Paro to Punakha

From Paro we began our road trip across the country. I should say only partially across. Due to the infrastructure, a drive across the entire country would take over 2 days despite it being only ≈190 miles and of course, we wanted to do more than just see the country out of the window of our van, we wanted to explore! First on our list, Punakha!

Driving (or riding in the passenger seat) in Bhutan is not for those faint of heart. We zigged and zagged up and down the mountain side, often on single lane road that was usually paved but sometimes just gravel and one time, deep mud! 

We passed cows, yaks and horse just snoozing or grazing right on the side of the road. It brought a whole new meaning to “free range,” despite the Bhutanese getting their meat from India. The animals just crossed where they pleased and the vehicles all patiently waited. Not only were the animals trusting of the drivers but the people were too. We passed locals sitting on the curb, barely out of road, picking wild mountain strawberries, while others, like herders, napped waiting for their animals to finish grazing and continue on. 

We passed some of the biggest rhododendrons I’ve ever seen (some 20+ feet tall) thousands of prayer flags and thoughtfully built homes and businesses adorned with the most beautiful and intricate hand paintings that I have ever seen. The amount of detail was unreal.

While the houses and businesses are artfully painted with Buddhist symbolism and other designs, many are also adorned with… drum roll please… d*cks. (Can I use that word on here?)

Yep, you read that correctly. I said, d*ck, as in phallus. They were everywhere and our inner 12 year olds couldn’t stop chuckling about it. They are believed to ward off evil spirits and be a sign of good luck, as well as fertility. Look up the Divine Madman. 

In fact, there is a whole temple, commonly referred to as the Phallus Palace, dedicated to this famous teacher. Couples from all over the world, who are hoping to conceive will visit this temple. The ritual involves wearing a 3ft wooden phallus on their back and walking around the temple 3 times and then being blessed by a monk. We did visit the Phallus Palace and while we were there, a family actually brought in their new baby that was conceived after performing that ritual.

We continued on to the Punahka Dzong, an iconic fortress (and currently temple) and then crossed over the longest suspension bridge in the country (almost 600ft long).

That evening we took a treacherous (ha… ok maybe not treacherous but it wasn’t for the faint of heart) cliffside dirt road to our quaint hotel for the evening in Wangdue. It was at an 8 room lodge run by a local family. The husband greeted the guests, the wife did the cooking and they grew all of their own produce. Dinner here was one of the best we had and our room had an epic view of the Wangdue Dzong.