Paro Bhutan Places,Photos

10.09.2012

For all the previous post and video on Bhutan:All About Bhutan

We reached Thimphu passing the now foggy Dochula Pass.In my heart I wanted to stop and click the pictures again,but it was already late.My brother took a quick walk down the road,to watch a movie at the only theatre in town,unfortunately the movie had already started half an hour back.Next we took a stroll to the market,where mom purchased for herself a jacket,and very cheap.It was our last day at Thimphu,so we did whatever we could!



The Splendid Paro

The Airport of Bhutan is at Paro. And Paro undoubtedly is one of the the most beautiful valley in Bhutan,the reason,you got it right,Tiger's Nest.But Tiger's nest is not the only place in Paro,the whole Paro city is walk able and is beautiful surrounded by snow capped mountains and lush greenery.


How To Go Paro


Walk down the bus stand which is just across the National Stadium at Thimpu ,get tickets to Paro for the first bus at 9am. It's best to get the tickets a day in advance to avoid the rush the other day,better reach an hour early at the bus stand.The trip to Paro from Thimphu takes 1 hour 15 minutes.There is an  abandoned mud house on the way from Thimphu to Paro,the only mud house in Bhutan.We clicked some pictures,inside the mud house was the darkness and the dirty water.

Stay At Paro

The best budget place to stay is Phunsum Hotel in Paro costing around Rs 1200/- and Hotel Paljorling for food and even cheaper lodging(Rs 550/-)

What To Do In Paro

Paro Airport Bird's Eye View: We love our airplanes,don't we?But how many times do we get to see the take off and the landing on the run way. Paro Airport Bird's Eye view is a point where if you stand,you can spot the runaway and the planes going in and out!



Chele La: A 90 minute drive from the Paro town is the Chele La which is situated at an altitude of 3,988 meters,the highest motor able pass in Bhutan.While travelling from Paro town,to chelela,we saw many yaks crossing the road in between.There were herds of yak,around 15-20 in number,there were baby yaks,grown up yaks.The moment we tried being close to them,they dispersed in all directions.Are we so scary??Anyways we proceeded towards the Chele La and in between we saw many lavender color wild flowers,spread across the green field..

Chele la is highest motorable pass,yes,but once you reach there,you have to hike half a km ,and then you see many Buddhist flags and the magnificent view.After spending 10-15 minutes at the last point of Chele La,we decided to go for tiger's nest.


Tiger's Nest: Tiger's nest is a mid strenuous trek of almost 2.5 hours up and 2.5 hours down from 7000 ft (Paro valley) to almost above 10,000 ft height.One piece of advice,its best to trek in the morning,than in the afternoon.The reason is simple,Tiger's Nest closes at 5:30 pm.You never know if you would take 2.5 hours or more one way.




Usually people keep a day for tiger's nest,that way you can trek at your own convenience. Best is to carry your own water bottle as you would definitely be thirsty climbing up.And believe me there are no shops,until the cafe,which itself is far off.There is no pakka road,the trek starts from into the forest to the rugged hill to the waterfall then steep stairs and then tiger's nest.But any time of the year you trek,you wouldn't be alone,there are many people who come to Bhutan just for tiger's nest and it's worth it 200%.





National Museum: National museum was earlier housed inside a Circular 7th Century Fort or Watch Tower but now that is severely damaged due to earthquake and its been shifted to Dzong-like building just opposite to earlier structure.It contains lot of old coins,costumes,pictures of previous kings and queens and also the childhood pictures and the marriage pictures of the current king.Photography is prohibited in the museum.

Paro Dzong: Paro Dzong is also located on the top of a hill is a huge monastery.It is similar to all other monasteries in Bhutan. Some scenes in the 1993 Hollywood film “Little Buddha” were filmed in this Dzong. The Paro Tsechu festival is held here every spring

Kyichu Temple: is the oldest and most sacred temple in Bhutan.By the time,we had gone to the temple,it was already almost closed.But we noticed that the orange trees still had oranges though it was not the season of oranges.Locals told us,the ripe oranges are always there in the orange tree in the temple premises,irrespective of the season.They also told us not to pluck the oranges from the tree,but if one falls on you on its own,that's considered good luck.There was also a secluded enclosure,where a few thousand lamps were lighted but as the temple was closed we were not allowed to light the lamps.

Drukgyel Dzong (Fort): Drukgyal Dzong was a fortress and Buddhist monastery, now in ruins, located in the upper part of the Paro valley in Paro District of Bhutan. In the early 1950s Drukgyal Dzong was almost completely destroyed by fire.The place should be your last option when travelling Paro,and can even be skipped.



A taxi to Chelela + Tiger's Nest costs Rs 2000,and to National Museum,Paro Dzong and Kyichu temple combined as Rs 500.

It's best to get the tickets for the journey to Phuentsholing at the main market for 193/- per person in advance of one day to avoid the last minute inconvenience.The bus timings are 07:30 am and 09:00 am.

Per person budget for Bhutan: 6500 pp,5 days

That's all about Bhutan.I hope you all enjoyed my experience,and now you are planning to get set go soon!











3 comments

  1. Hi anki thanks for the post.This is really a beautiful blog you have. I really liked your post. Thanks for sharing with us. you may also visit our website- Bhutan Tour

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bhutan is top on my list....when another fellow traveler did a detailed post on bhutan via sikkim( i guess 2 years back) and I read it...I knew this was the road trip to take :)

    http://www.myunfinishedlife.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. yeah i went there ..it is exciting..breath taking

    ReplyDelete

Please introduce yourself here.