Happily today’s blog is full of joy and great news. Thursday morning we set out from Paro after the day of repairs to Penny on and absolutely stunning day. The air was crystal clear and the scenery was to die for.
We stoped in Paro to have a quick look at the shops that we had missed the previous day due to the repairs before embarking on going over the highest pass for our trip at 3988 metres. On this climb everything went perfect. The new engine in Penny is running better then ever as it is now fully run in performing very well along with everything else.
We stopped at the top of the pass for beautiful morning tea supplied by the Bhutan guides that are looking after us, before dropping down in to the Haa Valley.
The Haa Valley is the greenest valley we have been in since entering Bhutan. It’s not visited by a lot of tourist and is quite remote as our overnight accommodation is only 8ks for the Tibetan border.
After lunch in a park and some tradition Bhutanese games of darts and archery, Julie and I went back down to the main street for a wander around the shops to see how the locals shopped . It was a quirky mix of shops with so many selling exactly the same range of goods.
It was then off to our accommodation for the night and what a treat our accommodation was. As there was no guest house in town big enough for the entire rally, the guesthouse chosen didn’t have enough rooms for the entire rally so the rally in combination with the guest house h arranged for some of us to stay in local house as guest of the owners. We were the first foreigners to ever stay with our host family. Our hosts spoke no English so their son and niece were the communicators as they spoke very good English due the Bhutanese education system, which is based on English due to all the regional dialects.
The farm house was a 4 story building in the traditional Bhutanese style with the cows living in the first story, with the fourth story under the roof being the winter storage for all the grain and feed for both the family and the 5 cows that were milked everyday. The family slept in the second story with the third story being mostly the living area with the most beautiful room in the house the prayer room. The 8 of us in this house all slept on mattress on the floors of the living area and the son’s bedroom while ne slept in the kitchen. We where made to feel so at home and welcome it was superb.
Steps between the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors were made from logs at an angle then having the treads cut in to make steps, these needed to be negotiated with great care due to the angle.
In the morning Chris took the whole family for a drive in his 1936 Ford Phaeton.
The drive out of the Haa Valley to the capitol was just septacular like all the drives in Bhutan, along roads that are very narrow and just hanging on the edge of the cliff. I don’t have good shots, as the roads don’t lend themselves to taking photos with one hand and driving with the other. It was only 120ks drive but took us all of 4 ½ hours with very few stops as most of the trip is done 2nd gear.
On arrival in Thimphu we had a lunch before looking around town and Julie partaking in some retail therapy in the form of a beautiful local dress.
We have a late start this morning before heading east into the more unpopulated parts of Bhutan.
The Gallery has a good collection of Photos today due to fast Internet. As we go east we expect the Internet to get slower.
Ruth Palsson
You have had a great day. Do you remember the outdoor school we saw on our way into Shrinigar? On a dirt patch close to where they were making air dried bricks?
Love Ruth
Ruth Palsson
Hello again Max,
I am enjoying both your blogs – two different perspectives on the same trip! I cannot seem to put comments on Julie’s, so please tell her I am enjoying it.
Love,
Ruth