Overcome life

Gloom rainy day in Buddha Point - Thimphu, Bhutan (Summer 2015)

Hissss.......... Sound of rain drop was buzzing incessantly on my ears this afternoon, even in my sleep. I pulled the blanket up from my toe to head fully, to ensure the cold air wouldn't enter. The coldness was hardly to bear. I couldn't imagine that it was summer here now in Thimphu, the season that I thought was going to be warm in the afternoon.

Raining made me lazy to go anywhere. Bed and home seemed to be the best places to be during this time, with hot tea held with both hands. The cough syrup and the flu tablet made me feeling drowsy, my head was heavy and easily dozing off.

All my shirts were short sleeves, none of them was a long one. I brought only one sweater and one waterproof jacket to shield me from the rain. Two long pants had to be washed one after another while the rest of the three-quarter and short pants were lying idle inside my suitcase. That too, needed days to make it dry!!! Oh, how I wished I could bring more long sleeve shirts and sweater here to keep my body warm from this torturing cold weather.

Umbrella was a must-have thing in your bag at anytime, wherever you go. It would be useful under the morning scorching sun, and followed with a sudden downpour in the afternoon time. Sometimes, it would just a drizzling rain that made you confused whether to open your umbrella or stick it inside your bag. At the end, these tiny drops of rain on your head, made you sick unknowingly. And here, I was one of the victim of this ever changing weather.

This would be my first time traveling in Bhutan during summer time (June to July). And now I believed on what people said, not to choose this season to travel. Other than ever changing hot and rain weather in a day, the condition of the road was another thing that made people travel inconveniently. Muddy and slippery road was common here and made you difficult even only to get out from your house. Nevertheless, this trip had all been worth it for me as I was able to meet most people I'd planned to meet and go to places I'd planned to see. And all this wouldn't be achieved without the help of all my Bhutanese friends who had been so friendly, care, nice, and helpful to me. Thank you, thank you, and thank you everyone of you, who had made all my dreams coming true... :)

As Neela had to go to work on Saturday morning, Devi was afraid that I'd get bored that morning at home. So she suggested me to learn on how to make Sel Roti.

Devi and her handmade Sel Roti :)

"Sel Roti (Nepali: सेल रोटी) is a Nepali traditional home-made, sweet, ring-shaped rice bread/doughnut. It is mostly prepared during Tihar, a widely celebrated Hindu festival in Nepal. It is made of rice flour with adding customized flavors. A semi liquid rice flour dough is usually prepared by adding milk, water, cooking oil, sugar, butter, cardamom, cloves, bananas and other flavors of personal choice."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sel_roti

Flour required to make Sel Roti dough :)

So, the above picture showed the ingredients required for the dough mixing. The details were as per follow:
1. Wheat sooji or rice flour - 500g
2. Maida flour - 500g
3. Atta flour - 500g
4. Baking powder - pinch
5. Sugar - 200g

Devi mixed the dough and water to make Sel Roti

Mix the above flours into a pot and add hot water little by little. Keep mixing it up so the texture won't get lumpy (smooth) and thick.

Spices used for Sel Roti

Spices she used were as per follow:
1. Cardamom seed or elachi - few pieces and remove the seed
2. Clove - few pieces

Stir fry both ingredients in a low heat pan. Crush it until it becomes powdery form. Add the spices into the dough mixtures and mix it well.

See the short clip above. The texture was something like that so that you could shape the Sel Roti in anti clockwise direction as above. It looked easy on her but when I tried myself, yalamaaa....., instead of becoming round shape, mine was becoming heart shape or not even making any known shape hahaha.... But that's the fun of it!!! :)

Later on, Neela suggested me to put the dough mixture into the small plastic water jug where I could pour the dough mixture using the edge of the jug into the hot oil. It could prevent the oil splash on my hands too.

Pour oil into the pan and heat it in low medium heat. As the video shown above, you could see how Devi shaped the Sel Roti onto the hot pan. Using the long stick, she did multiple job turning the Sel Roti around once it became dark brown, lift it out and transferred it into the plate, ready to serve.

Sel Roti - Perfect accompany for my afternoon tea break :)

Dadadada....... Here were my delicious Sel Roti, perfect accompany with my tea for the afternoon tea break. It tasted sweet and had spices flavor in it too. Hhmmm.....

She purposely made the Sel Roti for me as she said that the shape of this dish (round shape) symbolized the reunion again next time (special gifts for family members living away from home), that no matter how far I go, one day eventually I would go back to meet them again, preferably next time at her hometown in southern Bhutan, and during winter time :) That's very sweet of her la!!! ^^

This dish too, was usually made only during big days or Hindu festival, like Deepavali (or Diwali), Dasain, wedding parties, and so on. I considered myself very grateful being able to taste the fresh Sel Roti not waiting until the big days arrived, but as a gifts and inclusion of me as their sister or family members. Thank you Devi for teaching me this. Let's see if I would make it myself one day, here, in Singapore. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! :)

Our half day had gone in a split second. Read what we did here :)

Our simple Bhutanese lunch :)

Once Neela came back home, we had our lunch. See the photo above. Devi just put whatever food available from previous day plus the fresh made Khuley or buckwheat pancakes - a traditional Bumthaps food made of buckwheat flour, water and salt - and Sel Roti. I had filled my stomach with lots of Sel Roti, therefore I took a piece of Khuley and ate it with fish curry and kewa datshi. No dorley chilli for me this time though, to avoid'too spicy' and burning feeling inside my mouth :D

Pema Thek Chok Choling Nunnery in Tang valley, Bumthang - Bhutan

Again, afraid that I got bored at home, they took me to few places after that. First place we visited was Pema Thek Chok Choling Nunnery (or Anim Dratsang). It's located high up in the Tang valley of Bumthang, not far from Mebar Tsho, founded in year 2001, as an initiative of His Eminence Gangtey Tulku Rinpoche.

Main Lhakhang and dormitories at the side - Pema Thek Chok Choling Nunnery - Bumthang, Bhutan

It was the first Buddhist college for women in the history of Bhutan. Here, the girls and women were able to learn, study, meditate, and have full access to the spiritual education. Click here to find out more about the nunnery and if you would like to provide monetary support as it'd be utilized as a basic support for the young nuns (for their meals, clothing, shelter, education, etc.)

Devi and families with young nuns at Pema Thek Chok Choling Nunnery

We went there to pay a visit to Devi's god-brother's daughter, a 7-year old girl, who was brought there by her parents some time ago. In Bhutan, it was common to bring their son or daughter to the monastery, to let them learning in Buddhism way. Devi brought many vegetables from her garden, Sel Roti, and even tidbits/snacks for the young nun.

Perfect accompany for tea - zaw and biscuit :)

We were invited to sit inside the guest room, served with tea, zaw (roasted puff rice), and biscuits while they had chit chat and updated with their current situation. We made some donation too before visited and prayed inside their main Lhakhang upstairs.

Posed together before leaving :)

We took photos together before leaving the place. It was raining when we went there. Amazingly, once we finished visiting this nunnery, the rain stopped. Therefore, it enabled us visiting our next destination - Mebar Tsho or the Burning Lake.

Second visit to Mebar Tsho or Burning Lake - Bumthang, Bhutan

It was my second visit there. Read my first visit here. Since it was after rain, we had to walk slowly down. The stones and pathway had become slippery and dangerous.

Beautiful stacked stones at Mebar Tsho :)

Stacked stones - believed that wishes will come true :)

Mebar Tsho was a sacred pilgrimage place and one of the holiest lake in Bhutan where people believed that Terton Pema Lingpa discovered the sacred treasure that was hidden by Guru Rinpoche long time ago. He managed to hold the treasure back with a lamp still burning even after coming up from the lake.

Among the extensive array of prayer flags above the Mebar Tsho - the Burning Lake in Bumthang, Bhutan

With the caretaker on top of the bridge of Mebar Tsho - the Burning Lake in Bumthang, Bhutan

We lighted the incense and offered our prayer to the Gods there, and as usual, we looked down from the big stone above horizontally. The caretaker said if we saw the flying white scarfs on the water, it meant that they welcomed us to come to the lake. There were two places where we could see the flying white scarfs. In an instance, we felt blissful and contented, especially when rain had stopped which enabled us to go there. Thank you for the good karma :)

"Zangto Pelri" - Pagoda shaped temple on top of Tang Valley in Bumthang, Bhutan

From there, we continued our journey. This time to the place they called "Zangto Pelri" - a pagoda kind of temple built on top of the Tang Valley. I tried to find the exact name, but couldn't find. So let me stick to the name as per mentioned by Devi and Neela.

Beautiful Tang Valley in Bumthang, Bhutan

On the way there, we passed by beautiful greenery. Neela shared with me his dreams, what he wanted to achieve in his life. One of them was to build a house in a valley like this. A small land, enough to build house with few rooms. Most importantly, there was enough space for gardening, one of their favorite hobbies and past times. They could visit this house during summer where other part of Bhutan would be hot or raining. I didn't dare to have such wish as we didn't have such landscape in our country. So, I just had to be content to wish that his dreams would come true, and I could visit them in their dream house one day :)

Muddy road to the Gate of Heaven :P

The road to the Zangto Pelri wasn't in good condition. It was very much muddy. So we had to stop halfway and walk for the rest of our journey.

Nice evening walk towards Zangto Pelri in Tang Valley - Bumthang, Bhutan

It was a very good evening walk though. We were surrounded by beautiful natures, such as: trees, bushes, goats' shed, and so on. We walked slowly, finding a drier mud to pass through, and finally reached there.

View of the beautiful Zangto Pelri at Tang Valley - Bumthang, Bhutan

Nananana..... here was the beautiful pagoda from near sight. It's beautiful, wasn't it? :) All the walk seemed worth it. It wasn't opened though. So we just circumambulated the Pagoda thrice and conveyed our prayers there, also took photo of the beautiful surrounding :)

Thank you for your delicious dinner la!!! :)

At night, we went to Yeshey and Bungay Bhai's house as they invited us for dinner. As usual, they also knew my favorite - Druk 11000 :D They served delicious chang pa to have it with hehe... Thank you la both of you for your invitation and delicious dinner!!! It's great meeting all of you again, after some time!!! We filled our day full of activities today!!! So satisfied!!! We went home afterwards and finally took a good rest. Zzz.... ;)

View from the (toilet's) window - amazing!!! :)

It's Sunday!!! A rest day!!! I too, took half day off from my holiday. What?? Took day off during holiday??? Hehehe... :P As I wrote earlier on, the holiday that supposed to be a chill and relax, turned out to be the most tiring one!!!

I slept late almost every night and woke up as early as 5 to 6 am almost everyday. The sky turned bright after 5 am and also, because we had to share one toilet among the rest of the house occupants, and I loved to spend more time for myself inside the toilet, really slowly. Be it browsing internet (morning time was the best time to read other people's blog!!!), checking on Facebook status, or updating my whereabouts to my dear family members back home. Also, the view from the toilet's window was marvelous!!! See the photo above as a proof!!! :D

Happened at the same morning, there was an earthquake (magnitude 5.5) in Assam, India, which shook the area of Bumthang too! The toilet was shaking when I was having big business and I heard children sound from outside the window. I think they were jumping too. So, I thought that the children were jumping so strong until it shook the toilet. Lol!!! But still, as a precaution, I faster finished my business and went out from the toilet. In a while, I read many Bhutanese updated their Facebook status regarding the earthquake. Luckily nothing bad was happened!

Jakar Dzong view from afar - Bumthang, Bhutan

We only went out at 3 pm. This time, we went visiting Jakar Dzong. I had been looking this building from afar since two years ago, but didn't have time to visit it. However, this time all of us finally visited the place (especially the Lhakhang) for the very first time!! :)

Jakar Dzong - Bumthang, Bhutan

Jakar Dzong or Jakar Yugyal Dzong was literally translated as "Castle of the White Bird". Legend said that when Lamas assembled in 1549 to select the site for a monastery, a big white bird rose suddenly flying in the air and settled on a spur of a hill. It was interpreted as an important omen. So that hill was chosen as the site to build the Dzong (source: Lonely Planet) while some other source said that it was founded by Zhabdrung's great-grandfather - Lam Ngagi Wangchuck - who came to Bhutan to spread the Buddha teaching.

Direction signage at Jakar Dzong - Bumthang, Bhutan

The entrance was quite steep and slippery, especially after rain. I was wondering how the lady civil servants coming to work to their administrative office using high heels and wearing Kira. They must have struggled walking on that path. Salute to them la! Also, I can't imagine how to work during winter time when it's layered with frozen ice... Yalama!!!

Jakar Dzong - Bumthang, Bhutan

When we arrived, no one was seen around, not even inside the security room. As a good guest, I still filled the book up with my details :) We waited outside the temple, almost giving up and wanted to leave the place until the security officer suddenly popped up and approached us. He told us that the Lhakhang's door at ground floor wasn't locked and allowed us to enter to pray.

Steep ladder at Jakar Dzong - Bumthang, Bhutan

On the way back, I saw the very steep wooden ladder going to second floor. I was amazed with it and wondered where it led to. I was asking Neela if we could climb up, at least tried and experienced the steepness of the ladder.

While doing it, again the security officer passed by and he seemed telling us that the caretaker of the prayer room located at 3rd floor was around and we could proceed to upstairs. Wow!!! Again, lucky us!!! (Felt like they could hear my wish, my deep inside prayer :))

Climbing up the steep ladder inside Jakar Dzong - Bumthang, Bhutan

We climbed the staircase slowly and it just felt magnificent!!! The distance in each ladder was quite high too. While climbing up, I was imagining how old the staircase must have been and how good it was if there was any lift available, to cater for elderly visitors or young kids. Otherwise, only the young and adults would be able to visit the place la! I know, I know.. you would lose its uniqueness right? I just wondered though... :D

Yayyy!!! We made it there!!! :) Jakar Dzong - Bumthang, Bhutan

However, for the caretaker, climbing this kind of ladder was just a piece of cake. He was even running while climbing it up. Lol!!! Anyway, good exercise for four of us. We finally reached inside the Lhakhang, happy and satisfied!!! :)

Outside the Lhakhang at 3rd Floor - Jakar Dzong in Bumthang, Bhutan

The room was quite different from other Lhakhang I went before. You could even see from outside the door at the photo above (two hanging figures upside down) and other different paintings on upper side of the door. Even inside, the display of the altar was quite different too. A new experience for me :)

We made it there!!! :) Happy and satisfied!!! Jakar Dzong - Bumthang, Bhutan

Uhuyyyy!!! Mission accomplished!!! :)

Stopped and relaxed - enjoying the view of Bumthang valley :)

On our way to next destination, we passed by the wooden seats on the roadside facing the Shrishtika's school and beautiful view of Bumthang valley. Neela stopped his vehicle and let us sitting there just to chill and relax. After all, it was Sunday evening! ;)

Fresh milk from Batpalathang - Bumthang, Bhutan

Bumthang Swiss and Wine Shop or Swiss Guest House

Oh oh... only now I realized. Actually, I was planning to visit Swiss Guest House. But instead, Neela brought me to the Bumthang Cheese (Swiss) and Wine Shop at Batpalathang. Lol!!! :D

Finally got my Red Panda draft beer. Cheers!!!! :D

Didn't matter though, as I found what I wanted there - Cheese Gouda - and Red Panda draft beer!!! Cheers!!! :)

Bumthang alcohol drink products :)

Besides, they sold many local alcohol drink products on the shelf too!!!

Met Kuenza there :)

And otherwise, I wouldn't be able to meet Kuenza Karma there and tasted delicious Rangjung ara given by him hehehe..... What a coincidence la!!! :) So, that's about it now!!! Hope you enjoyed reading it!!! See you soon!!! :)

Meat shop and vegetable market in Bumthang

After spending our time outside here, we passed by meat shop and vegetable market before heading home. We were actually looking for pork ribs to cook the Singapore style 'bakuteh'or pork rib soup. However, the meat seller offered us to buy 4 kg at one time or not buy at all kind of attitude (Devi said they were monopolizing the market as they knew other meat seller were not opened at that time). At the end we didn't buy and headed home.

Where I stayed in Bumthang :)

The above was the place where I stayed in Bumthang, central of Bhutan. The area was called Gangrithang, very near from Gangrithang Primary School, in fact, within 5 minutes walking distance. As you see the picture above, there were many greenery surrounded the house. Devi and Neela were lucky that the owner of the house let them growing some plantation in a given area. And coincidentally both of them enjoyed doing that. They both were even very proud of it!!! :)

Organic vegetables grown by Devi :)

The above was some of the vegetables grown in her garden: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini, bean, spring onion, herbs, carrot, potatoes, chili, and so on. It's been the dream of my hubby to have such garden nearby the house. Too bad, we both lived sandwiched between the flats in government HDB housing, in the middle of the metropolitan city and country. This would always be his wish only :)

Chili plantation :)

She planted rows of chili too but it was still growing up. Uhhh... imagine if I plant that chili here!!! I won't have to ask someone to bring the chili from Bhutan anymore, instead, just go to the garden and pluck it up hehehe.... :D

Plucked potatoes, carrots and spring onion for dinner :)

That evening, we ended up collecting potatoes and plucking carrots and few spring onions for our dinner's ingredients. This way, she could save her food expenditures too and eat healthier food as it was grown organic.

Our gathering dinner :)

Our friends, Kedar and families, came from their village in Sarpang that night. We waited for their arrival and prepared the above dishes for our reunion. Chana, chilli chop, papadam, crackers, deep fried vegetables were our chang pa that night, so many varieties!!! :) I cooked Opor Ayam (chicken cooked in coconut milk added with potatoes and carrots) for them to try the taste of Indonesian food using the instant Indofood spices that I brought from home hehehe... Just hope they liked the taste though :D

I tried the new Bhutanese wine, called Happiness. Too bad it was not into my liking. I still preferred Takin wine ^^ So, Druk 11000 was still my primary choice for my chang pa la :D Thank you everyone for your time and effort for the gathering dinner. Hope you enjoyed it the way I enjoyed your accompany!!! Cheers.... :)

Yes, it was my last relaxing day in Bumthang. I planned to stay there for 5 days before moving on to other destination. Since Neela had to go to work as usual, we didn't go anywhere, just stayed at home. That was fine though as what I required was just ample time to rest and relax :)

For the past 5 days in Bumthang, Devi and Neela had fed me very well. Breakfast (with morning tea), lunch, afternoon tea, chang pa with beer, then dinner - that's what they provided me every single day. I felt blessed but at the same time a little bit worried about my weight. Lol!!! But even before I reached Bhutan, I'd already gained some weight resulting from my previous Batam trip :P So, it didn't really matter though hehehe.... :D

Breakfast with love :)

The above was what Devi prepared for me as breakfast. Roti roll with egg plus potato curry and home made strawberry jam with a cup of coffee with milk. She made the roti from scratch. Flour, water, and the most important ingredient, love :) I just want to convey my gratitude for all things she had done for me making my stay comfortable, safe, memorable, and fulfilled. Thank you, thank you, and thank you Devi for everything!!! :)

At about 10.30am she told me that she would be just outside the house helping her neighbor cum house owner - Yeshey Dema - up for about an hour time.

Pulling the thread outside the house - Bumthang, Bhutan

She wore the cap and walked out. I was curious on what she planned to do, so I followed her. She took patang out and cut those weed that grew in between.

Hooked the threads to the other side - Bumthang, Bhutan

Yeshey took her keeb or thread out, lengthen it and hooked it to the other side as you see on the above picture.

Preparing her initial Gho weaving under the sun - Bumthang, Bhutan

Once done, she sat at another side and did her things while Devi walked back and forth holding the stick with black threads on it, tangled it to the other side and then passed the thread to Yeshey for her to tie with the rest of the white threads.

Half way Gho in the making using Thirtha Sing - Bhutanese weave machine

It was an interesting thing to know. Usually when we visited the Yathra shop or the textile museum, they would display the half way weaved kira or gho and seldom they demonstrated the initial part. If it wasn't because of Yeshey's requesting help from Devi, I wouldn't be able to witness how it was usually be done. No wonder piece of Gho and Kira could worth so much sometimes, depending how complicated and how fast it was made.

Enjoying our afternoon tea :)

At noon Devi had finished helping. She was sweating and tired but still she offered me to make the afternoon tea. It was sunny but windy, an ideal time to sip in the delicious hot tea accompanied with sweet fried dessert and plums. We sat outside the main door this time so that we were able to feel the flurry of air. Next to me, she smiled wholeheartedly and filled her heart with satisfaction (for being able to help Yeshey).

Gangrithang Primary School - Bumthang, Bhutan

We had half an hour before lunch time. She suggested me to walk to where Neela worked. It's within walking distance. Since I had no agenda, I agreed to her in an instance. We walked through the back road passing through Gangrithang Primary School. Within few minutes we arrived.

Enjoying our ice creams ^^

There were still time before lunch. Devi and I went to the next door's bakery and had some ice cream while waiting :) Then we went home together to have lunch.

Our chang pa for the night :)

Farewell dinner :)

At night, we had farewell dinner together with Yeshey, Bungay Bhai, Kedar and families at Devi's house. Kedar came with few bottles of Druk 11000 as gifts for me. He also knew that I loved drinking it :) Thank you Kedar Bro!!! :)

At almost 10pm, Yeshey Dema came. She just finished queuing for the holy water at Kurjey Lhakhang. Since it was my last night staying in Bumthang, Devi had requested her to make Puta (buckwheat noodles). She was born originally there in Bumthang, therefore she had mastered in making Bumthang traditional food. Although late, the rests were all willing to wait and helping out in the making.

Below were the steps of making Puta:
1. Open up 1 kg sweet buckwheat flour.

Bumthang Sweet Buckwheat Flour - making Puta (buckwheat noodles)

2. Add water slowly and knead the dough.

Knead the dough - making Puta (buckwheat noodles)

3. Knead it until it can be shaped into a ball and flatten it using rolling pin, make it into long shape.

Flatten and roll the dough into long shape - making Puta (buckwheat noodles)

4. Using the noodle machine, slide the dough in and make it into noodle shape.

Use the noodle machine and slide the dough into it - making Puta (buckwheat noodles)

5. Boil the water and cook the noodle. Strain the water and put it aside.

Devi with her dough and Yeshey Dema boiled the noodles - making Puta (buckwheat noodles)

6. Seasoning time!!! :)

Seasoning Puta (buckwheat noodles)

a. Cut garlic and shallots
b. Heat the oil and put both inside
c. Once it smells fragrant, add few pcs of eggs
d. Mix it around until cooked
e. Put the strained and boiled noodles into the pot
f. Add in salt, chili powder, pepper into the pot
g. Pour the fried garlic, shallots and eggs into the pot
h. Using hand, mix the ingredients until it all mixes well
i. Voila!!! Ready to serve!!! :)

Homemade Puta or Buckwheat Noodles - Bumthang, Bhutan

Due to the hard work and team work of the three ladies, within an hour time the delicious Puta was ready!!! Thank you everyone for making it for me to try. It tasted delicious!!! Zhim bay la!!! Name same kadinche la everyone for everything, also for coming to my farewell dinner. Hope to see you again in the future. Take care la!!! :)

A beautiful day to start with - Journey from Bumthang to Trongsa :)

Five memorable days in Bumthang had finally passed by. It's time for me to move on into another place. Next, I went visiting my dear blogger friend, Rupa, who worked as a teacher and matron in Samcholing Middle Secondary School, Trongsa. I knew her through her positive blog and coincidentally we both had the same liking in life, which was Doraemon :D (We were like 'never growing up ladies'. Lol!!!)

Stopped for our tea break - Journey from Bumthang to Trongsa :)

We both were equally exciting to meet but I wasn't aware about her school's location. I only knew that her school location wasn't too far from Trongsa town. Therefore, we planned to meet at Trongsa bus station and from there we would take taxi to her school. Also, at first I wanted to take public bus from Bumthang to Trongsa. However, due to the starting of the school holiday, all bus was fully booked and there was no way for me to take the bus there. Fortunately, Neela had kindheartedly offered to drop me there. He even had to take half day leave from his office for this purpose. Thank you very much Neela!!! :)

Happily posed with Trongsa Dzong in background :)

Four of us left departed from home at 8.15 am. The weather was beautiful - sunny and bright!!! However, the road on our journey wasn't that good - lots of potholes and muddy. But with the beautiful weather, we were lucky enough that the road wasn't that muddy and too hard to go through. Upon reaching Trongsa bus station, I called Rupa. She told me she was still at her school as she couldn't find any Taxi to come over. Yalama!!! Neela continued the journey but up to certain point, we had to face road block!!!

Road block opening and closing timing - near Trongsa town

He stopped the vehicle. We girls walked near to the road block area and found the above signboard. I looked at my watch and time shown was only 11 am, while the road will only be opened next at 12.30 pm. We had to wait for 1.5 hours.

The cause of our road block - Landslide near Trongsa town

I informed Neela about it and told him to go back, assured him that I would cross over the road block area myself - on foot perhaps, and waited until Rupa came and picked me up. I didn't want to trouble him more. He had already sacrificed his half day leave to send me and now, with the road block, he wouldn't be able to make it on time if he had to wait for me.

Eating packed lunch while waiting for the road block

But with situation where Rupa was still at her school and couldn't find any Taxi and he didn't want to leave me stranded there alone and unsafe, he told me that he would send me at least after the road block area as Rupa mentioned that her school's location was only around 10-minutes away from there. So, we waited further. Luckily Devi prepared packed lunch and tea from home. We were a bit hungry by then and decided to eat while waiting. I updated my travel journal too while waiting. So, after some time, the road was finally opened.

Dangerous muddy road - Landslide area near Trongsa town :(

Narrow, slippery and muddy!!! - Landslide area near Trongsa town :(

The above two photos were taken once the road block area was opened. Yalama kheno!!! As I sat in front seat, I witnessed how narrow, slippery and dangerous the road that we had to pass through. It could only fit one vehicle at one time. I was worrying and praying hard that Neela's small car was able to pass this road safely and we all reached and returned in one piece. He could even sense my worry through my face reaction. Thank Buddha nothing bad happened there!!!

After waiting and going through this, they only had one hour time to return back or otherwise they had to wait again until 4.30 pm. We called Rupa for direction to her school. The 10-minutes journey as she mentioned earlier turned up to be a more than one hour journey!!! There was no way for Neela to be able to return within an hour time. With that, he had to take one whole day leave instead of half day. I felt very sorry and guilty but they took it positively. They even made a joke with it, that because of me, they were able to visit Samcholing and spend more time there, just like a tourist, like me. At the other side, Rupa finally got her Taxi (white Bolero) and she too, tried to catch me from the other side. We met on the road and finally went to her school together.

Rupa and Devi prepared lunch at Samcholing :)

Rupa invited us to go to her place and she immediately went to her kitchen, busied herself serving us tea and lunch. Devi went helping her after seeing her disappearing for so long inside there haha....

Browsed over the school area - Samcholing Middle Secondary School, Trongsa, Bhutan

Once lunch had over, we had a walk in a school's surrounding. Students were still there cutting the grasses, preparing for the upcoming two-week long holiday. The school was located on the mountain and we had to go up and down to reach one place to another. The weather was cold and refreshing too!!! At 3pm, Neela, Devi and their daughter bid us goodbye. They had to drive back as they want to catch the next road block's opening time. I conveyed my deep heartfelt thank from my heart to all of them for the time and all the trouble and hassle they had to go through to send me there safely at the destination. No word could replace my gratitude feeling to them. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! :)

Browsed around the school - Samcholing Middle Secondary School - Trongsa, Bhutan

After they left, we took a rest for a while then Rupa brought me around to her school once again. This time, with more places to visit (including to her teachers' office). One boy - Ugyen - was trying to be inside our photo. Haha.. He was so cute!!! He looked like my one of my brother's sons :D He also followed us around excitingly, even when we decided to visit Samcholing Palace, the nearest Lhakhang from the school.

Our visit to Samcholing Palace :)

The place above was called Samcholing (Samdrup Choling) Palace. It was a three-storey building that looked more like big house rather than a palace. It was built around the year 1860s - about 155 years ago. The second King - Jigme Wangchuk - used to stay there with his wife - Ashi Pema Dechen. In 1940s the palace was once renovated and there was monastery there too to teach young children about Buddhism. To date, the number of boys registered to the school had decreased and there were less than 10 students now.

We went inside the Lhakhang and there, Khenpo Tempa Rabgye, the Caretaker of the palace and Head of the Dratshang, was seated. Khenpo was asking about us and since he couldn't speak and understand English, Rupa had to become a translator for both of us. She chatted with him for a while and he invited us for a cup of tea in his place. Since we had nothing to do, we accepted his offer.

In his room, Khenpo was telling us many things about the Buddha Dhamma. Rupa was having hard time trying her best to translate all his words for me. Thank you Rupa for your kind effort :) We were there for a while and before we left, he invited us to visit the Lhakhang again around 7 to 8 pm to watch the mask dance and to listen to the ritual prayer musical instruments' performance performed by his fellow students. Other than reciting prayers and learn about Dhamma, the young monks were trained to play the Buddhist musical instruments and mask dance too on regular basis.

Buddhist ritual prayer musical instruments' performance at Samcholing Palace - Trongsa, Bhutan

From Rupa's perspective - Buddhist ritual prayer musical instruments' performance at Samcholing Palace - Trongsa, Bhutan

So that night, since we had no agenda, we visited the Lhakhang again and they showed their performance to only both of us :)

Sole guests for the night at Samcholing Palace - Trongsa, Bhutan

I felt blessed, serene, and peaceful hearing those instruments, which sometimes followed by their chants and prayers. With just two of us as guests inside the Lhakhang, suddenly I felt grateful, and wondered if I had ever been there before. I mean, since the building was built for more than a century ago, it shouldn't be impossible if I ever visited this place during my previous life before. It felt so homey and warmth my heart.

Beautiful mask dance performed by two very young monks at Samcholing Palace - Trongsa, Bhutan

Two young monks performed the mask dance full of vigor and enthusiasm. They jumped and turned their bodies all the time following the instruments' rhythm - with no smile. I was wondering if they enjoyed what they were doing. Were they there because they wanted to? Or just because they were forced to, by circumstances or by chance. Parents leaving their child in the monastery might be a common thing there in Bhutan. But I still thought that they were just too young to understand.

With two young mask dancers at Samcholing Palace - Trongsa, Bhutan

The performance lasted for 40 minutes. After that Khenpo brought us to the main Lhakhang and the room of the second King. I felt blessed just for being there. Thank you Khenpo for your kind invitation! Thank you fellow young monks for your hard work! May all of you be happy always :)

Changpa for the night prepared by Rupa :)

We went home afterwards and it was time to have our dinner. Rupa prepared a tray of chang pa for me, accompanied with red wine Takin while she was having orange juice for herself. And yes, that was Indomie that you saw, Indonesian favorite's instant noodle, at the land of the thunder dragon. I told her that I wanted to cook it myself, using my style. However, she insisted to cook it for me, using her style, the Bhutanese way of instant noodle. In the end, she cooked it dry (with no soup), and it tasted very salty (as it supposed to be a noodle soup), and she cooked two packets of it. Yalama... :D

Warm cosy bedroom - pink and blue - her favorite colors :)

After a looonnngggg day, it's finally time to rest and sleep. Rupa had prepared my bed with new bed sheet, pillows, pillow's covers and blanket cover. She also put two new carpets to keep our feet warm. Thank you so much Rupa for your kind hospitality. I felt blessed being there although there were so many insects flying around your room. Big or small, I had to endure hahaha... So that how our first night went by. She must have been very tired too with all the preparation and cooking. Once again, thank you Rupa :)

Rupa has summarized our meeting on her beautiful blog post here. I guess I don't have to explain further about it hehehe... :P But if you still want to hear to my story, you can always continue read it here la :D

Foggy, mysterious, and wet morning at Samcholing School (left) and Samcholing Palace (right)

As per Rupa said, initially we were waiting for one Bolero to drop us there. However, the guy who wore Gho with cowboy head didn't return for a long time, as if he was swallowed by deities in the Lhakhang and disappeared. Puff!!! It wasn't difficult to imagine especially when you saw the photo above :)

Our journey from Samcholing to Langthel to meet Ugyen Gyeltshen :)

Fed up waiting for too long, we were lucky that we managed to get into another Bolero (together with students who were going back to their home for summer break holiday in Langthel) in order to meet up with Ugyen Gyeltshen, our fellow comedian blogger cum Engineer cum author of Dear Seday book :)

Priceless picturesque view on our way to Langthel :)

Samcholing green tea plantation :)

I asked Rupa to sit at the back as we were the uninvited and additional passengers (although I knew she was a teacher there and the students would prefer her and me - her guest - to sit in front, covered from rain and hot sun, in a comfy seat). I told the students that I would never have a chance to sit behind like that in Singapore, so please..., let me remain sitting at the back, and they gave in with no words to say :)

Another priceless picturesque view on our way to Langthel :)

Hustle bustle on the field - On our way to Langthel

It was drizzling and foggy in the beginning, but once we went down, the sun started to shine. We just needed umbrella to protect us from both conditions though. Sometimes the car was so bumpy and it hurt our butt so much but we could only look at each other and laughed out loud in pain hahaha.... :D

Enjoyed their Parala dice game - Trongsa, Bhutan

The Bolero stopped at Olo's general shop. The driver went in to buy something. We waited there. Suddenly, another Bolero stopped and parked its car in front of the shop. The driver went down and suddenly I felt familiar with the driver's face. "Hey Rupa, it's Ugyen Sir!!!"I shouted and jumped excitingly just like the daughter was finally finding her father hahaha.... And Ugyen was responding too! He asked us to go down and moved into his Bolero. You wouldn't know how relieve I felt upon seeing him hahaha... I shook his hands firmly and my first impression about him was that he was such a serious kind of guy that you sometimes wondered if he was the person who often wrote those jokes in his blog posts (Rupa said he was the guy who joked seriously - I think that fit the description very well :D). Before leaving the place, Rupa bought enough doma for him to chew :D

Inside the tunnel of Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project in Langthel, Bhutan

Next thing, we were inside his Bolero and he drove us down directly into the tunnel, where the 720 MW Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project was built. It was such a huge and long tunnel. We stopped at the Power House. All of us went down and wore helmets (for safety protection). He took out his note book and started drawing.

Inside the tunnel of Mangdecchu Hydroelectric Project in Langthel, Bhutan

While drawing, he was explaining to us what the project was all about. We listened to him trying to understand the whole big picture while it was pretty noisy and bad air surrounded us as the workers were doing their job molding and other stuffs. We moved on to the other side to have a look, and then went out.

First Palace cum Lhakhang that we went to but didn't enter :D

Since we had some time before lunch, he brought us up to the mountain to one of the Palace cum Lhakhang (I forgot the name. Was it Indo Choling Palace?), and we didn't enter though as Ugyen didn't like visiting Lhakhang so we just went to the nearby shop and had some drink :)

Delicious Indian lunch offered to both of us - Kadinche la Ugyen!!! :)

At around 1 pm, we were brought to the MHPA personnel lodge and had our Indian food lunch there together with few of his colleagues. The food was prepared freshly by the Indian cook just behind the dining room. The roti was delicious and fresh accompanied with some veggies, yogurt dips, cucumber, onion, chili, and a small bowl of dhall. I think I took 4 pieces of roti before decided that I was full hehehe... Nyummy!!! We were even given a special sweet dessert made of butter, Besan flour, and sugar, which tasted a bit like peanut paste for me :) Thank you Ugyen for letting us tasted the delicious Indian dishes there :)

Beautiful mountain view from Langthel back to Samcholing

After lunch Ugyen drove us to visit Kuenga Rabten Palace.

Road block - Common thing to face during monsoon season in Bhutan :)

On our way, there was a road block that took us almost an hour. Funnily, while waiting, I suddenly saw the man in Gho and cowboy hat that supposed to drop us to Langthel, just behind Ugyen's car. Lol!!! Me and Rupa were laughing to our heart again upon seeing him hahaha.... :P

Kuenga Rabten Palace - Trongsa, Bhutan :)

After patiently waiting, we finally reached the Kuenga Rabten Palace, was built in 1929.

Our visit to Kuenga Rabten Palace and Lhakhang - Trongsa, Bhutan

This was another palace that was used by second King - Jigme Wangchuk - during winter season with his wife - Ashi Phuntsho Choden. Three of us went for a visit while Ugyen was outside playing archery with young children :) We browsed the library at the third floor and it's filled with many Buddhist transcripts, which many were part of National Library of Bhutan's items.

Second King - Jigme Wangchuck's room inside Kuenga Rabten Palace - Trongsa, Bhutan

Rupa asked permission from the monk to show us the second King's room that was still well preserved, as if he was still living there. I loved the color and design of the wooden window inside his room. It's striking and reserved the Bhutanese culture in it.

Surround the Kuenga Rabten Monastery - Trongsa, Bhutan

There were more monks seen in this monastery. Many were seen busy studying the scripts. Maybe exam was coming??? :)

Busy playing archery :P

Very different from the group of 'children' here who were busy playing archery hehehe.... :D

Trio blogger meeting at Samcholing and Langthel :)

After visiting, Ugyen sent us back to school. Thank you la Ugyen for bringing us around almost whole day now. Because of you I was able to visit many beautiful Lhakhang and enjoy the picturesque mountainous view around Langthel and Samcholing. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! :)

Very happy with her Doraemon shirt and look at her wall!!!!! :O

Rupa and I had no agenda after that. What we did was we tried on the clothes and took photos. Hahahahahaha..... *again, never grow up women in action!!! Lol!!! :P Rupa was trying on Doraemon t-shirt I gave her and I was trying on full Kira that she gave to me.

Welcome to my Bhutan kitchen!!! :P

After that both of us went outside and took lots of pictures wearing our Kira. When passing by the school's kitchen, I went in. It was huge!!! The stoves were made by the cut barrels. The smoke was coming out from the boiling pot. It reminded me so much of the Korean series that I watched before. Didn't want to miss this occasion, I asked Rupa to take my photo there. Since I was wearing Kira, it would be as if it was my kitchen hehehehe.... My Bhutan kitchen!!! :D

Now welcome to my house!!! :D

And the above was my house, my typical Bhutanese village house up in the mountain, complete with the Phallus signage to ward off the bad things hehehehehe.... ;P

And here was my paddy plantation la!!! :D

Completed with my paddy plantation :)

Perfect combination!!!

The overall view surrounded the school was magnificent la!!! Such a perfect combination!!!

My dear friend :)

Ooopps... it won't be pefect yet!!! Without someone who accompanied you in your life journey, life would never be perfect!!! Yes, that's it! Friend!!! :) No matter how big your kitchen, house and paddy plantation were, but if you didn't have a special friend in your life, your life would never be complete la!!! You would only materially rich, but no emotional happiness inside your heart ^^

Their friend is your friend too!! :)

Their brother are your brother too hahaha... :D

Yeah, I think I've written too long and put so many pictures in this post. Hope you don't get bored reading it but instead, enjoy the beautiful nature and human being reflected inside. Hahaha... Just kidding... Laso la.. That was how our day well spent and ended with chang pa and dinner prepared by dear Rupa. Thank you Rupa for your time and effort spent together with me!!! I appreciated it very very much!!! Name same kadinche-la!!! :)

Two days had gone by. I had to bid goodbye to the beautiful Samcholing. I packed my bag and filled it with many gifts from Rupa. Kadinche la dear!!! I also received a precious gift from Ugyen was that he came to Rupa's school to send me back to Trongsa personally. You know, after hearing Rupa's difficulty in finding a reliable Taxi, he told us that he might send his office vehicle and the driver to send me. But at the end, it was him who turned up at the door, ready to render his help. You wouldn't know how grateful I was, Ugyen!!! Seriously, I did!!!

Journey to Trongsa with Ugyen and Rupa :)

Before departing, Rupa was preparing lunch for us. While waiting, Ugyen had told me his old-time story, when he started blogging as anonymous. There, he was writing his blog as if he was the driver. He narrated his story interestingly. I wished he would keep telling that non-stop :) It was a privilege in fact, to be told the story by him. He had such an imagination, funny, and was able to create many creative story. However, lately, he was kinda stuck with his other passion, which was archery :)

Ugyen Gyeltshen - While we were busy taking photos, he was busy chewing his Doma :D

He'd stayed with his job for two years there in Langthel. Initially, when he first joined in, I could still remember him mentioning his ambition to spend more time there alone, writing - especially when he had to stay faraway from his family members. He was very exciting about finishing his second book soon. However, as his job got busier, added with the fact that he couldn't concentrate missing his family members, plus busied himself with his new passion - archery, his dream to finish his second book had drifted away.

Now he wished to be able to move back to where his family lived and to find a new job there. There too, he could meet up with his best friend, Nawang Phuntsho, often - the great humble guy full of idea - and he believed that both of them could create something bigger together, with their combined ideas and motivation. Let's hope so ba!!! I wish your dream will come true soon Ugyen! :)

Trongsa Dzong - the largest fortress in Bhutan - Trongsa, Bhutan

At 2 pm we reached Trongsa town. We managed to pass the road block without having to wait so long. However, the next opening would be at 4.30 pm. We had ample time to do other thing before they were able to return back to Samcholing and I requested him if we could go to Trongsa Dzong as I had seen this huge and magnificent Dzong many times during my bus journey from Thimphu to Bhutan and vice versa. He was happily granting my wish to drop me there, however, as usual, he wouldn't go inside and prefer to wait us outside.

Giant tree in front of Trongsa Dzong - Trongsa, Bhutan

As we entered, the huge tree awed us in a distance. You could see the overall picture of the tree in the first photo above and witness for yourself how big it was!!! This tree must be extremely old, aging hundred over years. Amazing!!!

Rupa and I at the entrance of Trongsa Dzong - Trongsa, Bhutan

Too bad Rupa forgot to bring her Rachu with her.and we couldn't find anyone who could lend it to her too. Therefore, she had to wait outside and let me enter the fortress alone.

Beautiful Trongsa Dzong from sideway - Trongsa, Bhutan

"The temple was first established in 1543 by the Drukpa Lama, Ngagi Wangchuck. In 1647, his great-grandson - Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal - constructed the first dzong to replace it, called Chhoekhor Rabtentse Dzong with its short name of Choetse Dzong. It went through many extension in 18th century with Chenrezig Lhakhang was built in 1715, with Maitreya (Jampa) temple was added in 1771. They underwent many renovation many times too due to the damages caused by Assam earthquake in 1897, until the shape that you could see now.

Inside Trongsa Dzong - Trongsa, Bhutan

It was an important administrative building, providing the headquarter of the government of Trongsa District. It was a strategic control location to control Bhutan and for centuries it was the seat of the Wangchuck dynasty of penlops (governors), who effectively ruled over much of the eastern and central Bhutan, and from year 1907 have been Kings of Bhutan.

Guru Rinpoche's painting outside the Lhakhang - Trongsa Dzong, Bhutan

It was a major monastic complex contained as many as 25 temples inside and consisted of a maze of courtyards, passageways, and corridors." - source: Wikipedia

With my two young guides to visit temples in Trongsa Dzong - Trongsa, Bhutan

With such facts above, I was very lucky being able to meet one family inside the first temple that I visited. I had no idea that there would be 25 temples inside and the place was so huge with many courtyards, passageways, and corridors inside. If I had to visit the place alone, I would surely get lost!!! The two young children were able to converse in English too. They were guiding me and asking me to follow them along! Phew..... my lucky day!!! :)

Interior courtyard at Trongsa Dzong - Trongsa, Bhutan

There weren't many visitors too. In fact, we were the only one who visited the Lhakhang at that point of time. No other group.

Turning prayer wheels in front of the Lhakhang at Trongsa Dzong - Trongsa, Bhutan

Some of the Lhakhang were locked and we couldn't find the caretaker. So we just had to miss it out.

Entrance to temple in Trongsa Dzong - Pretty similar with the one in Jakar Dzong

I think we only visited about 7-8 temples there, only those opened one.

Interior courtyard in Trongsa Dzong - Trongsa, Bhutan

It was also good that many were closed, otherwise my friends - Rupa and Ugyen - would have to wait for me longer :P

Glimpse of the administrative office inside Choetse Dzong - Trongsa, Bhutan

My friend was asking me if I visited Choetse Dzong and I had no idea where it was. Only after I read the information in Wikipedia, then I realized that Choetse Dzong was equal to administrative office in Trongsa Dzong. Therefore my friend, I had actually visited the place. But too bad, I only knew that you were working there, after my visit :)

Tea break treat by Ugyen :)

So, I finally came out from such a huge Dzong in one piece (the place was really too big for me). Sorry Rupa and Ugyen who had waited for me for so long. After the visit, we went to the Trongsa bus station, and had a tea break at one of the hotel nearby. Ugyen insisted paying for our momo and tea. Thank you Ugyen! After that, we bid ourselves goodbye. They had to go back as the road block time was reaching. I felt very sad when both of them leaving me. Not because of being alone, but because both of them had treated me very well during the past three days we were together. Thank you Rupa and Ugyen for everything you'd done for me. Thank you so much! :)

Finally meeting up with Luzee at Trongsa bus station :)

I was waiting near the big mani dzongkhar (prayer wheel) for Luzee to arrive. She, her sister (Drugyal), her niece (Lilly), and hired office driver (Wangdi) were coming all the way from Thimphu on that day and they would fetch me there. I was relieved and happy upon meeting them. I was worried if they faced long delay due to the road block and bad road condition on their way. Luckily everything went smoothly as per planned. We all drove all the way back to Bumthang, slept at Devi's house for a night and ready for our next journey, to the East of Bhutan!!! :)

Started our day with visiting Kurjey Lhakhang - Bumthang, Bhutan

Good morning!!! We started another new day! Our first destination was to visit Kurjey Lhakhang. It would be a good start for all of us to send our gratitude for our togetherness in this trip to east of Bhutan. May Buddha blessed us with safety, protection, and good health throughout our journey :)

Visit to Geog Administration Chhoekhor - Bumthang, Bhutan

For your information, this trip was semi-official trip for Luzee. She had to visit geog administration offices and community center in east part of Bhutan. We just followed her arrangement and enjoyed the view surrounding and had great photo session using our cameras while she was interviewing the staff there. This what was called "kill two birds with one stone":) The above was our first visit to Geog Administration Chhoekhor in Bumthang.

Peace of mind at Jambay Lhakhang - Bumthang, Bhutan

Since we departed early, we still had some time to visit Jambay Lhakhang. I felt incomplete whenever I visited only Kurjey or Jambay Lhakhang but not both. Luckily I was given a chance to visit this sacred temple, one of the oldest temple built in Bhutan. I felt that amazing feeling when visiting those old Lhakhangs :) Thank you SB for the good karma! It's my second visit there but this time, without finding Changa and Chudu inside :)

Blissful feeling at Mebar Tsho or Burning Lake - Bumthang, Bhutan

Before leaving Bumthang, we visited Mebar Tsho. That morning, the weather was extremely beautiful!!! It was my first time going down to see the Burning Lake from near. Usually it was wet and slippery. Felt so blessed with everything there!!! :)

Our tea break with Ura Valley in background :)

The journey continued. Wangdi chose the short cut way to reach Ura. This way, we saved an hour time to reach there. But the road was narrow and bumpy. We moved our butt all along the way but it was fun though hehe... We stopped for tea break looking at the Ura Valley from afar.

Beautiful view along the Bumthang-Ura Highway - Bhutan

From our tea break stop onward, we passed through the Thrumshingla National Park, then drove through the Bumthang-Ura Highway. Yalama!!! The view of the trees there, it mesmerized me!!! I couldn't stop looking outside the car window and wish to record all that view inside my memory and never to forget. I share with you some of the pictures here and let me know if you agree :)

Loved the trees so so so much!!!! I love Bhutan!!!

The fog, the trees, the shape and sizes, all combined together and made it perfect! Bumthang-Ura Highway - Bhutan

After that the sunny weather was slowly changed into drizzling rain and foggy. It made me sleepy. When I woke up, we were on the very narrow and winding road. The fog had become very thick. We could hardly watch the view in front of us. It was all surrounded by the white fogs. Everyone was awoken by then and quiet, and worried, and panic, and recite prayer inside the heart. Wangdi was confidently telling us not to worry, that he could see and move on. The rain was still pouring. We passed by few tall waterfalls but no way to stop but Drugyal told us that we would stop when returning back, when the weather was much better. By then, the road was still dangerously foggy.

In such situation, I was asking myself,"Why should I worry? Why don't I let the tension out and put my trust on the driver? If he could confidently drive, then nothing will happen to us. No matter how worry I am, I am not in control of the vehicle." And I too, recited prayer inside my heart, wish that we could pass this road safe and in once piece. At the same time, next to me, Luzee was murmuring her prayers, and it made me feeling so much better.

Entering Mongar District - Bhutan

After some time, we finally saw the clearer weather and our car slowly entered Mongar District - the place where maize was produced, dried, processed, and sold on the road side. We could see many huts where people stir their maize onto the giant pan. See the photo below :)

Removing the kernels from the dried corns - Mongar District, Bhutan

Drying it under the sun - Mongar District, Bhutan

Stirring the maize using giant pan - Mongar District, Bhutan

And finally selling it on the roadside - Mongar District, Bhutan

And here was one of the major buyers :P

Maize were one of the major crops cultivated in Bhutan, apart from rice. Taeng-ma or kharang was the term used for the dried bitten maize. It's sold 1 kg per packet. Usually people eat it as accompany for their tea during tea break. It's part of their culture.

Mongar Town - Bhutan

At 5 pm we entered in Mongar town. We were looking for the place where we would stay for a night. It's at Luzee's friend's house whom was away at that moment. So we stayed in her empty house but we had our dinner in another place and before that we went shopping for some stuffs in town area.

Mongar town - Bhutan

One of the items sold inside the shop - To shoo the other animals or most probably to shoo the person away from the field :D

Once done, we headed to Sithar (Lily's uncle) and Pema (his roommate)'s place for dinner. As usual, it was started with chang pa served with local brew ara or juices :)

Dinner at Sithar and Pema place :)

Sithar was the cook and he was a good cook. He cooked his niece favorite's dish - potato!!! The chicken curry was delicious too. We ate until so full then went back to MHSS - where we stayed - to have a rest and recharge our energy for our next day's trip!!! Hope you enjoyed following the trip la :)

Chhali Gewog, Mongar District - Bhutan

We departed at 8.30 am in the morning. We went to visit one Community Center (CC) in Chhali Gewog in Mongar District. We saw the red yellow signboard on the main road below and follow the only one way up to the village (usually to indicate the government building location). The CC location was really far, up high in the mountain.

Paddy plantation at Chhali Gewog - Mongar, Bhutan

Maize plantation all over Chhali Gewog - Mongar, Bhutan

As we drove through the winding road, what we saw on our left and right side were mostly rice and maize plantation with fruit trees such as: orange, mango, banana, and papaya. The view was very beautiful. I couldn't stop enjoy the greenery and some Bhutanese villagers' houses in between.

Typical Bhutanese farmer house in Chhali Gewog - Mongar, Bhutan

A simple Mani Dzongkhar in Chhali Gewog - Mongar, Bhutan

Busy farming in Chhali Gewog - Mongar, Bhutan

We almost thought we were on the wrong way since after so far, we still couldn't find the CC. There were many people seen too as they were all busy farming. But after a while, we finally saw a more proper government building and yes, that was the place!!! We felt so relieved because otherwise we had to walk all the way down and find the right place again :)

Small Buddha's Eye Chorten in Chhali Gewog - Mongar, Bhutan

Butterfly 1 :)

Butterfly 2 :)

Butterfly 3 :)

Butterfly 4 :)

While Luzee was busy doing her work, the rest of us visited the Chorten just nearby the area. There were many beautiful butterflies flying from one flower to another. Lilly and I were busy taking photos as we didn't want to let the beautiful moment passing by :) We were so lucky having such visual treat so early in the morning. Thanks for the beautiful nature that you offered to us la! :)

Things to do during road block :)

At 11 am we left the place and headed to Khoma at Lhuentse District. On our way, we faced a road block. While waiting, there were few things we could do though, such as the following:

1. Stretch our body and walk to the nearby road block area. In this case, Lilly and I walked to the bridge nearby :)
2. Drink tea (if you bring it from home) and eat some snack (I had my Parle-G mini on my bag)
3. Eat your packed lunch (depending on the time of the road block)
4. Write journal (great time to write - highly recommended!!! :D)
5. Take photo of the beautiful surrounding, if not, selfie!!! :P

JUMPPP!!!! :D

6. And if you had too much energy, you could also practice jumping photo wherever you are (like what I did in above picture) :P

Hope the above suggestions would be useful for you! :)

Big bee hives found on our way to Lhuentse, Bhutan

Once the road block was opened, we continued our journey :)

Lunch break at Khoma bridge - Lhuentse, Bhutan

At about 1 pm we reached at the Khoma bridge in Lhuentse District. We stopped and had our packed lunch there while enjoying the beautiful view in our surrounding area.

View of Lhuentse Dzong from Khoma Bridge - Lhuentse, Bhutan

Chorten at the end of the Khoma bridge - Lhuentse, Bhutan

Beautiful Khoma bridge - Lhuentse, Bhutan

After lunch, we had a little walk crossing over the bridge and enjoyed the breeze and river view below it :) Felt like in heaven!!! ^^

Cremation ground at Khoma - Lhuentse, Bhutan

There was a cremation ground in nearby area. Luzee said it was a good place to cremate the death one. She conveyed her prayers every time we passed by the area.

My sketch in Kishutara as drawn by Au Kinzang Tshering :)

Lhuentse was the ancestral home of Bhutan King and there were many sacred sites of pilgrimage around the area. It was famous for Kishuthara, especially from Khoma village, the weaved textile done by Kurtop women. It was considered the best source of Kishutara in the country. It's also famous for its ara (local brew alcohol made of maize or rice, often fermented or distilled, white in colour). Eastern Bhutanese were also known to consume high level of alcohol, More often or not, they developed their drinking habit even since a very young age.

Khoma - Lhuentse, Bhutan

Visit to Khoma Gewog Community Center - Lhuentse, Bhutan

We visited Khoma CC there. After Luzee finished interviewing the staff, his wife came and brought few Kishutara Kira and table clothes. She showed it to us and asked us to see if we were interested to buy. The Kira didn't come cheap. I forgot the price she asked for it, but I think it would be around Nu 60,000? That was because the size and complication of the color and design of it. The table clothes were much cheaper though. A pair of each design cost about Nu 1,000 to 1,200. Luzee and I bought one pair each. We cut it into two and got one design each :) I was so happy to get that souvenir back home. It was not only beautiful but represented the hard work and dedication of the maker. And the price was definitely much cheaper compare if it was sold at handicraft shop in Thimphu :)

Inspiration from two kids at Gangzur Gewog - Lhuentse, Bhutan

We moved to another CC. This time was in Gangzur Gewog. The place was beautiful as there were many sunflower plants around the area. And the two children above inspired me to create that positive quote as per photo above :)

Happiness is when you are able to give and receive :)

And the photo above, was another one. I submitted to the Happiness Bhutan Photo Campaign, however, it wasn't approved by the Management. But still, I can share it here hehehe... :)

It was actually started with one kid who loitering around the CC. As I had a sweet, I gave her one. Immediately she brought another friend with her, but I had run out of sweet. Lilly remembered that she bought few sweets the day before. So she went to the car and took it. The above was the moment when she passed the sweet to this little girl. See how the little girl accepted the sweet? With her both hands and her head was slightly bowing down. It was so touching and sweet gestures, at least for me. It showed her gratitude and appreciation, although it was only a sweet. While the first picture, was after they both received the sweets. They were very happy and played around with the pipes located nearby. When they were tired, they just lied down on the grass between the pipe. They chit chatted among themselves and enjoyed their sweets. Weren't they sweet? That's how simple happiness could be found around us :)

Lhuentse town - Bhutan

Once done, we moved on. This time we went to Lhuentse town. A very small town. There, Luzee bought quite a few of handmade clay pot as shown in the photo above. She said, people would feel their food cooked better and tasted nicer when using this clay pot, especially when you cooked ema datshi (chili with cheese). It was cheap too, sold at Nu 200 each. She also bought many dried fish there as gifts for people that we're going to visit. Inside the shop, they sold their famous Gho and Kira clothes. The shop seller could weave during their free time just inside their shop. Nice ah? :)

Lhuentse Dzong - Bhutan

In front of Lhuentse Dzong - Bhutan

As our time was limited, we only took picture in front of the Lhuentse Dzong, as a souvenir :) Maybe one day I'd visit the place again ba, if fate permitted :)

Paddy field in Tangmachu Village - Lhuentse, Bhutan

People worked at paddy field in Tangmachu Village - Lhuentse, Bhutan

Bakhar Lhakhang at Tangmachu - Lhuentse, Bhutan

From there we continued our journey to Tangmachu Village. We visited Bakhar Lhakhang, a small sacred Lhakhang where there was an imprint body of Guru Rinpoche. He was passing by this area and meditated there. Khenpo (Head of Monk) who was in charge there was Drugyal's brother-in-law. So when we went there, she helped him buying some stuffs required for the monastery. We were received in his room then we visited the temple to convey our prayer. After that we went to Drugyal's other brother-in-law's house and we stayed there for a night.

Stayed at Tangmachu Village - Lhuentse, Bhutan

We stayed in a traditional village house. It was beautiful la. They said they also received tourists to have home-stay there, to let them feel how it was to live inside the Bhutanese house. They cooked various food and served us ara cooked with egg for dinner. It was delicious.

Tradition in Tangmachu Village - Lhuentse, Bhutan

After dinner Luzee asked me to go down to their living room. When I reached there, many people gathered there. They were the house owner's sisters, mother, nieces, and nephews. They took out a pair of bangchung (bamboo woven bowl) - see the photo above - filled with rice and maize. Once you collected the items and emptied the bangchung out, you had to fill them up with money as an exchange. That was the tradition of villagers in east of Bhutan.

One pair of bangchung was given by one family and each guest would receive one. I didn't know how it worked and I didn't know how much should it be given. And when I came, they already did the exchange, and I wasn't quite get it. Now I felt a bit guilty for giving less money :P Drugyal told me that villagers would be happy when there were guests coming to their village and would offer their produces to them. They were actually not expecting in return but I guessed, that how the tradition worked. Especially if the guests were family members. Lots of time they would give ara too and ask you to drink together with them. Luckily no ara was seen that night. And that was why many people who moved to city would be reluctant to go back to village often as they would expect this during their stay back in village, which meant they had to prepare lots of money for the exchange of the goods received. It could be a non-stop event as all villagers would come to where you stay, be it in the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Interesting, wasn't it?

I was quite tired already and went to sleep after that. It's been a long day and we sat inside the car a lot. But we went to many places and enjoyed the great view surrounding us. So it was all worth it. Many pictures I put in this post too. Hope you won't get bored reading it :)

Beautiful morning at Tangmachu Village - Lhuentse, Bhutan

We started our day by going to Bakhar Lhakhang. We had a morning walk departing from home at 7 am. It was a cold and foggy morning, peaceful and serene. Only three of us - Luzee, Lilly, and I. We had our morning prayer inside the temple then walked back. Good exercise :)

Breakfast time - Tangmachu Village - Lhuentse, Bhutan

When we returned home, we were called for breakfast. I was amazed looking at the packed lunch prepared by the house owners - see the photo above (below). The packed lunch had been prepared for us. The orange wrapped Tupperware was rice, while the veggie curries were inside the yellow-green bamboo basket. I was told that Bhutanese usually treated their guests to their very best, to the extent not only provided them with bed and meals, but also helped up in preparing their packed lunch. And even, prepared some gifts to be brought back home.

The vertical wrapped colorful clothes (rice), few covered bangchungs (maize and/or zaw - puffed rice), and transparent bottles (local brewed ara) were actually their gifts for Drugyal and Luzee as to bid them goodbye. They presented us with those only after we finished our breakfast. The owner's brother came to see Drugyal and brought such gifts for her too.

I was very touched with their warmth hospitality to all of us and I think that was what made Bhutan a GNH country. And as a gratitude, usually the guests would pass them some money back. "Give and take" was something that lived within their culture :)

The Biggest Guru Rinpoche Statue in Bhutan - Takila, Bhutan

From there, we went up to Takila to a place where the biggest Guru Rinpoche or also called Guru Padmasambhava statue in the form of Guru Nangsi Zilnoen was located.

The sample model of the Guru Rinpoche statue - Takila, Bhutan

"The statue is 173 feet in height including a 40-feet-tall Lion Throne and a 19-feet-high Lotus seat (Pema). The exterior edifice will be built in bronze as the basic structural material with all the intricate individual laminates exquisitely and laboriously hand shaped and fixed into place. The face measures 14-feet in length made with bronze coating in precious 9999 stamped pure gold." - Source: Druk Odiyana Foundation

With Mr Kunzang Tobgay and Khenpo with Guru Rinpoche Statue at Takila, Bhutan

The construction project for building this statue was started in February 2008. It was conceptually designed by the Venerable Khenpo Karpo Rinpoche and it was projected to complete by November 2015. H.H. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and H.H. Dudjom Yangsi Rinpoche performed consecration ceremony in September 2013. It was built to bring peace, harmony, and prosperity to the world as prophesied by Lord Buddha and Great Dzongchen masters and terton.

I was indeed very lucky being able to go to this place. I guess it was due to karmic connection with Guru Rinpoche in my previous life. After watching the video above, I realized that I'd visited many Lhakhangs and places all over Bhutan that related to Guru Rinpoche, such as: Kurjey Lhakhang, Jambay Lhakhang, Mebar Tsho, Paro Taktsang, Kyichu Lhakhang, Gom Khora, Bakhar Lhakang, and now, this precious giant Guru Rinpoche statue temple in Takila,

PS: If you can't open the video above, you can click here to watch the video. Don't forget to switch on the subtitles if you want to have English translation :)

Work-in-progress inside the Guru Rinpoche statue temple - Takila, Bhutan

And by being there, inside the main temple, I indeed felt very blessed. The interior was big. There were seven exquisite major Buddha statues inside the first floor main monastery of Nirmanakaya Buddha. Guru Ngadrama (Looks Like Me) was in the middle. The history said that the Guru Ngadrama statue was built by Guru Rinpoche himself at Samye Monastery in Tibet. But it was destroyed and only a single picture preserved. Therefore, based on the remaining picture, the Venerable Khenpo Karpo Rinpoche built it so far as the only duplicate of the famous Guru Ngardrama statue. On His right hand side was the "Khenchen Bodhisatva", while on His left hand side was Tibetan King "Trisong Deutsen".

We had a chance to go to second floor (Shambogakaya) and third floor (Dharmagaya). Both floors were not completed yet. The mandala was built at the second floor (photo above in the middle).

The monk's resident and Buddhist University were still under construction - Takila, Bhutan

Druk Odiyana Foundation planned to build the back light of 190 feet in height (equal to 19 storey building) and 118 feet in width with an umbrella at the top of the Guru statue. All the elements and ornaments would be men-made by Nepalese carving artist. The above photo was the undergoing construction of monk's residential and Buddhist Univeristy. Both were also projected to finish by November this year. If you are interested to know more about the project and would like to make donation for this project, please read more information here.

Thank you SB for the good karma that all of us were able to visit this place. Thank you to Luzee too who arranged our visit to this precious temple. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! :)

I'm thankful and blessed!!! :)

From there we drove back to Mongar to have our packed lunch there at Drugyal's best friend's house (Ugyen). They hadn't met for quite some time. Btw, her friend's wife was Ugyen Panday's (the Bhutanese famous singer) eldest sister hehehe... I wished he was there too though lol... :P

Thank you Ugyen and Sonam for receiving us there and fyi, your coffee was the best coffee I drank in Bhutan. The proportion was so perfect and it went well with the cracker biscuits that you served ;) The packed lunch was prepared by Drugyal's brother-in-law and his wife and it was all vegetarian. Thank you, thank you, and thank you for your time and effort in preparing that for us!!! :)

On our way to Trashigang - Frogs stones (big and small frogs) - Bhutan

At 1.30 pm we left their house and visited one CC at Ngatshang Gewog, Mongar. After that we continued our journey to Trashigang.

Trashigang town - Bhutan

We reached the Trashigang town at 4.30pm. We stopped and browsed the town for a while.

Evening tea break at pastry shop in Trashigang town, Bhutan

We had our evening tea break at one pastry shop nearby there. A piece of cake with a cup of tea :)

Delicious Momo break :) - Trashigang, Bhutan

We didn't stay long in the town as we still had to go to other place. So we continued our journey. However, when passing by the junction above, we saw a place where many food were sold. Drugyal was looking for momo earlier but couldn't find. So when she knew this place sold momo, we decided to stop and buy hehehe.... Drugyal and I had our beef momo, while Lilly ate two plates of cheese momo. Ooppss....!!! :P It showed how delicious the momo was!!! ;)

Main gate to Sherubtse College - Kanglung, Bhutan

Only then we continued our journey. This time, it was my wishlist - to visit Sherubtse College in Kanglung :) It took us about an hour to reach. We reached at 6 pm and the sky was still quite bright.

Yayy!!! Mission accomplished!!! Finally I visited Sherubtse College in Kanglung, Bhutan :)

Sherubtse, meant"Peak of Learning", was the first accredited college in Bhutan. It was founded in 1966 under the leadership of Rev. Father William Mackey. Read more about its history here.

Sherubtse College - Kanglung, Bhutan

Most Bhutanese in early years was studying here as there weren't many choices of school back then. Many of my Bhutanese friends were graduated here - including Luzee - and many were still studying there :)

Our visitation to Mother Peters Hall at Sherubtse College - Kanglung, Bhutan

While browsing, we visited one girl's hostel called Mother Peters Hall.Luzee and Drugyal visited their toilet and I pitied the condition of the toilet though. The broken mirrors were scattered here and there. Outside each room was quite dirty too. Seemed like it wasn't maintained well. I was wondering how the students managed to stay throughout their year there :D

Around Sherubtse College - Kanglung, Bhutan

What made me want to visit this place was because I was curious and also I read the book by Jamie Zeppa - "Beyond the Sky and Earth: A Journey into Bhutan" - before. I wanted to see how the place looked like in real life where many students spent their younger years here - full of fun, madness, happiness, falling-in-love feelings, brokenhearted, anger, stress, and even sadness.

Outside the Sherubtse College Library - Kanglung, Bhutan

So since I traveled to east this time, I requested Luzee to drop by this place and thank you Luzee for granting my wish :)

One last photo with the inoperative clock at Sherubtse College - Kanglung, Bhutan

Uuhhhh... I hadn't even visited my own college after so long graduated from there but yet, I visited many other Bhutanese colleges in Bhutan. Lol... I still wished for that day to come... One day... yeah one day... wish me luck!!! :)

Another gate to Sherubtse College - Kanglung, Bhutan

We left the college after an hour time as we had to find the place to stay. Luzee had already informed her relative that we were going to stay there for a night, however, she couldn't remember the location well. And we had to walk a distance to reach the village from the road.

Beautiful sunset sky - Kanglung, Bhutan

Evening view near Sherubtse College - Kanglung, Bhutan

After contacting few times, we finally met the two children who led us to where they stayed.

Bhutanese village house in Kanglung, Bhutan

We brought only necessary thing there as we had to walk a distance before reaching the house. We stayed at a simple Bhutanese village two-storey house with maize and other plantation were grown nearby. The house, kitchen, and toilet were built separately just like many other village did. We all stayed inside the living room, a cozy and warm place decorated with many colorful King and Queen, Buddha, other Gods, deities, and family pictures on the wall.

Separate kitchen in Bhutanese village - Kanglung, Bhutan

The kitchen was just at the opposite of the house. It was small, simple, and they still used wood to cook.We had dinner - Shakampa (dried beef with chilli) and rice - cooked by the granddaughter whose name was Kinzang, currently a student in Sherubtse College - pretty, sweet, demure, and soft spoken :)

Outdoor toilet - Kanglung, Bhutan

The toilet was about 10-meter distance from the house and it was among the maize plantation. Good thing that the water was linked by the pipe so we didn't have to carry our own pail there. At night Lilly and I had an opened air bathing session just behind the kitchen, using hot boiled water mixed with cold water that came from the tap. Under the gazing stars we both faced the other way around, laughing excitingly and trying to finish bathing as soon as possible. It would be unforgettable moment especially for Lilly, who had her first time bathing under the stars :D But that was the simplicity of village life. Not many people were lucky enough having such opportunity. At least, it was my second time experience :D

Another long and satisfied journey we had today!!! Soon after, we all fell asleep and recharged our energy for the next day's itinerary! :)

Gom Kora or Gomphu Kora - Chazam, Bhutan

We left Kanglung at 7 am and reached our first destination - Gom or rightly named Gomphu Kora (Gomphu means meditation cave and Kora means circumambulation) at about 9 am. It was located 13 km north of Chazam along the Mongar-Trashigang-Trashiyangtse road. It was one of the temples where Guru Rinpoche doing his meditation and left his body print on to the rock.

Gom Kora - Chazam, Bhutan

It was such a picturesque temple below the road, surrounded by the lush greenery beside the Dangmechu river.

Gom Kora - Chazam, Bhutan

We circumambulated the temple while waited for the caretaker to come and open the door. He only came a while later after Luzee desperately looked for them. The monk was finally came and opened the door for us.

"The central figure in the temple is Guru Rinpoche. To the right is Chenresig, in his 1000-armed aspect. To the far right is an image of the snake demon Gangan Yonga Choephel, who holds a golden mirror in his right hand. The wall murals to the far right are believed to date from the 15th century.

There are numerous sacred objects locked in a glass cabinet that either miraculously appeared here or were brought by the Guru. The largest item is a garuda egg, which is very heavy, perfectly shaped, egglike stone. Other relics include the traditional boot print of the Guru, the footprint of his consort Yeshe Tshogyal (aged eight), the hoof print of Guru Rinpoche's horse and a phallus-shaped rock belonging to Pema Lingpa." - Source: Lonely Planet.

The area behind the goemba where Guru Rinpoche meditated and subdued the demon - Gom Kora at Chazam, Bhutan

"Behind the goemba is a fantastical large black rock. It is said that Guru Rinpoche was meditating in a small cave near the bottom of the rock when a demon in the shape of a cobra suddenly appeared. The Guru, alarmed, stood up quickly leaving the impression of his pointed hat at the top of the cave and then transformed himself into a garuda, leaving the imprint of his wings nearby. The Guru then made an agreement with the demon to stay away until the end of his meditation. The contract was sealed with thumb prints, which are still visible on the rock. The serpent also left a light-colored print, with his hood at the top of the rock.

A small sin-testing passageway leads from the cave to an exit to the side of the rock - one successful participant reported that you must indeed move like a snake to get through the cave. Visitors also test their sin levels and rock-climbing skills by trying to climb up the side of the rock (the 'stairway of the dakinis' - female celestial beings) - only the virtuous can make it. On certain auspicious days, holy water, believed to be the Guru's nectar of immortality, flows down from a crevice in the rock and pilgrims line up to spoon it into bottles. You may also see childless women carrying a hefty holy stone around the kora path to boost their chances of conceiving." - Source: Lonely Planet.

PS: When we were there, the monk went around with us and explained the whole story in Dzongkha. Luzee tried her best to explain to me, however, I caught some piece and puzzle from it. Therefore, I took the words from Lonely Planet to share the story described by the monk about the things there :)

Ashtamangala or the 8 auspicious symbols and Vajra (thunderbolts) at Gom Kora - Chazam, Bhutan

Again, I felt blessed and grateful for being able to visit this sacred temple as the site was believed to have been blessed with infinite prayers and virtues by the Guru and those visiting the site today were believed to gain indefinite merit :)

There was even a song lyrics,"Thinong korni korba lai sholaya namning korni tongpa lai sholaya,"composed by Jigme Drukpa - a popular Bhutanese singer and composer who composed the song when he was in second year studying in Sherubtse College at Kanglung - which meant, "Go around (circumambulate) Gomphu Kora today for tomorrow may be too late (or useless)," as to entice devotees - especially girls - to visit the place :D It's said that the song was very famous in the late 1980s. People used to sing it irrespective of age and gender, especially in the presence of girls ^^

PS: Lyrics were given by Au Kinzang Tshering as the explanation was contributed by my friend who came from Trashiyangtse,Karma Drupchuk. I even had the song sung by Kipchu's friend, sent through my What's App :D Kadinche-la all for your inputs :)

And during Gomphu Kora Festival - usually held in early spring - it was believed that this was also an occasion for people to choose their spouse during circumambulation, which led to many marriages. So if you were single and had a chance to visit Bhutan in early year, you might want to join in the festival and who knows you would be able to get marry there with Bhutanese or Indian who came from Arunachal Pradesh :D

Bath tub of Guru Rinpoche - Dangmechu River, Bhutan

As we left the Gom Kora, we drove along the Dangmechu river. Suddenly Wangdi stopped the car and showed us the wooden thing beside the river as shown at the above picture. He told us that this thing used to be the bath tub of Guru Rinpoche. How true was it? I had no idea... :) We continued our journey by visiting one CC at Bumdeling Gewog, had our packed lunch there, and finally we visited the famous Chorten Kora in Trashiyangtse :)

Chorten Kora - Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

Whenever I told my friend that I planned to go to Trashiyangtse, they always advised me to visit this beautiful place. Chorten Kora was located next to the Kulong Chu river. It was built in 18th century by Lama Ngawang Loday (the nephew of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal) in order to subdue a harmful demon believed to have been living at the site.

The stupa was modeled after the famous Boudhanath Stupa and it took 12 years to complete. Lama Ngawang Loday went to Nepal himself and brought back a model of Boudhanath Stupa carved in a radish. He copied the shape and built it there so people could visit this place instead of making a long trip to Nepal. However, if you noticed, the Chorten Kora was so much smaller and slimmer compared with the original Boudhanath Stupa as the radish had shrunk during the trip back to Bhutan and therefore, distorted the craving.

Back part of the Chorten Kora - Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

Posed together with local devotee at Chorten Kora - Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

The temple behind the Chorten Kora - Trashiyangtse - Bhutan

The door was locked so we could only cicumambulate the area while turning the wheel prayers surround it. At the back there was a temple. It was believed that when the stupa was built, a pious Dakini Princess from Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh in India, entombed or buried herself alive and meditated on behalf of all beings.

Circumambulate around the Chorten Kora - Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

Another dream came true - Visited Chorten Kora in Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

It was such a beautiful place. Now I understood why everyone recommended me to visit this place. And all of us were blessed with good karma for being able to visit this place safely and happily. See how happy we were from the photo above!!! ;)

Trashiyangtse Chorten Kora Town - Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

After that we went to Trashiyangtse town. Initially we planned to stay overnight there but we didn't know anyone there and we had to stay at hotel. However, after asking the hotel fare, Luzee thought that it would be better for us to travel back to Mongar and stay at Sithar and Pema's place for a night. We were not only saving money from paying the hotel rate, but also saving our time so the next day we wouldn't have to travel so long when returning back to Bumthang.

Wood lacquered production from Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

So before leaving this town, we went to the shop that specialized in selling wood (lacquered) products - famous product or souvenir from Trashiyangtse. I bought myself 4 pcs of wooden wine glasses from that shop as I saw it before at the Bumthang cheese and wine shop at Batpalathang as a souvenir since I myself loved to drink wine occasionally while Luzee and Drugyal bought ara bowl for themselves :) And after this, we finally left the place and drove back all the way to Mongar.

Picturesque mountain view from Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

Jamkhardang Waterfall - Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

Beautiful rainbow over the mountains - on our way back to Mongar from Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

Beautiful horse on our way to Mongar - Bhutan

On our way, we stopped at the Jamkhardang Waterfall for a while and enjoyed the rest of our journey with many other picturesque views. Again we were lucky to see the rainbow over the mountains :) However, it started raining soon and to add in the drama, one of our car tyres was deflated and our car fuel was left quite minimum. Wangdi had no choice but to change the tyre under the rain - luckily before sky turned into dark and he had to drive as soon as possible to reach Mongar town. Thank Buddha we reached Mongar before the fuel had become empty and safely. We stopped by at the general store to purchase ingredients for our dinner then headed to Sithar and Pema's house.

Dinner at Sithar and Pema house for second time - Mongar, Bhutan

We were all tired from a long drive and visiting but felt relieved at the same time that we were finally able to settle down at their house for a night. Tired from eating rice, chili, and cheese, they decided to cook pasta with tomato sauce for dinner. Pema offered ara for us to drink, however, Luzee and I chose to have Takin wine that night and we used the wine glass that I just bought as the celebration hehehe...

As changpa, Luzee and I ate mango with wine while Pema ate banana with his ara hahaha.. Drugyal was drinking ara too that night. We had a very relaxing dinner and celebrated our last night at east of Bhutan. Time was really flying, wasn't it?? That day too signified my half journey in Bhutan. Wow!!! Without realizing, I'd left home for half month's time. I wrote few post cards for family and friends back home before taking a good sleep after a hearty dinner and conversation (over few half-glass of wines) :P Thank you SB for your protection that we had all our journey smooth and sound! We visited all places that we wanted to visit in east Bhutan. Thank you, thank you, and thank you la!!! :)

Keep Calm and Happy SG50 :)

Let me pause from my Bhutan memoir for a while :) It's a time to celebrate SG50 now!!! Yes, it's happening now!! Yesterday it was declared an additional holiday to make this weekend a very long holiday so that everyone would have a chance to celebrate the nation 50th Independence Day!!! Well, this made many others traveling overseas though instead of celebrating it in the country. Nevertheless, I had planned earlier to spend these precious time here, in Singapore, my home for almost 10 years!!! :)

Since this year was a special year to celebrate, there were many promotions offered especially to Singaporeans and Permanent Residents during this Jubilee weekend (7 to 10 September 2015). such as: free entry to various museums (incl ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands), heritage galleries, Science Centre Singapore (SCS), few attractions at Sentosa Island,, free entry to ActiveSG swimming pools and gyms islandwide, and so on. Clickhere for more details.

Queue for SG50 ArtScience Museum

My friend asked me if I wanted to join her and her friends to visit ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands. You know, it's usually expensive to visit such places even for us, Singaporean :D So, since it's free, why not?? Therefore, yesterday, after my friend queued for almost 3 hours (including under the rain), we finally entered the museum.

Singapore Stories @Artscience Museum - Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

We went up to Level 2 first to visit the Singapore Stories where it exhibited the footage from newspaper many years ago about how Singapore developed to what it was now - stories of its origin, adversity, failure, and triumph.

The Deep @Artscience Museum - Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

We moved to B2 to see the largest collection of over 40 abyssal creatures displayed for the first time in Southeast Asia.

Inside, they exhibited the life under the sea in different depth as per these zones:
- 150m to 600m - The Twilight of the Ocean
- 600m to 1000m - The Appearance of Color
- Beneath 1000m - Dive into the Extreme
- The Abyssal Plain - The Bottom of the Sea

Dreamworks Animation @Artscience Museum - Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

We moved on to the next exhibition - Dreamworks Animation. It offered an insightful look into the processes behind the on-screen art magic, such as; sketching/drawing, voice recording, and so on. It amazed me sometimes how creative human being could be!!!

Shrek posters sold at Artscience Museum Store - Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Those were the three main exhibitions available for the day. We were all happy that we could visit it all - and of course, when it's free :P

Singapore Botanic Garden SG50 Jubilee Weekend - 8 August 2015

Other than that, click here to check What's ON to occupy your long weekend with many activities available. Like today, we went for a picnic at Singapore Botanic Garden where there were few musical performance available at the Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage. It was super crowded!!! But it was greatly enjoyable!!! :)

Singapore Lyric Opera @Botanic Garden SG50 Jubilee Weekend

The first performance after I arrived was performed by Singapore Lyric Opera at 5.25 pm. There were 4 singers who sang beautifully with the musical troop playing at the background. Followed by The Sam Willows live music and live feed performance by Brass Nation Bandstandat 7.45 pm. If you want to know the schedule for tomorrow (9th August 2015) click here.

We had whole lot fun together!!! SG50 Jubilee Weekend @Singapore Botanic Garden :)

My Indonesian friends had planned the picnic ever since before I came back from Bhutan. They prepared some delicious food (even our Indonesian siomay), salad, sandwich, fruits, etc. They even came as early as 3 pm just to chop the place (to get the very best view) of the performance.

Watching live feed performance by Brass Nation @Singapore Botanic Garden

We stayed until the last live feed performance by Brass Nation. We sat or lie down comfortably on our mats, didn't feel like going back home. Home song by Kit Chan was played few times there. No matter how many times it was played, we didn't get bored. The chorus reminded us truly, where our home was...

This is home, truly...

where I know I must be

Where my dreams wait for me,

where the river always flow...

This is home, surely...

as my senses tell me

This is where I won't be alone,

for this is where I know it's home...

Happy 50th Birthday Singapore!!!

PS: My personal message ---

"Happy 50th National Day Singapore!!! I am not sure what my future will be but I know your future will be great. Although you are just a small little red dot on the world map, but you have grown gloriously and prosperously! Hope I can get some of your prosperity so that I can help more to those who are in needs, more than myself. Thank you for giving me a chance to become a part of your country! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! Not forgetting to thank all my dear friends here who arranged today's picnic and let me having so much fun listening to the musical performance. Thank you gals, not only for the food and fun time, but also for the friendship that you offered to me all this while! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! :)"

Mongar District, Bhutan

Our journey continued. From Mongar we traveled back to Bumthang. On the way there we passed by few places. Remember first day we came from Bumthang to Mongar? Read it herein case you missed or forgot the post :)

Cooking the dried maize on the giant pans - Mongar, Bhutan

Yeah, we passed by the village where maize was planted and taengma or kharang was sold and made on the roadside.

Mongar District, Bhutan

The view of the mountain during summer time in Bhutan never failed to mesmerize me :) It was all green. Light green, dark green, it was simply natural and beautiful!!!

Few waterfalls on the other side of the mountain - Approaching Namling, Bhutan

We stopped for our tea break and took few posts with various waterfalls on our background. It was beautiful, wasn't it?

Few tall waterfalls on our background - Approaching Namling, Bhutan

Most importantly, we were blessed with a very beautiful weather that afternoon. The fog and rain that we experienced before (when we went from Bumthang to Mongar) was all gone!!! Could you believe it??? :)

Beautiful waterfalls at Namling, Bhutan :)

Our jolly pictures :) at Namling Waterfall, Bhutan

We were sooo..... happy and grateful!!! :))) Otherwise we wouldn't be able to take such beautiful photos above and the memory was definitely priceless!!! ^^

Another beautiful waterfall at Namling, Bhutan

Summer time wild berries - Bhutan :)

After that, we sat back, relaxed, enjoyed the view outside our window, until we reached Shingkhar :) You can also do that now... :D

Beautiful greenery of Bhutan :)

I called it 'moustache tree' hehehe... - Bhutan :D

Beautiful view at Sengor, Bhutan

Sengor, Bhutan

My favorite varieties of pine trees in Bhutan :)

Beautiful mountain road - Bhutan

Great view for your lunch la!!! :) - Bhutan

Winding mountain road - enjoy it to the fullest!!! - Bhutan

Pine trees everywhere... Never get bored of it!!! :) - Bhutan

Foggy mountain - Bhutan

Simply beautiful!!! - Bhutan :)

Mysterious Bhutan :)

Among the fog - Bhutan

Beautiful Bhutan :)

I love Bhutan :)

Ohhh... let me tell you... the view there was so beautiful!!! Hours of journey like this had feed my thirst of nature! Soon after we entered into Ura Valley, Bumthang.

Entering Ura Valley, Bhutan

Prayer flags in Ura Valley, Bhutan

Beautiful Ura valley in Bhutan

Ura Makrong Village - Bhutan

Beautiful Ura Valley - Bhutan

The view was just marvelous!!! Ura Valley, Bhutan

8 km from the main road, you could find the traditional village of Shingkhar.

Colorful prayer flags - Reaching Shingkhar, Bhutan

Flying prayer flags - Shingkhar, Bhutan

Farmer's Storage House - Shingkhar, Bhutan

Rinchen Jugney Lhakhang up in hill - Shingkhar, Bhutan

We went up to the Lhakhang on top of the hill, called Drokri Rinchen Jugney Lhakhang. It was established by Nyingmapa master Longchen Rabjampa (1308-1364).

Rinchen Jugney Lhakhang from the outside - Shingkhar, Bhutan

Painting the entrance of the Rinchen Jugney Lhakhang - Shingkhar, Bhutan

Longchenpa statue inside the Rinchen Jugney Lhakhang - Shingkhar, Bhutan

Under construction - Rinchen Jugney Lhakhang from the inside - Shingkhar, Bhutan

It was under construction when we reached there but the statue of Longchenpa remained. It didn't deter us from praying and circumambulating the temple. After that we went down to Shingkhar Dechenling Lhakhang. It was located in the central of the village and it was also founded by Longchen Rabjampa.

Shingkhar Dechenling Lhakhang - Shingkhar, Bhutan

Entrance to Dechenling Lhakhang - Shingkhar, Bhutan

Wall mural in front of Dechenling Lhakhang - Shingkhar, Bhutan

Once entered into the main temple, you would see three gonkhang (chapels for the protective deities) on the left. While on the right, there would be an altar with the main statues - Buddhas of the Three Times (past, present, future) - and the paintings represent the tertons (great discoveres of religious treasure) surrounding the Guru Rinpoche, as well as the three fundamental teaching cycles of the Nyingmapa school and a beautiful depiction of Guru Rinpoche's paradise - the Zangto Pelri.

During the restoration of the temple in year 2000, they found a stone seat and it was considered to be the throne of Longchen Rabjam. A clay statue of the 14th century master was built over the throne . When we visited, the caretaker told us that they found the Pema Lingpa's hidden treasure in the middle of the temple, which was butter lamp, and now was stored there too.

This temple was looked after by the lineage holder family and lay practitioners (gomchens). It also served as temple for the Shingkhar community. (Detailed info source: buthanculturalatlas.org)

Evening tea break at Arya Zamlha Hotel and Bar - Bumthang, Bhutan

Before continued our journey, we stopped for a tea break at the above store. At the same time, Luzee bought some tea leaves and buckwheat flour there. Later on we went all the way back to Neela and Devi's house. We stayed there for a night and had our dinner there. Thank you SB for the beautiful weather, safe and timely journey, also the good karma to visit the two Lhakhang in Shingkhar!!! It's been a wonderful journey and the magnificent road along our journey was indeed a blessing!!! Bhutan was lucky to have such beautiful natures :) Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!!

PS: Dear readers, hope you enjoy all the photos above and be amazed with what Bhutan could offer you with :)

Finally I had to bid goodbye to Neela, Devi, Shrishtika, and Bumthang. I shook Neela's hand firmly and hugged Devi tightly. I was very emotional and sad to leave them again. This time, not knowing when and where would we ever meet again. I really thanked both of them for their hospitality, love and care they had given to me during my stay there, also for allowing us (with Luzee, Drugyal, and Lilly) to stay at her house in between our journey twice. My deep heartfelt gratitude for all of them. May Buddha bless all of them with good health and lots of happiness in the family! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! :)

Bye bye Bumthang :(

Busy morning for villagers - Bumthang, Bhutan

Beautiful horses :) - Bumthang, Bhutan

I was looking out through the car's window, enjoying the beautiful Bumthang view for the last time. I had gained lots of beautiful memories out of this place. It took a special place in my heart since two years ago when I first visited the place. All had become memories now, beautiful memory that filled my heart with so much gratitude and happiness. Beside me, Luzee was murmuring her prayers, wishing the above to grant us with safe journey...

Village's life - Bumthang, Bhutan

Bhutanese house and truck - Bumthang, Bhutan

My favorite view in Bhutan - Various pine trees!! :)

Ta Dzong and Trongsa Dzong from afar - Approaching Trongsa!

Side view of Ta Dzong and Trongsa Dzong :)

Selling local home made products such as curd, butter, and cheese on the roadside - Bhutan

Young boy selling cheese on the roadside :)

It was common to see Bhutanese selling their local homemade products on the roadside. Curd, butter, and cheese were the common one after we passed by Trongsa. Even kids were there helping up their parents or grandparents. My friend, Luzee, was full of compassion and a very kind-hearted woman. To me, she said that she bought them for her parents as they loved eating products that came from places outside Thimphu - fresh and village's taste.

But actually, her true intention was to make the seller happy by buying their products, sometimes, even when she didn't actually need it. She told me that she used to finish every single cent of her money just to buy things from the roadside seller. And sometimes too, she would just pass few Ngultrum when she saw a cute baby or kid on the road. That's what happiness for her :) Well done dear and keep up your good habits!!! :)

Lunch at Chendebji Chorten, Bhutan

We had our lunch at Chendebji (Buddha's eye) Chorten carpark. Weren't we having our packed lunch in style? Just behind the car right on the floor? :) Life was really simple there. Unlike here (Singapore), you would think of bringing any mat, finding clean and safe place with beautiful view, etc. Here, nobody bothered where you wanted to eat your packed lunch. It's just part of their daily activity. The food was simple too. Rice and two dishes. Since Luzee and Lilly were vegetarian, we had to follow their menu too, plus a flask of coffee or tea :) After lunch, we circumambulated the Chorten and continued our journey.

On our way to Wangdue Phodrang - Bhutan

Beautiful scenery - Bhutan :)

Chorten in the middle of the greenery - On our way to Wangdue, Bhutan

Prayer flags - Bhutan

Greenery - Bhutan

More greenery :) - Bhutan

Road block - Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan

Waiting... waiting... road block... Bhutan :)

We had to stop due to the road block. Luckily it didn't take us so much time to wait. I think we had to wait less than an hour. After the road block, guess what happened? We were very lucky to see the rainbow!!! And it wasn't only one, but two!!! :))))

Rainbow... Double rainbow!!! On our way to Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan :)))

Double rainbow!!! Lucky us!!!

My first time looking at double rainbow and it's at Bhutan! I'm blessed!!! :)

Lilly and I couldn't stop shouting excitingly at the double rainbow. Wangdi had to stop the car and let us taking photo with it. It was such a rare opportunity for us to see that! Indeed, we were blessed!!! It was my first time finding and looking at double rainbow in my whole entire life and I felt very very very lucky!!! Happiness overloaded!!! :)))

Reaching Wangdue, Bhutan

Reaching Bajo Town - Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan

So here we were!!! Reaching Bajo town and we straightly went to Dawa's house. We reached there at about 5 pm. He had agreed to let me stay at his place for a night, even rent a room opposite to his apartment. But since it was overcrowded there, I felt safe to stay within his apartment. So I told him to let me stay within his apartment and he had kindly let me occupying his room while he was sleeping in another room. Thank you Dawa!!! :)

Knight's Corner - Bajo Book Club - Bajo Town, Bhutan

Dadadada..... Here we were!! In aKnight's corner, the Bajo Book Club, I used to see it on his blog only, and now I could see it in real!! I couldn't believe it!!! :) I could even finally see his sketches there pasted on the wall. Three of them were my pictures hehehe.... I'd never dreamed of going to this place but I did!!! :D

Small blogger meetings at Bajo Town :)

Dawa was busy preparing dinner in his kitchen. Kipchu and Au Lingi came for the dinner too. We had Druk 11000 with chang pa (ordered from the restaurant downstairs) and chit chatted about many things. Dawa was trying to read Au Lingi and my personalities based on our signatures, ahem!! :D Later on, Kipchu and Au Lingi went back. I continued chatting with Dawa until quite late. There, I got to know more about him. Thank you Dawa for sharing and I really had great time talking with you. So, we took a rest and recharged our energy for the next day. The journey continued...

From my blog, I happened to know many Bhutanese bloggers - those who stayed in Bhutan and outside Bhutan. I knew them mostly by reading their blog posts. We managed to know each other better from the blog's comments that we left on the posts, and sometimes, from Facebook. It wasn't difficult to connect as we all shared the same passion of reading and writing.

After confirming my Bhutan trip I told some of my blogger friends about it. And since I rarely had a chance to visit Bhutan, I tried my best to use this opportunity to meet every one of them in real life. Since I had a month to spend, I tried to arrange my trips beforehand, by finding someone to travel together or arranging to meet them at their place, and so on.

So, one day I happened told Kipchu that I wanted to meet him, and if possible, stay in his village for 2 nights (I only knew a little bit from his blog post that he stayed in a village somewhere in Wangdue Phodrang). Only the night before, when I met him at Dawa's place, I was asking him more details about his village (where, how far, how to go, etc.) and also about his family members.

That morning Kipchu arranged a vehicle (driven by his cousin brother) to send me from Dawa's house at Bajo town to his village, called Uma Village, about 35 km distance from Bajo town. We went to his cousin brother's house first (which took us almost an hour to reach) by driving along the Punatsangchhu river through the Wangdue Phodrang - Tsirang highway.

Buddha's face shaped by the rocks at Wangdue Phodrang - Bhutan

On our way, just after we crossed the Wangdue bridge, Kipchu told me the location of the Buddha's face shaped by the rocks that Passu found last year August (read about his post here). Oh, I never dreamed that I finally saw it with my own eyes hehehe... :) He also briefed me a little bit about the Punatsangchhu Hydroelectric project that was located along the Punatsangchhu river, and showed me where the river flew and where the water would come out again, etc.

We stopped for a while at his cousin brother's house to pick his family members who also wanted to go up to the village to help up in paddy plantation (their house was just above where Kipchu stayed). The white Balero used lots of strength to go through the steep, narrow and stony road, the only path to reach the village above the mountain. Luckily the weather was good (no rain) so the road wasn't that muddy nor slippery.

It took us less than an hour to reach the nearest road that led to his house. We waited there for a while until his younger brother, Dorji, came to help us carrying our bags. There wasn't proper road to lead to his house. In fact, we even had to go through the paddy plantation side before reaching his two-storey typical Bhutanese villagers' house. The first storey was used for storage, second storey was their living place, and the top attic was used to keep the hay to feed the cattle.

Kipchu's beautiful mom :)

It took us about 10 to 15 minutes to reach there and when we entered, his mom was there in the kitchen awaiting for us. Ohhh... I was amazed to see how young and beautiful Kipchu's mother was!!! At age not yet reaching 50, she already had 4 grown up sons (the eldest was 25 years old, the youngest was 19 years old, and Kipchu was number two in the family). We exchanged smile and shook hands upon meeting each other. Too bad she couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Dzongkha. So most of the time, we both just exchanged smile while Kipchu would translate whatever conversation we both wanted to say.

Kipchu's lovely grandma or usually called 'Angay' :)

We reached when it was lunch time. His mother and grandmother (Angay) were just coming back from work to have their lunch. I had it later on as I was still quite full as I had my breakfast late. But she gave me a cup of hot fresh milk (probably just squeezed from their cow earlier that morning) as a welcome drink, poured in a new-looked porcelain China cup completed with its cover that I suspected they just bought it for me to use :D Kipchu told me that his mom always served him that too when he reached home from India :)

My simple yet delicious and fulfilling lunch :)

We had our lunch at about 2 pm. While resting Kipchu told me more about his family members detail. To be honest, I didn't know much about them before. So while I was there, he tried to feed me with so many information about his family background and details, which I appreciated it very much so I could know about him and his family better while staying there.

Paddy's plantation - some belonged to Kipchu's family - Uma Village, Bhutan

I think we went at a little bit wrong timing as it was their busiest time doing the paddy cultivation. Kipchu was supposed to help his mom and brothers. But because of my visit, he had beed spared from his duty for 2 days time. I felt a bit guilty but they were very understanding (I hoped) hehe... He also explained to me the process of planting the paddy. However, I couldn't remember the step in details. If you wanted to roughly know the process, please click here :D

Kipchu's mom was doing paddy transplantation or cham tsu nyi in her field :)

Posing with a strong and diligent woman - Kipchu's mom :)

After lunch Kipchu brought me around their paddy fields. There, we visited his mom and brothers.

Kipchu and his brothers :) - Uma Village, Bhutan

Kipchu and his three handsome brothers hehehe.... :D

The paddy fields - Uma Village, Bhutan

After a while, we walked back home. We sat outdoor and chitchatted about many things, especially about life, until the rain poured down wetting the lands. While the rests continued with their cultivation (by wearing big transparent plastic on their backs), both of us went up inside the house. I was sitting there facing outside the window while Kipchu made a cup of hot tea back in the kitchen.

It was quiet and serene. The rain drop sound was what we all heard. Kipchu took out his laptop and showed me some of his writings. I browsed into it quickly, then we discussed about it until sky turned dark. He kept his laptop and started preparing dinner (since all the family members were busy working in the field, he would be the one in charge of preparing food at home. Oh, btw, he was single and available. If you're interested, just to let you know that he's good and experienced in cooking hehehe... :P).

Preparing bangchang for me and grandma :)

Once his mom came back home, she prepared bangchang or fermented wheat for me and his grandma. She made it beforehand and then added it with hot water, crushed it and strained it using the bamboo strainer as per shown in the photo above. Grandma was sleeping after drinking that while waiting for dinner hahaha... I envied her... I was sleepy too but I couldn't sleep la :P

Dinner time - Kipchu and his families :)

So I decided to wash my face and when I returned, they were already in their sitting formation, ready to have a dinner. Menu for our dinner was bean with ema datshi (chili with cheese) and sikkam pha (dried pork) cut in small size with potato, onion and cheese :D Apart from that, Kipchu also prepared a bowl filled with fresh cucumber, onion and tomato - Indian style - since he knew I liked eating that. Thank you la! :)

Me and Kipchu's family was finally ready for dinner :)

Before started eating, I requested them to take photo, so I could keep this memory, that moment with me for a long time :) They were watching TV while eating. Only Kipchu talked with me. Apart from the language barrier, the two brothers were too shy to talk with me. Both of them were even talking very softly to each other, as if they were afraid I could hear them (as if I understood the language that they were using) hehehe.... No la, I guessed, they were just being polite or maybe that was their way of speaking at home? :) Occasionally I could only hear Angay laughing hard and talking loud when there was something funny from the TV program. She was the only one who dared to laugh out and speak loud. Very cute Angay :)

Btw his eldest brother wasn't in the photo as he went to Lhakhang that night and stayed there for a night to make a butter lamp (he was the caretaker in one of the Lhakhangs in the village. Before that he used to become a monk and was educated inside the monastery).

After dinner, Kipchu had to wash the dishes outside. They didn't have tap water inside the house. The tap was separated outside and we had to walk downward to reach. If rained, it could become slippery. They only kept some jerry cans filled with water inside the house for washing the food and other things required for cooking.

Their toilet was also very traditional type and located outside, about 10 meters away from home. You had to bring torch light, sometimes umbrella (when it was raining), also make sure there was pail with water inside. If not, you had to fill it up and bring it inside (no water pipe connected to the toilet), still very manual. It was made of wood and covered using tarpaulin material (no solid door and wall). You had to walk on stones and grasses to reach there.

It's common to have this kind of toilet in Bhutan village. Similar with what you could usually find in rural area in China many years back. I had no choice but to go there every time I needed to pee la as Kipchu had so many brothers inside the house and no sister hahaha... So before entering the toilet, I had to take a deep breath and endured the smell until I had finished :D

So once I washed up and brushed my teeth after dinner, Kipchu showed me where I would sleep that night. He led me to the room and only me would stay there - well, sometimes with the cat :D While the rest would sleep in the living room. I was like... refusing that offer la. I told him, I didn't mind sleeping in the room, but at least, together with his mom and Angay. But they wouldn't sleep with me. They let me sleeping there alone, as I was their guest. Yalama... I felt paiseh lah! And they were already on their beds and in sleeping position by the time I returned. So no choice lo, I slept alone in the room with altar. Before sleeping, Kipchu chit chatted with me again until we both felt tired. He slept outside with the rest of his family. So that was my first day experience in his village. Thank you Kipchu for your kind acceptance to receive me as a guest in your house for few days and let me experience the real Bhutanese village life. Thank you, thank you, and thank you! :)

I was awaken by the sound of whispering words, the smell of burning wood that seeped in from room's window, and the sky that started to turn bright. I looked at the time from my mobile phone, it was 4.30 am in the morning. I peeked out from the window, it was drizzling outside. The weather was slightly cold and I had the urge to take a leak. I was arguing with myself, "Should I or shouldn't I?"After a while, I couldn't hold any longer, so I decided to go out of the room.

I walked out of the house and found my slippers full of small dead flies while the alive ones were still hovering around the yellow light bulb on top near the entrance door. I turned my slippers around, shook it out, let all the dead flies falling down and slipped my feet into it. With umbrella at one hand and mobile phone at another hand, I walked down the wooden stairs towards the toilet.

Kipchu's mom was cooking the food for the cattle using the firewood at the hut next to the house. Hhmm... that was where the smell of the burning wood coming from. She offered me a torch light upon seeing me but I showed her the mobile phone on my hand and smiled.

After finished, I went back to the room and continued sleeping hehehe.... :D At 6.30 am, the sky had turned really bright. Kipchu was found in the kitchen preparing the food for breakfast. He was picking and washing the green peas and soften up the dried mushroom. I was amazed by how he prepared his food passionately with love :) I went to the tap area to wash my face, brush my teeth, clean up, and also wash my hair. I felt clean and refresh now!! :)

My favorite window view from Kipchu's house :)

When returned, Kipchu offered me a cup of hot brewed tea. I sat down at my favorite place in the house, which was next to the window that facing to the tap area and paddy fields.

Zoomed in the view - tap water area and paddy field. See Kipchu's brothers there in the field?? :)

The weather was still cold that morning, a bit foggy too. Birds were seen settling down at tree branch nearby and then flying to the other. The wind 'wooshh...'and bird chirping were the only sound heard from the surrounding. I felt calm, serene, and peaceful.

For once, I lost my mind into my surrounding -"I wish I can stay there for few more days just to enjoy the calmness and peacefulness, cold weather, fresh air, and simple meal without having to do anything but sitting, reading and writing."

I took my travel journal and words were just flowing naturally and non-stop, describing the situation surrounding me, of what I felt :) So many thoughts were poured out from my mind - from what I heard, what I encountered, within that short period of time.

At 8 am we had breakfast together. Kipchu whipped out few dishes, such as: dried mushroom with cheese, bean with cheese, and green pea with chili and cheese. There, I noticed that no one ate other than the bean with cheese, as if he made the other two dishes (in smaller portion) only for me :) His brothers had curd (water after making the cheese) while I tried 'yoghurt' drink (water after making cheese and butter).

Kipchu's mom milked a cow :)

After breakfast, we went down to see how his mom milked the cow. He said she did that twice a day - once in morning and once in evening. Not bad, more than half a pail of milk was collected. She made cheese and butter using that milk. Kipchu washed the dishes then prepared lunch for his family members.

Beautiful view at Uma Village - Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan

At 11 am we left the house. It was drizzling so we had to open our umbrellas. The road had become muddy and very slippery. Despite bringing a stick at one hand, I still had to hold my hand on his to avoid falling down while climbing up or down the pathway. Once we reached motor-able road, the road had become much better and we could walk our way slowly.

Slowly enjoyed our time by walking around the Uma Village - Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan

We walked up to the direction where his primary school was located, But before reaching there, we stopped and took a break at the gazebo located just in front of the BHU (Basic Health Unit). The place was so quiet with only dogs were around. We chatted there while waiting for the rain to stop and fog to go away.

Suddenly, the health assistant who worked in the BHU appeared approaching us. He asked us few questions then invited us to come in for a cup of tea. Ohhh... that's what I loved staying in Bhutan. Bhutanese were generally friendly and hospitable. They could just chat few words then invite you for a cup of tea, although you didn't know them. Since we had nothing and the rain was still there, we agreed to his offer almost immediately.

He brought us around his working area and showed us the facilities available inside the building. No patient was seen. Only him and another person who took care of the place. We sat down in his office and had a further chit chat. We looked at the statistic board in front of us - the 5 years comparison figures on many different areas, e.g. no of condoms collected, no of HIV patient, etc., and discussed about it. In a while, tea and biscuits were served. Just nice, I felt a little bit hungry hehehe... :D

Uma Primary School at Uma Village - Wangdue Phodrang - Bhutan

After a while, we left the place and continued our walk to Uma Primary School. That's the school where Kipchu studied. We browsed the area and he showed me the classrooms, teacher and principal's quarter, etc.

Farmers' lunch time - Uma Village, Bhutan

Punatshangchhu river from Uma Village - Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan

Our road path - Uma Village, Bhutan

Kids playing together :)

View of Punatshangchhu river from Uma Khatey Village - Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan

From there, we continued our walk. This time we went to his aunt's house at Uma Khatey village (upper side). We reached there at 3 pm. We were served tea with zaw and biscuits when reaching the house. There were many of his relatives there inside the house.

Kipchu with his relatives inside the altar room at his aunt's house :)

I was browsing around the house after that. This house was much bigger as they had bigger family to stay. They even had a well-built toilet outside the house :D They had kindly served us lunch since we hadn't had our lunch yet, simple but delicious meal - rice with fried egg with chili and spring onion :) While eating, Kipchu chit chatted with them, talked about me too sometimes hehe... Thank you for your hospitality la! It helped us regaining our energy back. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!

Foggy view :)

Kipchu's view from the back :P

Me with the paddy fields background - Uma village, Bhutan :)

We went back home after that passing through the same route we took before. The fog had gone but the road was still muddy and I had problem when returning back to his house. I slipped and fell despite preventing from it badly... lol... But that was fine though, in fact, I enjoyed it, even laughed at it :P hahaha... In the end I had to remove my slippers and walked barefoot. Once reached home, I directly walked to the tap, cleaned up, washed my jacket, and changed my attires.

Changkey

The weather was still cooling. Before dinner, Kipchu's mom prepared Changkey (fermented rice), again, only for me and Angay :) It's very buttery taste and quite heavy. We had dinner together afterwards. After dinner, Kipchu and I chit chatted again until we were tired and went to sleep.

To tell you the truth, living in the village wasn't as easy as you imagined, at least for me :D First, the road condition. If that day, Kipchu's cousin brother didn't send us with his Balero, we would have taken public transport, like bus, from Bajo town to the nearest entrance road to his village along the Wangdue Phodrang - Tsirang highway, which took about an hour or more,

From there, we had to walk up for approximately another 1-2 hours through the mud, rough stones, paddy field's pathway, all was walking towards upward direction, and most probably under the scorching afternoon sun or the rain. That was what they usually do actually. For them, it had become a habit and there shouldn't be a big problem. But for me, it might become a nightmare hehe... Even when I had to walk from the motor-able road to his house, that had already been a challenge for me :D

Second, was the toilet. I had been growing up and staying mostly at city with room that was usually equipped with toilet and water tap facility, even if I had to share with others. But back in the village, they offered the very basic facility, and as I had mentioned in my previous blog post, the toilet was separated and there was no water tap inside the house. They didn't have bathroom too.

So, if we had to wash, we had to walk downward for a distance (which could be slippery during rainy day), and dark during night time. If we wanted to have a bath, they had to boil the water using the firewood, which took quite some time, and take it outdoor (under the moon and the stars) near the toilet side. That also, had to be done at night or much early in the morning when no one was watching and everybody was still asleep. Imagine when it came to winter time!!! Well, maybe it wouldn't be as cold as other city like Thimphu, but still... it wouldn't be good for the bone in the long run if you took bath openly at cold temperature.

Third, insects. Few insects that we often encountered at home in city area were usually mosquito, ant, fly, cockroach, rat,and lizard. In Bhutan village, depending on the area and season, they had many moth seeping and flying through the window. That night, while standing near the kitchen area, I was shocked by the big and black color beetle falling from the ceiling, not only once, but twice :D They weren't really disturbing us though, but I was not used to it yet :)

Fourth, cats and dogs. It was very common to see cats and dogs at Bhutanese house. Cats were there to help the house owner to catch the rats while dogs to guard the house from theft and others. I was grown up in Jakarta where stray cats and dogs were also common found nearby our house. Other than the faeces they usually left on the road (which sometimes you would accidentally step on it and made it your bad day), I was traumatized with stray dogs running after me while cycling or sometimes running/jogging. Oh, I still could not forget the sound that the cat made in the middle of the night that you thought there was a baby crying left on the rooftop by a heartless mother. But in Bhutan, cats and dogs were their friends. Sometimes they even allow them to enter their house freely. The only problem that might arise was the flea.

During my stay there I was probably bitten by unknown insects (maybe mosquito, maybe other type of bugs, or maybe flea), probably was allergic to something (not sure what it was though), or probably was attacked by heat rash. My skin on arms, legs, thigh, waist, stomach, was very itchy. It created bump and filled with small liquid. It just appeared slowly without I realized. I thought it was simply a mosquito bite when I went to the water tap area. But when the itchiness reached my waist, I found it weird as it was covered area (not exposed like legs and arms). Anyway, I even thought I caught the chicken pox!!! But there wasn't any fever and the rash was different from the chicken pox dots. The itch continued for days, and it even bugged me from my sleep. I was scratching it during my sleep like a monkey :(

However, it was allover a very good experience for me. "If others can live that way, so can I," was the sentence I kept repeating myself :) I think I survived la, but that also only for short period. Maybe I'd more prepared in the future hehehe.... *who knows I'll be back again... :P

With Kipchu and his mom :)

Me and Kipchu's mom :)

We woke up at 5.30 am, had our breakfast and tea, then packed my bag. We took photos together before leaving the house.

One last look at Kipchu's home sweet home :) - Uma Village, Bhutan

With his youngest brother :)

At 6.50 am we went out from home to the motor-able road up there. His youngest brother followed and helped us carrying my bag. I had to remove my slippers again when climbing up the muddy path, plus a stick on my hand, as it was still slippery and easy to fall :D

In a while we reached the road safely. We proceed to the nearest water tap at villager's house to wash our feet and wore our slippers back. Kipchu arranged another car to go down up to his cousin brother's house. From there, the cousin brother sent us all the way to Bajo town, to the taxi station. I forgot to take photo with him. He was such a nice guy, willing to help both of us without expecting any return. May Buddha bless him and his families with good health and lots of happiness!

Thank you la Kipchu! :)

I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to Kipchu and his families too for hosting me at their house for two nights and offered the best they could to make my stay comfortable and memorable. I would like to thank Kipchu personally for his time and effort put to fetch and send me back to Bajo safely. May Buddha bless you and your families too! :)

Positive Quote :)

It was a great opportunity for us to exchange views about each other's life - life that he went through and life that I went through. We learn from each other's experience and look forward for a better future. Nothing is certain but as long we put our heart and willingness on it, work hard towards it, persevere and focus one thing at one time, and most importantly, be positive about it, I think we all can overcome our life journey. No one says it will be easy, but it will be worth it! :)

So, we bid farewell there at the bus station. It's time for me to leave and continued to my other destination. I took the taxi back to Thimphu. Luzee and Lolo fetched me from Simthoka and sent me to Rekha's house. I had to repack my bag before leaving to Phuentsholing. They then dropped me at Jojo's as to meet Acho Tshering who had also kindly sent me along from Thimphu all the way to Phuentsholing.

It was my first time visiting Phuentsholing. I'd been wanting to visit this place as before that, I always heard from others that they went to this place to shop or to transit before continued their journey to India. It was a border town with Jaigaon, India, located at southern Bhutan.

Phuentsholing - Thimphu highway, Bhutan

The Phuentsholing - Thimphu highway road was good and wide but up to certain point. We were blessed with good weather - blue sky and hot sun. But once we reached Chhukha, it started raining and foggy. Acho said, the weather there was always like this almost every day. When entering Gedu, the road was even more dangerous as there were few land slides area that we had to pass through. Acho always opened his window to check if there was any stones falling down when passing those critical zones. He had bad experience before by getting stuck in the road block for days.

Rainbow after the rain - Phuentsholing, Bhutan :)

Sunset at Phuentsholing, Bhutan

It took us about 5 hours to finally reach Phuentsholing. We saw and passed by the tower of Milarepafrom afar, CST (College of Science and Technology) school and hostel, Kharbandi Goemba, RIGGS (Royal Institute for Governance and Strategic Studies) on our way toHotel Lhaki, where I would stay for 3 nights. We met up with Sithar in the hotel lobby before moving to NPPF (National Pension and Provident Fund) Colony to meet Tandin, my Acho's ~~wife~~ (Sorry, correction - it's wife-to-be) :D

Lhaki Hotel - Phuentsholing, Bhutan

Hard Rock Cafe - Phuentsholing, Bhutan :D

After picking upLachee from the hotel, we went for dinner together at Asian Kitchen and Bar, a new restaurant in town that sold various Asian food. We had non-Bhutan food there, finally! :D

Our dinner at Asian Kitchen and Bar - Phuentsholing, Bhutan

While waiting, suddenly someone came over. It happened to be someone I know, someone familiar. Hehehe... Fancy meeting Kuenzang Thinley or known initially as PSN with his two daughters there!!! I met him first time during my first blogger's meeting in Thimphu in Sep 23, 2013. He was coincidentally going there to get Indian currency. Nice meeting you Kuenzang and thank you Sithar and Acho for the delicious dinner plus Druk 11000 :D Once dinner was over, we went back to our places to rest :)

Indian food lunch with Sithar, Palden, and Lachee - 12 Jul 15 :)

Morning time we spent time nearby the area and we had lunch together - Indian food :)

RIGSS - Phuentsholing, Bhutan

After lunch, Sithar, who worked at the RIGSS(The Royal Institute for Governance and Strategic Studies), gave me a tour around the area.

"Envisioned by His Majesty the King, this place is built to provide a forum to train both incumbent and potential leaders in all major areas of nation building. RIGSS provides high quality education and discourse on governance, public policy, and leadership, aided by result-oriented reserach to influence and shape real-life public policy decisions." - Source: RIGSS website.

You can check the link of the website above for more info. According to Sithar, many good speakers, trainers, Professors, leaders, civil servants, etc. from both local and overseas were invited to give the teaching. A very well-equipped class was provided to facilitate the teaching. There was even a Royal Suite inside for the King to stay.

Kharbandi Goemba - Phuentsholing, Bhutan

It was raining heavily in the afternoon. A while later, once it stopped, we continued our visit. This time, to the Kharbandi Goemba, built in 1967 by the Royal Grandmother, Ashi Phuntsho Choedron. It was a beautiful temple with many stupas outside. From there you could see the view of Phuentsholing town and the plain of West Bengal lying side by side. Inside, we prayed to Lord Buddha, Guru Rinpoche, and Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal.

CST (College of Science and Technology) - Phuentsholing, Bhutan

We continued our journey to CST (College of Science and Technology), the only institute in Bhutan offering undergraduate degree programs in engineering. Currently it offered Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering and Architecture, Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering and Information Technology. It was located not far from the above place. It was where some of our Bhutanese bloggers studying. However, it was holiday when I went there so not many students were seen. But I was glad finally being there as I now knew how the school looked like :)

A nine-storey tower dedicated to Milarepa - Phuentsholing, Bhutan

We also visited the under construction buildings above - a nine-storey tower dedicated to Milarepa, the Tibetan medieval poet-yogi, famous for his journey from revenge motivated witchcraft to enlightenment (1052-1135). The building was called Sangye Migyur Ling Lhakhang.

RIGSS Coronation Hostel - Phuentsholing, Bhutan

We visited the RIGSS Coronation Hostel located separated from the RIGSS building. It's to accommodate those scholarship candidates that selected for the Senior Executive Leadership Program (SELP) and Military Leaders Strategic Studies Seminar (MLS) program.

Phuentsholing - Jaigon border (Bhutan Gate)

We had plenty of time before heading to Tandin's house for dinner. Therefore, Sithar brought me around the Phuentsholing town to take a look. There, we stopped to take photos of Gol (round) building, the landmark building of Phuentsholing town, together with the artificial elephant statue located across the road. Amrith Sir ever wrote thepostabout his visual recollection of Phuentsholing town when he visited in his very young age, so I thought of taking the photo as to let him know that statue was still there standing strong :)

From top of Phuentsholing town :)

Sithar also brought me to upper side of the town where there were some factories like Pepsi and Bhutan Milk and Agro. From there we could see the beautiful view of the Phuentsholing town from above.

NPPF Colony Mani Dungkhor - Phuentsholing, Bhutan

After that we went to NPPF Colony. I finally saw the Mani Dungkhor (big wheel prayer) that was initiated by Acho Tshering in real!!! He mentioned it to me when it was built. Lots of donation money required to build that. Finally it was inaugurated in January 2014 with a blessing and prayer done by H.H. Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche.

Dinner at mathang's house :D

Finally we had our dinner at Tandin's house. Thank you for your invitation la Acho and Mathang :) We started it with potato chips as changpa plus drink of our preference hehehe... I had Raven vodka with Sprite but then decided to change to Druk 11000 as it was too sweet for me :) Then we continued with delicious dinner prepared by both of them. I really enjoyed the dinner la!! Thank you so much Sithar, Palden, Acho Tshering and Tandin for your time and effort and your kind hospitality for my visit there in Phuentsholing. I felt like I had browsed almost the whole town just in a day hehehe... Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! :)

Summer in Thimphu

Bhutan Trip Day 5 - 27 June 2015 Learning how to make Sel Roti :)

Bhutan Trip Day 5 - 27 June 2015 Trip to Pema Thek Chok Choling Nunnery, Mebar Tsho, and Zangtopelri

Bhutan Trip Day 6 - 28 June 2015 Trip to Jakar Dzong and Bumthang Cheese and Wine Shop at Batpalathang

Bhutan Trip Day 6 - 28 June 2015 Harvesting organic veggies from the garden :)

Bhutan Trip Day 7 - 29 June 2015 Last relaxing day in Bumthang and Puta (buckwheat noodles) in the making :)

Bhutan Trip Day 8 - 30 June 2015 Long journey to Samcholing and private mask dance at Samcholing Palace :)

Bhutan Trip Day 9 - 1 July 2015 Visit to Langthel, Kuenga Rabten Palace and our leisure time around Samcholing school :)

Bhutan Trip Day 10 - 2 July 2015 Trongsa Dzong and Back to Bumthang

East Bhutan Trip Day 1 - 3 July 2015 Bumthang to Mongar

East Bhutan Trip Day 2 - 4 July 2015 Mongar - Lhuentse

East Bhutan Trip Day 3 - 5 July 2015 Mongar - Guru Rinpoche Statue at Takila, Trashigang Town, and Sherubtse College at Kanglung

East Bhutan Trip Day 4 - 6 July 2015 Gom Kora near Chazam and Chorten Kora in Trashiyangtse

SG50 Golden Jubilee Weekend - ArtScience Museum and Singapore Botanic Garden - Happy 50th Birthday Singapore!!! :)

Bhutan Trip Day 15 - 7 July 2015 Namling Waterfalls, Rinchen Jugney and Dechenling Lhakhang at Shingkhar, and back to Bumthang :)

Bhutan Trip Day 16 - 8 July 2015 Bumthang - Bumthang to Bajo Town - Wangdue Phodrang

Bhutan Trip Day 17 - 9 July 2015 Uma Village - Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan Day 1

Bhutan Trip Day 18 - 10 July 2015 Uma Village - Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan Day 2

Bhutan Trip Day 19 - 11 July 2015 Bajo - Thimphu - Phuentsholing :)

Bhutan Trip Day 20 - 12 July 2015 Phuentsholing - RIGSS, Kharbandi Goemba, CST, Milarepa Tower, RIGSS Coronation Hostel, NPPF Colony :)