Monday, February 6, 2012

Picnic in Dochula

Had a rare day off on Sunday, and travelled with my Indian family (Ganesh, Rita and their son, Ritesh), with a new colleague, Vikram, to beautiful Dochula, a village only 45 minutes' drive from our home in Babesa, near Thimphu (the capital).
Dochula is most famous for its 108 chhortens.


THIS is a chhorten....a religious icon that sometimes contains prayer wheels.




And THIS is 108 chhortens...





 We needed to get permits to visit, and show them at a checkpoint to enter this sacred place. Strangely, I drove through this same checkpoint a year ago on the way to order windows for our new building, and don't remember stopping. But I do remember the guards waving at us very enthusiastically as we went past them. At least I THOUGHT they were waving...





Spent some time looking around the area, before moving on to the  Lamperi Royal Botanical Gardens...officially opened by a different Queen Mother from the one who  inaugurated our IT Park back in November.






I think our plaque is better than theirs. And so it should be, for what it cost us!



After a delicious lunch of chicken biryani, washed down with a cheeky South African shiraz, it was time for a gentle rest before strolling  through the gardens.


VIKRAM, RITA and GANESH...and RITESH's arm. That tent in the background on the left is made from yak's hair. I also ate a couple of yak cheese cubes. Hard as rock, and lasted for hours, unfortunately...




At the entrance, we'd seen a display of some of the animals we might encounter on our tour....




But unfortunately, we only came across the ubiquitous Bhutanese dogs. And there was no way we were going to get lost in these gardens.



As it's still winter here, there were few floral displays to enjoy...


 Native Daphne...sweet perfume!





But I've always been a tree man, myself. And there were plenty of those!







And the day wouldn't be complete without a magnificent example of the national tree, the Bhutan Cypress.




And yes, of course there was water around....








And some interesting little stuff I couldn't identify....







Time then, to head home. On the way, we stopped to admire an old dzong (fortress) in the hills.






And as most Indians haven't seen too much of the white stuff, I took time out to explain the difference between snow and ice to Ganesh...




And so ended our delightful day discovering Dochula.








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