Tag: bhutan

 

Senagers (sixty plus teenagers) can be very cautious in planning and even more cautious in execution. Our preparations for Taktsang trek was no less than what goes into planning  for the  final assault on the summit  on a mountaineering expedition  . The entire team was totally  involved in the choice of rig and kit for the summiteers  ie Vandana and yours truly.  A number of options were considered and rejected before homing on to a bag of  just the right size, weight , capacity and  ease of carrying .

Every item that had to go into that bag was carefully deliberated upon. Of course everything revolved around protective clothing, food, drink and medicines.

On hindsight, it appears absolutely natural that with a physician and a nutritionist in the group, one could never be overstocked with food and medicines. Let’s not  forget that two of us were moms. There were  energy giving peppermints that also kept your mouth from drying. We actually carried ORS. With likely rains and cool temperature, there was  little chance of  dehydration on a 3-4 hour climb. We knew it, but why take a chance ?

On sage advice from the nutrition expert and fellow summiteer,  I had to discard my favourite , ultra-lightweight, windcheater for a heavier , waterproof jacket .

With the kind of situations we were anticipating and catering for, I began to doubt if we would even take off; after all , guest rooms and shopping malls were definitely safer than valleys and hills.

By five in the morning , I was fully awake. A cursory look at the sky indicated a rainy day; I could see dark clouds hovering around. Well, the weather in the mountains is always difficult to predict. By seven, the weather god started smiling,  and it started clearing up. We started around 7 :30 for the base of the monastery which was about a half an hour drive. The place was bustling with activity.  A photograph of the entire expedition team was in order.

A look at the top was definitely intimidating;

That’s gross digression!

By about 11 , ie in two and a half hours we reached the shrine. We produced our entry tickets and after making the necessary entries, got a locker to keep our bags.

There was a guide, who took us around. As most of the monasteries are, the place is full of idols of Bodhisattva  dressed in colorful clothes and the walls are covered with paintings of images depicting various aspects of Vajrayana Buddhism. The main cave is entered through a narrow passage. The dark cave houses a dozen images of Bodhisattva and butter lamps flicker in front of these idols. An elegant image of Chenrezig(Avalokitesvara) is also deified here.

We commenced our trek back around 12. The return journey starts with a sheer drop and a stiff climb and later it is all downhill.

Here we could get the network to talk to Viji. Our support team from IMTRAT were worried and was all set to send a rescue party. They were pleasantly surprised to learn that we were ahead of schedule and were already on our way back.

The way back was relaxed. Vandana was in full spirits singing away to glory. It brought a lot of smiles on the climbers on their way to the monastery and one of them even stopped to record a video. A couple stopped for a selfie with us .
Sure, she motivated a lot of young people to reach the top.

At the half way mark, cafeteria, we stopped for a cup of coffee. It was a longish break . While climbing down one just needs to be careful not to slip or sprain a knee or ankle. At the base our vehicle was waiting and the driver was there to welcome us with drinking water and fruit juice.

 

 

So, as I had mentioned earlier in Part 1, the whole universe conspired to make this trip of ours fruitful. A trek that almost became as a non starter turned out to be an easy ,  pleasant and a memorable event.

PS

Bhutan is a unique country that gives importance to Health and Happiness over Money and Development, at least,  that is the official stance.

Any write up about Bhutan would be  incomplete without a discussion on Happiness. That’s the topic for the next post

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Paro Valley is simply beautiful and full credit to the Bhutanese Govt for not letting the airport affect the natural beauty of the Valley. The airport itself is designed  , keeping with the Bhutanese culture.

The paddy fields surrounding the airfield are left untouched and modern constructions blend with the nature, picturesquely.

We were to start early from Haa for Paro on the 8th, but our departure time had to be rescheduled due to a pleasant surprise; an  invitation from the Commandant IMTRAT for breakfast.

The place was so beautiful, with a lively mountain stream flowing along the golf course and a solo morning walk was pure bliss.

Though it was early in the morning, the entire place was lively with men, women and children in colourful clothes forming a long serpentine queue. Later I learnt that it was a very auspicious day in the temple when special prayers were organized.

After a nice south Indian breakfast of idli, dosa, vada topped up with Coffee, spent some time at the Equipment Museum at IMTRAT.

The vintage equipment on display included various items of  equipment used in army over the years . The items included vintage telephones, radio sets, computers, ordnance equipment and so on.

For youngsters it would be educative and for old-timers like me it was nostalgic. Well, when you realise that every item in the ‘Museum’ had been used by you at sometime or the other, you do feel ancient.

After that we proceeded to Paro through Chelela Pass. It was the day of Vijayadashami and Pooja at the IMTRAT was going on. We moved on as I wanted to cross the pass well in time, before weather turned cold and foggy.

The driver was a local person , Lahp Tsering. He could converse fluently in English and Hindi. He kept up a lively chatter and it turned out that besides being a qualified guide in Bhutan, he was also well-traveled and had spent about nine months in Europe. Bhutan Govt had sponsored a hotel management training course in Germany. After hopping from job to job he finally decided that Bhutan was the best place to live and was back. Most of the drivers of tourist cabs in Bhutan are qualified guides.

It was foggy when we reached the pass and visibility was very poor

We reached the guest rooms at Paro at about 1 PM.

We had three places to see on our list; Rinpung Dzong, Kyichu Likhong (Temple) and of course , the local market. Our guide was well aware of the places to see , timings etc. The National Museum was closed that day due to Govt Holiday.

Wherever you go in Bhutan, there would be Dzongs and Likhongs.

For outsiders, one Dzong or a Likhong is very much like the other. Of course a place like Taktsang ( Tiger’s Nest) is something unique and ever since I heard about it, I wanted to make an earnest attempt to do the trek.

We had just one day , 9th Oct for the trek. Be it, online trip advisers or the locals, everyone concurred that a full day had to be set aside for the effort.

We were all apprehensive about our ability for endurance.  Wife Viji dropped out first followed by Suresh who had started having wheezing problems. On 8th , Suresh started running fever and we almost dropped the whole idea of Taktsang trip.

IMTRAT had a small dispensary at Paro staffed by a doctor and a nursing assistant.

With modern concepts of health-care, no doctor would venture to treat a fever before  seeing the reports of a battery of tests. Anyway, it is difficult to say whether it was the ubiquitous tablet of Paracetamol, or the security of having some kind of  medical help close by or simply the Grace of Providence, the fever came down by around ten at night.

So , Vandana and I did make our tryst with Taktsang on the 9th.

That would be the 6th and final part of this travelogue.

For sixth and the last part Click