Weekend in Paro

Day One: Exploring Paro

A couple of weekends ago, Emily and I headed off to Paro, which is the next valley area west of Thimphu. I had a midterm break, so we spent two nights at a beautiful old palace called Gangtey Palace (more to come on that later). We drove there with Doug and Janet (mentioned in previous posts) and, along the way, stopped to stroll into the countryside. 

Beautiful Paro Valley stretches out behind of a small Bhutanese-style stupa. 

Chilis dry in the sun in a typical Bhutanese village image.

A small shrine with mini-Chortens presented as offerings. 

Pumpkins line up near a farmhouse. 

More Paro Valley. 

A Bhutanese child peers out from inside a farm building. 

Emily, Janet, and Doug on our walk. 

Memorial flags fly on tall wooden poles and are placed in auspicious places
 to memorialize deceased relatives. 

An odd doorway marks the border between an apple orchard and the rice paddies beyond. 

When we arrived into the town of Paro, Emily and I had a late lunch at an excellent little cafe called Sonam Trophel Restaurant. As it turns out, there really isn't many other options for food in Paro, so we met up with Doug and Janet at the same restaurant for dinner. It was good both times. In between meals, Emily and I walked around Paro and discovered that it was about 90% handicraft and tourist shops. Apparently, Paro is quite a touristy place. Since we weren't technically "tourists," these got old rather quickly. The guide book had promised a nice little coffee shop off of the main square, but we never managed to find it. (Paro is a small town, so we can only assume that it has shut down.) Downtown Paro is nice looking, but pretty short on things to do in comparison to Thimphu. The draw for Paro Valley is the beautiful rice fields that sprawl out from the town, the magnificent dzong that overlooks them, the National Museum, and, of course, the Tiger's Nest Monastery.

The Paro Dzong.

Downtown Paro looking towards the dzong.
 I call this shot, "Dog symmetry in Paro." 

Day Two: Taktshang Goemba ["Tiger's Nest Monastery"]

On our full day in Paro, we decided to go up to Taktshang Goemba, known in English as the "Tiger's Nest Monastery." Taktshang is perhaps the most famous site in Bhutan and is widely photographed by professionals and amateurs alike. There is a good reason for this: it is a monastery perched atop a sheer drop of 1000 meters, clinging onto the wall of the mountain next to a picturesque waterfall. While many monasteries in Bhutan are located high up in the Himalayan hills and mountains, Taktshang is by far the most beautiful and unique.

The 'Tiger's Nest' is so named because in the 7th century, it is said that Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava, the father of Buddhism in Bhutan and Tibet) flew on the back of a flying tiger to subdue the local demon, Singey Samdrup, at the site where the monastery now stands. He then meditated there for three months. Because of this, the site has long been recognized as a ney [holy place] and was visited by the famous Milarepa in the 11th century and Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal  (the father of 'modern' Bhutan) meditated there in 1646. The monastery itself was built in 1692.

Because of its long history, famous visitors, and beauty, Taktshang is probably the most visited place in Bhutan. This means, of course, that the trail up to the monastery is fairly choked with tourists. What is interesting is that most tourists to Bhutan are older, since getting to Bhutan as a tourist takes quite a bit of money ($250/day) and time commitment that usually only comes when one is retired. Many tourists have mobility issues related to age, and Bhutan is a pretty unforgiving place for that. The trail up to Taktshang is two hours and 1200m (almost 4000ft) of uphill hiking that already starts at 2600m (8500ft). There are horses that you can rent that will take you up most of the way, but the last quarter is a steep and narrow staircase that is not suitable for horses ... and not that great for people either.

About halfway up, there is a set of prayer wheels and a tea house-restaurant called 'Cafeteria'. Getting tea from this place is fine, but I would not recommend getting the buffet lunch. For two people it was Nu900 ($17), which for American prices sounds like a great deal but in Bhutanese ngultrum it is an absolutely outrageous price! (That's the price you would pay at a fancy restaurant in Thimphu, not a mediocre place in the middle of the mountains.) We think in Bhutanese ngultrum now, since I only get paid Nu30,000/month ($565) and that's a very decent salary here. Obviously, the Cafeteria is set up to take advantage of the rich tourists from North America, Europe, Japan, and Korea.

We started early in the day, which is good because the trail is quite exposed and the sun can be fairly brutal at this altitude. Catching a ride on a tour bus from our hotel, we arrived at the trail head at around 8am. The fog wafting through the valley both helped shield the sun and provided a dramatic ambience to the monastery. And here I will let the pictures do the talking...

The start of the trail. 

This building houses a prayer wheel that is being turned by the
motion of the stream (a common sight in Bhutan). 

Emily turns some prayer wheels herself. 

Taktshang Goemba is revealed through the fog.

Prayer flags tangled up in the trees. 

The view into Paro Valley from the trail. 

Emily and I at the prime overlook. 

The waterfall that brushes past the monastery. 

The entrance to the monastery. Cameras are not allowed in any
monastery in Bhutan, so we had to leave it with the
police officers at the entrance. 

After exploring the monastery, which featured some very beautiful and impressive prayer rooms and a commanding view of the Paro Valley, we made our way back down the trail. Since we were not "tourists" per se, we were kind of the odd ones out at the trailhead because we didn't have any transportation and everyone else was being corralled by Bhutanese tour guides into private cars, vans, and buses. Our plan was to hitch a ride back into town with a tour bus, which eventually worked but it took some patience. 

When we finally got back to our hotel, we decided to splurge and had them prepare hot stone baths for us. A hot stone bath is a Bhutanese tradition where a large wooden tub is filled with water, hot stones from a fire are placed into a wooden compartment at one end of the tub, and fragrant herbs are placed into the water. At Gangtey Palace, the hot stone baths are located in a shed-like structure away from the main building. A man tended the fire and saw to the baths, and we were left alone to our baths, which were super hot! I could only stand it for about 15 minutes, although it did feel nice after a day of hiking. Emily managed to stay in for longer and enjoyed the experience very much. 

After the baths, we grabbed a drink at the hotel bar and happened upon a get-together for a tour group that was staying at the Palace. They were from all over the world, and were very friendly and we got to talking with them. They were very curious about us, since we were living here, and they had many questions about what it was like. We ate dinner at the hotel, which was nice but, again, overpriced. 

Day Three: Exploring the Palace 

On Sunday, our plans were to head back to Thimphu close to noon with Doug and Janet, so we had some time to spend exploring Gangtey Palace and its beautiful grounds. Gangtey Palace is the former residence of the Penlop of Paro, which is sort of like the district administrator. Penlops were usually from the relatively rare well-to-do families in different districts. Gangtey Palace is over one hundred years old, but it seemed much older than that since it was built in the traditional style with walls almost 10 feet thick! The Palace was featured in the April 1914 National Geographic article "Castles in the Sky." 

Gangtey Palace is known for its beautiful private prayer room, which many houses have here, but Gangtey's is quite elaborate. There is also a great view of the Paro Dzong, which you can see in the pictures below...

What was very helpful is that not only did we get a local rate in ngultrum, but we also got a discount because I work at RTC! Otherwise, staying at this place would be quite pricey.

Our bedroom.

Emily enjoying afternoon tea in our room.

The private prayer room at Gangtey Palace.

The courtyard. 

The other end of the courtyard, with the entrance to the restaurant and bar.

Looking out from the main entrance of the Palace. 

Paro town below us.

The main building of Gangtey Palace. 

A dragonfly in the Gangtey gardens.