From the moment that our dear family member, Donna Day, shared the details of her 2012 trip to Bhutan, I knew I wanted to visit the country. Bhutan has been the #1 country I have wanted to visit for 12 years. It is surreal to be here. It is everything I imagined and more!
Mike often does the majority of the planning of our adventures (because he loves learning about places and he’s so good at what he does), or we do it together. For whatever reason, I planned our time in Bhutan. Mike still handled getting our visas and booking our flights, thank goodness (things I do not like to do!). Bhutan is an interesting, mystical, mythical, and magical place. It is a small country, about ½ the size of Indiana. We wanted to go everywhere in the country and stay until we felt like we were ready to leave (not sure that day would ever come!). However, we have a budget to maintain. Bhutan cares deeply about the environment and their traditions. They charge a daily Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) of $100 per person. The SDF is intended to help the country’s development and cultural preservation. The fee is used to support health, education, and environmental protection. It also helps to offset the carbon generated by visitors. Since it cost us $200 every day we were there, just for being there, we decided we could see the areas that were most important to us (at a relaxed pace) in 16 nights.
In the past, Bhutan required a tour guide (whose job is to keep you safe, ensure you don’t get lost, help with communications, and educate you on the history, traditions, and culture of Bhutan). There are still areas that require tour guides and foreigners are not allowed to drive in Bhutan. Most tourists and locals do not know that you can travel independently in many areas of the country. We were asked multiple times every single day, “where is your tour guide”. We like to be in control of our own itineraries. Although you meet amazing people in tour groups, our goal is to interact with the locals as much as possible. When you are on a designated tour, you meet lots of people visiting Bhutan. The way we travel, we often find ourselves in areas where we are the only non-locals.
When I was doing my research, something about Haa Valley spoke to my heart. I knew that Punakha was a “must see” area in Bhutan (we were asked daily if we had been there). However, we skipped visiting Punakha (we’ll go next time – as there will definitely be a next time!) to spend time in Haa Valley. We could not be happier about our choice.
For getting from place to place within Bhutan, we asked our hotels to help us find drivers to pick us up and take us to our destination. Sonam Zhidhey Resort arranged for our driver to pick us up in Paro and take us to Haa Valley. Kinley picked us up about 1:00 and we started the 2.5-hour drive to Haa Valley on the one lane road, winding through the mountains, crossing the highest motorable point in Bhutan, Chele La Pass. I had been anxious about driving on this road from the moment I knew we would be traveling on it (I am scared of being in a vehicle that falls off the side of a mountain while trying to pass another vehicle on a 1-lane road). As usual, all my white knuckling in the back seat of the car wasn’t necessary (when will I stop wasting my precious energy being anxious and fearful!!???). Kinley was an amazing driver and made me feel extremely safe. It was a beautiful drive. We stopped at the viewpoint at Chele La Pass and walked up to the Stupa. It was chilly and very windy at 13,000 feet. When we arrived at the Sonam Zhidey Resort, the staff greeted us and carried our bags to our room. We enjoyed tea in the lobby area and talked with the chef regarding dinner. We both wanted to try the local fresh grilled trout, without the customary intact head, fins, and tail. The chef was happy to accommodate our request. We unpacked and I did some laundry in the bathroom sink while Mike worked on the blog. Dinner was delicious! In addition to the fresh trout we had salads, French onion soup, veggies and Hoentey (a local dish – buckwheat dumplings – which I discovered is my favorite Bhutanese dish).
On Friday morning, we enjoyed breakfast in the dining room while talking with the owner of the resort, Chemba Dorji. Talking with Chemba is always a delight. We ask each other lots of questions to learn about our respective countries. We learned it is a 2-day walk to China from Haa. Yak herders still make the walk and use the cave located about halfway to sleep in. Chemba took us on a tour of the property. The views from the resort are fabulous. You are immersed in nature with mountains, the river, and farm fields. Bhutan in general is calming and peaceful (it was so calm at Sonam Zhidey Resort, I had to check a few times to see if I still had a pulse). We wanted to just sit on our balcony and read all day. However, we also wanted to explore (we need to stay in Bhutan longer!). We walked along the river, flanked by beautiful flowers, for about an hour to the Haa Dzong. We walked a few blocks further to the annual Mela Festival. This festival is hosted by the Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT). IMTRAT is a training mission in Bhutan that trains the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) and the Royal Bodyguard of Bhutan (RBG). The IMTRAT is a permanent base of around 2,000 Indian soldiers in western Bhutan. The IMTRAT also organizes events to strengthen the bond between the people of Bhutan and the Indian Army. There are educational displays at the festival, which are very informative. The upper section was filled with Indian vendors and the lower section had Bhutanese vendors. Haa Valley doesn’t get many tourists. If there are tourists, they are normally in a tour group. We felt like celebrities walking through the Indian section of the festival. People wanted to take pictures with us. At one point, we had 5 young men standing in line to each take a photo with us. We ate veg biryani at one of the Indian stands. While exploring the Bhutanese vendors, we had the pleasure of talking with and smiling with many locals proudly displaying their red teeth and mouths. Many Bhutanese chew Doma (it is a combination of betel leaf, lime – as in LIMESTONE, and areca nut that is chewed and is often served after meals, during ceremonies, and rituals – we watched it being prepared and we were offered some to try but didn’t try it). We walked back to the resort, stopping at a few shops along the way (including Chemba’s shop in town so we could meet his wife who was working).
Back at the resort, we had a traditional Bhutanese hot stone bath. Fresh river water is mixed with Artemisia leaves. The water is heated using river stones that are roasted on fire till they are glowing red. The temperature of the water can be increased by adding more heated stones into a wooden chamber via a chute. This chamber is connected to the main tub (also made of wood) which contains the water. The holes in the chamber allow the heat to be infused into the bath (so there is no danger of being burned by the hot stones) and the stones are said to release key minerals into the water which are believed to have medicinal benefits. Our bath water was sooooo HOT, we thought it was on the verge of boiling! We asked the attendant on the other side of the wall to add more cold water. He would shout back to us, “it should be good now”. We would re-test the water and say, “it’s still too hot, we need more cold water” and he would go fetch buckets of cold water. This process repeated itself for probably 15 minutes until we felt like we could submerge our bodies in the water without our skin burning off. We would soak until we felt like we were on fire and then sit on the edge of the tub for a couple of minutes. We rotated between being in the water and on the edge of the tub for the next 45 minutes. Once our delicate skin adapted to the heat of the water, it was a lovely experience. The chef prepared another delicious meal for us, which was accompanied by local Ara (a traditional Bhutanese alcohol), and Druk 11,000 beers.
After breakfast on Saturday morning, we enjoyed a very special walk with Chemba. It was sunny and the temperature was perfect. The scenery was amazing, we were surrounded by the mountains and near the river. Chemba, who is 64 years young, shared stories about growing up in Haa Valley. He would often comment that things in Haa Valley are 100 years behind the rest of the world. Life is simple. While chuckling, he indicated that unlike other places in the world that complain about not having enough time, people in Haa Valley don’t know how to fill all the time available each day. He introduced us to the locals that we passed by. We had the chance to interact with two women gathering feed for their animals.
Kinley invited us to his family’s house to join them in their annual ritual, which is called Lochoed (check out the link to an excellent detailed description of the full ritual). Many families complete this ritual twice a year in Haa Valley. Because Kinley’s family did an addition to their home, their summer ritual was delayed until the construction work was completed. Kinley picked us up around 11:30 and drove us to the home that he shares with his parents, nieces, nephew, and uncle. His brother, Sonam, who lives in Paro came for the ritual. The family talked with his brother, in Australia, on the phone. Two of his other siblings were unable to attend. His cousin helped his mom prepare the traditional meal. We admired Kinley’s beautiful painting work on the new porch. This annual ritual includes many activities preformed by a monk, whom families will hire. Kinley’s uncle is a lama, so he organized the spiritual leaders and led the ceremonies. We experienced the home being blessed with holy smoke, holy water, and rice. The spiritual leaders paraded around the home chanting prayers while blowing horns and ringing bells. The lama walked through the house tossing small rocks on the floor to scare away demons. At the end of the day, the bad omens were chased out of the house. Throughout the day, the lama and spiritual leaders gathered near the prayer room that Kinley’s uncle created, and chanted ancient scripts while playing instruments (the videos are on Facebook and Instragram). Kinley and Sonam explained everything to us. It was an incredible experience. We feel extremely honored and privileged to have been included in this special and important annual event. We left with our bellies stuffed full of delicious milk tea, popcorn, corn chips, rice with butter balls, hoentey (they made my favorite dish for me!), red rice, beef curry, pork, chili peppers in cheese, fermented cheese in butter, apples, and beer. Mike gave Kinley’s two nephews moonwalking lessons because they were watching a Michael Jackson video (wish I would have gotten a video). Everyone was so welcoming, kind, and thoughtful. When we left, Kinley’s dad indicated that we have always known each other and always will (I love Buddhist beliefs!). Being a part of this annual ritual is an experience we will cherish forever.
Although our stomachs were expanded from the delicious food from the day, we managed to eat the dinner that the chef prepared for us at the resort (spaghetti, French onion soup, more of my favorite hoenty, and chef salad). Back in our room, Mike watched the recording of the FSU game against Duke (another loss).
On Sunday morning, we chatted with the former Bhutan Health Minister, Dasho Dechen Wangmo, and her son. She was attending the Mela Festival as a special guest. She shared examples of important work that the USA does regarding women’s health in Asian countries (well that’s refreshing to hear!). Today is moving day and we both felt emotional knowing we were leaving Haa Valley, Sonam Zhidey Resort, Chemba, the great staff working at the resort, and Kinley and his family. Kinley picked us up around 11:30 to drive us back to Paro. His girlfriend, Sonam Chhoden, was not able to attend the ritual on Saturday and we wanted to meet her. She was able to join us on our car ride. She works at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock at the Haa Fishery. We learned a lot about her work and the important role it plays in the Bhutan environment. Chatting with Sonam made the 2.5-hour ride pass quickly. Saying good-bye to our new friends, Kinley & Sonam was difficult. We plan to stay in touch, and we are confident our paths will cross again.
I got a bit nauseous the last 30 minutes of the winding car ride (because I was looking up information on my phone to share with Sonam) so I laid down for a while in the same hotel room we had before we left for Haa, at the Green Valley Boutique. Mike ordered a veg pizza from the hotel restaurant and had it delivered to our room. Mike lifted weights in the hotel exercise room, and I went for a 40 minute walk. We had a late dinner at Mountain Café. Back in our room for the night, Mike watched the recorded USF game while I read (and they lost, too). Only 3 more sleeps in Bhutan…. the sadness is setting in…..
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