High passes to Bumthang

Our road onto the east of Bhutan was a long (time wise) & bumpy one. The destination Jakar, in the district of Bumthang.

This took us for the most part alongside a river on the valley floor for much of the journey, which with it's white water helps make sense of Bhutan's number one industry; hydroelectric. With current usage at around a third of the output India is the main customer and we saw a number of projects in progress that will help the targeted tenfold increase in output. Incidentally tourism is number 2 and agriculture number 3.

Trongsa Dzong

The passes were marked by a stupour and prayer flags but at 3,100 & 3,400m respectively they were shrouded in cloud so any view of the Himalayas was denied. 

High lama, Trongsa Dzong

The main point of interest along the way was the Trongsa Dzong which is the longest in the country. We were very lucky to time our stop with the visit of a high lama from Ladakh, who seemed to be enjoying himself posing with some monk friends around a big tree & taking some photos on his smartphone  before driving off with his entourage in a fleet of 4x4 BMWs & Toyatas. 

Trongsa Dzong 

Our morning sightseeing in Jakar was delayed by another high lama; a number of people were lining the streets & an entire school queued up to receive a blessing.  This essentially meant the lama

Blessing from the lama

tapping people on the head from through the car window looking a bit disinterested, at one point even continuing while taking a call on his mobile.  Once the final P.E. class had completed their walk past we were able to get back on the road and start our morning of Buddhist related architecture.

Drums, Kurje Lhakhang

First up Kurje Lhakhang monastery, comprising 3 separate temples, the oldest dating from the 17th century.  Then onto Jambay Lhakhangonastery where we again crossed paths with yesterday's lama from Ladakh at a place considered one of the holiest temples in the country.

blessings continue

Walking past the apple orchards one kind lady offered a free sample

apple orchards

We round off the morning with a visit to Tamshing Lhakhang monastery, where again our luck is in as the monks are rehearsing a dance routine.  It's not quite SClub7 a little more low key with a bit of clapping & leaping

Tamshing Lhakhang

After another routine buffet lunch we head for the burning lake, so called after a tale of treasure being discovered by a chap taking an oil light to the bottom of the lake and bringing it back up, along with the treasure, still lit. In fact there's not a lot to see here other than a friendly monk who has devoted the last few years chanting mantras in the same spot.

monk at the burning lake