On the road to Mongar

The BCF crew miraculously loaded up two school buses in Thimphu on Feb. 5th with mattresses, stoves, water filters, and much more, as the skeptics (me included) in the crowd said there was no way that all it was all going to fit.  Our marvelous staff members from BCF Karma and Rinzin had no problem making it all work.  

 

BCF Crew at Dochula 

Our first stop was at Druk Wangyal Chortens at Dochula pass.  It was sunny and clear as we got our first look at the high Himalayan Mountains to the north.  We were all trying to soak up the incredible scenery as quite often the mountains are shrouded in clouds. 

Punakha Dzong 

Our next stop was the Punakha Dzong  which was built by the Zhabdrung in 1637.  We were luckily allowed to visit inside (thanks to Karma), while the monks were in residence.  The two picture below say a thousand words.

Our next stop was a great guest house where the proprietor (a former teacher) wanted to share our astrology
prediction for the Year of the Female Iron Rabbit.  Being a dragon he predicted I will have a pretty good year except I shouldn't do a lot of traveling.  I had to laugh as we were about to undertake a two day journey on the curviest, up and down, single lane roads I have ever encountered.  

The next night we were in central Bhutan in Bumthang.  At an elevation of 13,125 ft., Bumthang was very cold but our guest house had great wood stoves which kept us warm.  We had a great buffet dinner that night but the highlights for me were the gingered carrots and kewa datse (potatoes, cheese, & chillies).  

The road from Bumthang to Mongar is almost un