Bhutan Budget Backpackers - Day 3 ( Paro )

29 September 2014 – Day 3 (Paro)

Getting a sim in the market

After fidgeting with the taps for a few minutes, we figured there was no hot water and the reception kept on mentioning they’d send someone in 15 minutes but no one ever turned up even after an hour. Highly frustrated, we headed down to bump into Sonam who mentioned the hot water pipe had burst, so managing to get bucket of hot water to freshen up, we finally left at 10 AM BST. The telecom player called Tashi is part of a family conglomerate of over 40 industries (They are like the Tatas and Ambanis of India). Having to submit 1 passport size photograph and a passport photocopy, we were able to get a prepaid sim (they have all sizes – regular, micro, nano). The sim costs 210 Nu (Ngultrum) and came with 200 Nu talk time and 1 month validity.

Om is the bow, the soul is the arrow

Loitering around, we found the Archery range under the Rinpung Sports Association where teams were practising archery. Two teams stand next to their opposition’s target approx. 145 metres away. The wooden painted target surrounded by cloth banners to help provide an indication of the wind and also the target ( I could barely see the karay (bullseye) with my spectacles on). The opposition teams would tease and ridicule when the opposition team missed a shot and applaud when they hit. Dressed in their Gho (colourful knee length kimono style national dress worn by the men paired with knee length socks) , you felt transported to the past except for their carbon body compound bows which added the modern era sophistication to the sand arena.

Turns out the singing and the taunts are as equally important a skill as hitting the bulls eye and if you hit the bulls eye right after your opponent, you cancel out their last strike. I later learnt this song they were singing: "Where the vulture flies, my stone shall fly, there to collide." (Bjagoed phu sa do chap kay) explaining how I’d reset your score, dear opponent. I am told some of these taunts are literary genius, reason to learn Dzongkha at some point.

Paro Dzong - Heap of Jewels

A further fifteen minute walk crossing the gurgling River Paro, we reached Rinpung Dzong (Rinpung means heap of jewels) – a fortress monastery. Historically religion and administration played hand in hand hence the concept of fortress monasteries all over Bhutan. The main hall had a masked dance performance by monks, decked up in ceremonial gear. Women are not allowed. Also no matter how cute the child monks look, they are humans too and not inanimate subjects of your photography skills so please ask before you invade their privacy. Also in terms of what to wear, while there are differing rules as we visited different places, the safest option was to be covered up (men and women alike). We stuck to our J&Js (jacket and jeans) all through.

National Museum of Bhutan

Soaking in the spirituality, we walked ahead to the National Museum of Bhutan built at a former watch tower (Ta dzong). No photography / videography allowed inside the museum. They have lockers outside where you need to deposit these. Entry tickets are 10 Nu for locals, 25 Nu for SAARC country nationals and 200 Nu for others. Their visiting hours were 9 AM BST to 5 PM BST.

There were the various dance masks and the significance of each of them was explained from a social and geographical stand point. Bhutan is divided into 20 administrative dzongkhags (districts) and there are cultural nuances to the Sharchops. Ngalops and Lhotshampas which form the major ethnic groups of Bhutan. They also had grainy video clippings of the dance forms.

A section is dedicated to thangkas (ancient scroll paintings highlighting advent of Buddhism, its spread across Bhutan, followed by traditional wear (kira for women, gho for men) and accessories, amulets of cultural and religious significance.The natural history section is interesting with tableaus on geographical features of Bhutan to descriptions of the various wildlife that inhabits this nation. I am told by law, the King has sanctioned that at least 70% of Bhutan remain under forest cover.

Having spent an hour, I checked with the guard if the director (an acquaintance of my friend Pallavi) was in but unfortunately he was off to Thailand for a trip. So wrote him a letter and we headed out. (They have decent washrooms btw).  

In Search of spirituality - Zuri Monastery

Snapping a few shots around the courtyard and of the wondrous view of the valley below, we had read about a little known monastery that doesn’t make it to any of the tourist books called Zuri monastery. It was only 2 PM and figuring we were up for some adventure, we asked a few passing locals the route. They were surprised we had heard of it and wanted to know who had told us, did we have a guide and so on. They pointed to a narrow clearing about the museum asking us to jump right into it whilst they took the left to their houses above.

Following a narrow path trodden by odd hundreds before us, we cut through the foliage stopping ever so often to be blown away by the picturesque views of the valley below and each time we thought we had captured the perfect view, we’d be blown away at the next clearing. We also caught a glimpse of Paro airport and as luck should have it, we managed to watch a flight land. Since there are barely 2-3 flights in a day at the airport, it is indeed a rare feat.

After a zillion clicks and a zillion seconds spent quietly enjoying the peace and tranquil the views had to offer, we finally sneaked upon the monastery hidden out of sight up in the mountains and accessible only by a makeshift wooden log bridge. We did glimpse a monk through the window but he disappeared in a moment and there were no more signs of human life throughout the time we spent looking around. We lost our way back almost hitting the edge of the cliff at one point , even staring at photos we had taken earlier of the landscape to give us an idea of whether we were higher / lower / further north / south from the views we had absorbed earlier. After a few trials and errors and using the already placed prayer flags as markers, we finally retraced our way to civilisation.

Retrospection by the river

Around 4 PM, accompanied by school kids who were heading home, we walked down to the valley and decided to spend some time in retrospection along the banks of River Paro. Clear Blue / white, like those Aquafina / Evian ads you watch, the river gushed through over the smooth pebbles lying at her bed.

The architecture, the paintings on the walls (mostly of artistic phalluses) and wide clear boulevards and avenues add a very quaint, pretty feel to the town of Paro. The main town area probably spans for 4 streets so you can leisurely walk the entire circumference in half an hour tops. We stopped by at the Art Museum, Government Veterinary Clinic and a couple of shops as we walked back to the hotel having skipped lunch getting there by about 6 PM. Grabbing some suja (butter tea) and chips, we figured we’d get out for a heavier lunch+dinner in traditional Bhutanese cuisine. 

Ema datsi - The national dish of Bhutan

Sash being from Andhra Pradesh (stereotypical spice lover) and I being I (stereotypical cheese lover) , we had decided ema datsi (chilli cheese stew) would be in our sights today irrespective of what warnings we are given by the locals. We found a nice homely restaurant called Sonam Trophel situated on the first floor at the main street. They had the German and Argentina flags as their centrepiece hanging probably from the Soccer World Cup a few months earlier. Right after Archery, Soccer is the most popular game that we noticed throughout our trip.

We ordered ema datsi with rice and thukpa soup. We found the thukpa spicier than the ema datsi. Service is generally slow at all Bhutanese establishments as most items are not pre-cooked but made as per order. So don’t expect ever to grab a quick meal! The meal for two cost us 385 Nu including soft drinks. The fiery ema datsi was an interesting spin considering I have never considered chili as the main vegetable but as a side spice in the Indian context and is worth a try when you visit Bhutan.

Paro Nightlife

We noticed the dzong was lit up so decided to capture some shots up close and walked down towards it again. The best shot is through the clearing right after the Youth centre else at the bridge leading to the dzong. Under the night lights, we noticed folks practising archery. Then we met a few engineers from India who were working on a hydroelectric project in Bhutan.

Sonam and his friends were chilling in the attached bar area and he shared his stories of his childhood, his dreams and aspirations, the aspirations of the youth, and on our biding, tourist attractions that we should catch in rest of Bhutan including whether we should go to Bumthang.
 All through the trip, we were like sponges absorbing every iota of data we could collect on what our itinerary should be. 

We got Sonam to arrange a cab for us next day morning to take us to Taktsang Monastery (Tiger’s nest) for a round trip cost of 300 Nu. After a lot of convincing that we really wanted to go there as early as possible, our driver Pemo agreed to pick us up at 7 AM though he was convinced 9 AM worked fine.  We decided to call it night at 11 PM BST.

Key Points

Tashi sim : 210 Nu with 200 Nu talktime and 1 month validity. 

Documents needed: 1 passport size photograph + 1 passport photocopy. 

Expect to walk around a lot so get comfortable sneakers for the trip. 

Museum : 9 AM to 5 PM, no photographs and phones allowed. Place in lockers provided on site. 

Entry fees : 25 Nu for SAARC Nationals, 200 Nu for others, 10 Nu for locals. 

Paro Dzong ; No entry fees, dress conservatively, women not allowed in certain prayer halls. 

Don't forget to try ema datsi (chilli cheese stew) with rice. 

Sonam Trophel - Average meal for two: Nu 400