Today was a travel day, driving long winding road into the Himalayas, from Dalsingpara to Thimphu, Bhutan. So this is largely just a photo dump of a post. As usual, I’ll try to provide commentary in pictures as fitting.
Breakfast! Not exactly sure what all it was, and I forgot to write down the name of it. But it was great, and even had a little spice to it!We had to stop by the immigration office in order to enter Bhutan. Here’s a look at the street on the India side of the border. Very dusty, with trash strewn about in places, and the constant roar of loud and large diesel engines.Also outside of the immigration office, down the other side streetVisitors to Bhutan have to walk in and pass through immigration and customs. So, we are walking to that checkpoint. Visitors are also required to have a Bhutanese guide with you during your stay in Bhutan. Wearing the traditional garb of Bhutan on the left is our assigned guide Namgya. The wall to our right has only been there since Covid. It was erected to prevent people from entering whenever they wanted.Visitors to Bhutan have to walk in and pass through immigration and customs. So, we are walking to that checkpoint. Visitors are also required to have a Bhutanese guide with you during your stay in Bhutan. Wearing the traditional garb of Bhutan on the left is our assigned guide Namgya. The wall to our right has only been there since Covid. It was erected to prevent people from entering whenever they wanted.Upon exiting immigration and customs, we in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Notice how clean the streets are, as well as the buildings, and it is much quieter as well. It is a very different cultural experience, just on the other side of the wall.Namgya took us on a walk as we waited for the car to fill up with gas. We came across a park with a Buddhist temple. People from north Bhutan come to this area in the winter because it’s warmer. So having a sizable temple to accommodate them as needed. There were ad appearance to Buddhism all over the park.Namgya is explaining to us the large prayer at the temple. In short, wheels allow one to accumulate good karma and drive out bad karma.More prayer wheels. You can see Namgya spinning some as he goes.Lunch: ramen noodles and what they called tacos. A sort of naan bread with melted cheese, chicken, onions, peppers. It was great!The view from lunch.About 20 minutes from Thimphu there is a convergence of two rivers down below. The Buddhists believe such a joining of rivers would allow evil spirits. So they built a sacred site beside it to ward off such things.
