BPD: Thimphu, the Capital city

(BPD: Thimphu, the Capital city, 27 Apr '15)

The concept of home-stay is not prevalent in Bhutan and one must plan accommodation in hotels. However, while talking to people, I've heard about and also met enterprising people who are venturing into this area, though the places are not yet advertised online, and are let out only to acquaintances. I stayed in a hotel in the main city in Thimphu, wherein I ran into a couple visiting the country from Meghalaya, Assam. The husband had setup his own business in the area of enterprise software security, while his wife was with the Indian Railways.

Kid at the monastery

Joining them, I went around Thimphu visiting the places of interest. The most noteworthy one is the Changangkha Lhakhang, a 900-year old monastery, that is right in the heart of Thimphu. This is a very popular monastery with the locals and acts as the virtual birth registry, as all newborns are mandatorily brought here first, to be named and blessed. The place has ancient paintings on temple walls, and small carvings of religious figures on stone slates, that are placed behind the prayer wheels, all around the temple.

The Changangkha Lhakhang monastery	..birds at the Memorial Chorten

'Buddha point' is an under-construction, mammoth statue of Buddha measuring over 50 meters and slated to be the tallest Buddha statue in the world. The statue has a majestic presence over the city and at the angle its been built, is clearly visible from all parts of the city. The only attraction (and feature) in the Thimphu zoo is Bhutan's national animal, the Takin. I ended up visiting the botanical garden at the insistence of the couple, but it turned out to be a good find, with its collection of ornamental plants and some very exotic flowers. The garden has a very aesthetic architecture, with several click-worthy spots and is very well maintained. We were taken an order of Maggi Noodles in the garden canteen, and ended up being served the Koka thukpa, a soupy noodle prepared using the Koka ready-to-cook noodle, which is the staple and most famous noodle from Singapore, that is consumed in all of Bhutan!

The majestic Buddha point

Takin, Bhutan's national animal	Royal Botannical Garden

There are only a limited number of tourist spots in Thimphu, and these can be easily covered in under 4 hours, leaving one with enough time to explore the city, that is sparsely populated and spread-out length-wise from north to south. The twin monasteries of Tango and Cherri are in the city outskirts, worth visiting and are important religious places of worship with a long history. After exploring Thimphu on foot on the first day, I was contemplating on doing a solo hike in one of the many mountains around the city. Looking up for inspirations, I came across this book compiled by Rogier Gruys, which seemed quite detailed with a combination of short and long hikes, apty titled 'Mild and Mad Day Hikes around Thimphu'. After much deliberation, I was more inclined to hike up to the twin monasteries, a route also mentioned in the book, with an option to extend the trek higher into the mountain ranges for few more hours, beyond the Tango monastery. 

A view of one of the districts of Thimphu City