On Day 2 in Bhutan, I was really just crossing my fingers that a good night of rest would get me over my 12 hour stomach flu for the drive from Paro to Punakha, which it thankfully did.
After a delicious breakfast of French toast (I must have been sick, I really don’t like French toast…ever) at Uma Paro, we were on our way. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the roads to Thimpu from Paro are well-paved and pretty straight. We stopped twice along the way for a gorgeous shot of the valley, as well as to see some of the old chain link bridges that still are used across the river.
We arrived in Thimpu in good time, and our first stop was the National Institute for Zorig Chusum, where they teach students the thirteen traditional Bhutanese arts, including things like Parzo (wood-carving), Thagzo (weaving), Jinzo (sculpture), and Lhazo (painting). I know many travelers decide to forgo this stop (I’ve read that they perceive it as too touristy or complain the grounds are too run down and the shop is expensive…), but it doesn’t take long and I thought it was really interesting–if nothing else, you get to see how some of the statues and paintings are made in the temples, which I thought was cool. Plus, I like seeing all the kids–broken up into separate rooms by grade–progress in their work. So you were able to see “Drawing 1” and “Drawing 5”, and the enormous progress between the two.
After the school, we went to the National Textile Museum, which is an incredibly large building that doesn’t quite fit in to the rest of the Bhutanese architecture…but it’s a really interesting place, with exhibits about the different dress in different regions of Bhutan (which varies quite significantly), as well as their traditional dress of the kira and gho (for women and for men, respectively). Most women and men wear the traditional dress every day, and I’m pretty sure are still required to when working.
Thimpu is charming. Most certainly more “city-like” than Paro, but still with no stoplights, small streets, beautiful architecture everywhere; it seriously looks like it is out of some fantasy land (I guess that’s but just one reason they call it the last Shangri-La). Apparently at one point they did try to put in a stoplight in the city, but that didn’t go over so well with the residents. There is a UN building there, as well as the national post office, Thimpu Dzong, etc. Plenty to see.
We didn’t know where lunch was going to be, but to our delight, we were dropped off at the Taj Tashi (and yes, lunch was still included…thanks Uma)! There was a mention of boxed lunches at one point (not my favorite…at all), and so it was an unexpected surprise when our guide told us that would be where we were having lunch. I know some of you are probably wondering why we didn’t request to eat at a local restaurant…look, I was still a bit shaky from the previous night, and certainly didn’t need to test my stomach. I’m very much of the “rather safe than sorry” camp, particularly when I’m miles away from medical care and have a 4 hour car ride ahead.
The Taj is beautiful, inside and out. I had looked at staying in the Taj before we decided on going with the Uma Paro/COMO package, and it’s clear that the Taj is most definitely a luxury hotel in the heart of Thimpu. DH enjoyed Druk Supreme, another local beer (definitely not as good as Red Panda, obviously), and I enjoyed some delicious Japanese potato soup and some pad thai. The service as the Taj was a bit slow, but the food was good and the scenery absolutely gorgeous through huge bay windows. We weren’t really in a hurry, but we sort of were, because the road to Punakha closed at certain times for construction, so we had to make it through the checkpoint at a specific time.
And on to Punakha we went! Spectacular scenery awaited on the drive ahead.
