Farewell Bhutan

We will soon bid farewell to Bhutan ; but not before we have a round up of Paro and some of the places around.

Chuzom

Enroute Paro from Punakha, we had a short halt at Chuzom which is the place of confluence of two rivers ; Wong Chu and Paro Chu. One can see the confluence of the rivers from a bridge and the single river flowing off the other side.

Such confluence of rivers is considered inauspicious by the Bhutanese and hence four chortens have been built here to ward off the evil. These chortens are of different styles namely Bhutanese, Nepali, Ladakhi and Tibetan.

The two rivers and the Chortens

The other side of the confluence

There is also an ornate gate built near Chuzom where the pictures of the king and queen are painted. The spot marks the meeting point of roads to Thimpu, Paro , Haa and Chukkha.

The ornate gate with the picture of the King and Queen

A tribute to Indo Bhutan friendship and the confluence of the roads!

Paro

It is a historic town in Bhutan with many historic sites around. It is also home to the only international airport in Bhutan, the Paro International Airport. Located in a valley on the banks of the Paro river and surrounded by mountains ,it is considered one of the most dangerous airports in the world with less than 10 pilots certified to operate from Paro.

It was news to me that the first airstrip was built here in 1968 by the BRO from India. It has been expanded later.

Paro airport with the road and Paro river adjacent to it

The runway between the slopes and view of the entrance from our hotel room

Our hotel at Paro was next to the airport and there was this little stream flowing between the road and our hotel. This was part of the Paro river.

The riverside offered great ambience and enhanced the beauty of the place. Some pictures….

Some pictures from our resort

Tiger’s nest and Paro Dzong

Tiger’s nest, the cliff side monastery near Paro and the beautiful Paro Dzong are the main attractions at Paro. These have already been covered in my previous blogs.

Paro town

Traditional Bhutanese attire is available for hire here. Some of us tried this out and here are some pictures..

The dress centre and the beautiful ladies in front of the Paro dzong

Bhutanese Cultural Show

We were treated to some Bhutanese rice wine called Arra. It was clear and transparent like water but did not taste any great!

This was accompanied by a cultural show which showcased the traditional dances of Bhutan. The music was melodious and we also joined the dancers in the end the mark a happy ending to our Bhutan trip. Some pictures…

Arra and the dancers…

A video of the dance performance.

After a very enjoyable stay at Bhutan we were ready to say goodbye to this beautiful country. We drove back from Paro to Phuentsholing and further down to Siliguri. Enroute we again drove through some tea gardens ……

Driving back to Siliguri….

This marks the end of the Bhutan series. The next series is going to be on the famous temples of India. Before that, I will be on a holiday for a couple of weeks and there will be no updates during that time.

So , see you after the break. Till then do give your comments and feedback.