in Paro. Both temples were according to legend built to subdue a demonness that stretched across most of Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. There are several locals who walk in circles around the temple for most of the day.
It was possible to enter the historic complex and the temple itself. No photos indoors.
The next temple which we walked to was Kurjey Lhakhang. On the way, we passed some wild-growing cannabis plants. According to my guide, such plants have always been found in the wild in Bhutan. Locals never thought much of it.
However, once Bhutanese youth got access to the internet, they realized that the plant could be turned into a product that could be smoked.
The Kurjey Lhakhang was built in the 17th century. It is mostly known for having the body print of Guru Rinpoche, who by many in the region was considered a second coming of Buddha. The imprint of the Guru is found in a cave inside the oldest temple at the Kurjey Lhakhang complex, which consists of three large temple buildings.
My guide Ugyen and I continued our hike down towards the river that runs through central Chokhor Valley. We crossed the river at a footbridge covered in prayer flags, that were all flapping in your face thanks to the wind.
Once across the river, we continued our hike for a bit until we arrived at the Tamshing Goemba. This small 16th-century temple is one of the more important ones in Bhutan.
The reason for this is that it was built by Pema Lingpa, a saint in the Nyingma branch of Bhutanese Buddhism. Some paintings on the insides are thought to be original, created by Pema Lingpa himself.
Just a short walk along the road from Tamshing was the Konchogsum Lhakhang.
This 15th-century temple was almost destroyed by a butter lamp fire in 2010. It has been renovated and rebuilt since, so it looks quite new. We walked around the temple complex, which is flanked by living quarters for the monks. The restored temple itself was quite beautiful.
After we left the Konchogsum temple and drove back to the hotel for lunch, I started feeling a little under the weather. At that point however, it was nothing serious. Before reaching the hotel though, we did make a stop at a point overlooking the Bathpalathang Airport. It is a domestic airport serving Jakar with a few daily flights to Paro.
It’s quite a small airport that doesn’t see a lot of activity. The terminal building is tiny, and when we were there, there was a small group of horses walking across the apron, where any aircraft would have parked.
Following lunch at the hotel, we got back in the car and went to the Jakar Dzong.
This temple-fortress was built in 1667 on a hilltop overlooking the city of Jakar. However, its main tower is actually located on an outside wall instead of in a central courtyard, as is the norm. Worshippers sometimes like to walk in circles around the central towers at dzongs, but here that wouldn’t be possible.
It was raining a little bit when we visited the Jakar Dzong, but it wasn’t too bad. Mostly just a drizzle. We visited the courtyards in the Jakar Dzong and went inside a few of the temples, which you can’t photograph.
After the dzong we drove to Burning Lake, near Jakar. This lake gets its peculiar name from a tale, not because it is on fire or anything like that. A local saint proclaimed to the locals that if he was a demon, he would drown when jumping into the lake. But if he was a true saint, he would come out with treasures believed to be at the bottom of the lake.
He was carrying a burning butter lamp, which according to legend was still burning when he came out of the war. Hence the name “Burning Lake”.
We stopped in the town centre of Jakar on the way back to the hotel.
We had a brief walk around, and it enabled me to use an ATM, while the driver and my guide waited at the car. I needed cash for tip money that I was going to give my guide and our driver at the end of my trip in Bhutan.
In the meantime, I had started feeling more and more ill. The hotel had a special service on offer, a traditional hot stone bath which they were known for. I decided to take such a relaxing bath, particularly due to the illness. I wasn’t exactly sure what was wrong, I just fell unwell.
The stones had to be heated several hours in advance in a fire pit.
Once everything was ready, I would enter the small bathhouse. An attendant on the other side of a wall would be responsible for placing the stones in the bathtub. A dividing filter inside the tub itself made sure you’d never come directly into contact with the hot stones themselves.
To adjust the temperature, you would communicate with the attendant who would put more stones in or remove them to raise/lower the water’s temperature. To do so, you’d make use of an interesting communication system with switches. I had seen the other side of the bathhouse earlier, where the hot stones are placed inside the tub.
When you flicked the switches, light bulbs on the other side indicate what you think of the water temperature.
The hot bath was very relaxing. I felt better during the bath, but got worse afterwards though.
After the bath and a shower, the hotel restaurant had opened. However, I had little appetite for dinner, and a big headache. I simply ate what I could, mostly some bread and fruits.
After I returned to my room, I vomited. Fortunately, I got better immediately after. Whatever caused me to feel unwell for most of the day must have been something I ate. What didn’t help was the fact that the food in Bhutan was anything but varied. Being served a similar type of meal most of the time for two weeks isn’t healthy. My guide had previously told me that until recent years, malnourishment was in some regions an issue for locals. Let’s just say there are plenty of things to see in Bhutan, but it is not a culinary destination.
Before going to bed early to get some rest, I asked the reception for a bottle of Coca-Cola. I usually don’t drink sodas, but it is my go-to remedy for stomach bugs when traveling. It works wonders, because it’s so acidic that it kills a lot of bacteria. Of course, being loaded with sugar, it’s not great for your stomach. However, if it’s all you’re able to keep down, at least you get some carbs. Coca-Cola is available literally worldwide, and it’s generally quite cheap. I had some antibiotics with me for heavier infections, but I didn’t feel like using those yet.
To read the next and final blog post regarding my trip to Bhutan, which covers the Phobjikha Valley and a mountain trek, click here.