Drive to Bumthang
After a delicious breakfast at the Eco lodge, we began our 6hr drive to Bumthang, known for its Swiss influence in eastern Bhutan. Normally, a 3 hour road trip is enough to make me lose my mind, but surprisingly, likely because of the scenery, the drive went by quicker than I thought. Here is close up snap shot of a portion of the drive so you can get a feel for the reason why it takes SO long to drive across the country, holy switchbacks!!
Let’s just say, if you get motion sickness, this is not the drive for you. I am sure the tourists we saw bent over on the side of the road can also attest to that.
In the high mountain passes we saw local highlanders selling yak cheese (pictured below), jerky and handmade goods made from yak hair.
We also saw road side archery and darts tournaments, sometimes the course even crossed the road! Archery and darts are a huge part of daily life in Bhutan. On the weekends, tournaments will turn into all day events. Locals (often men) starting as early as 9 am, would compete until noon where they break for lunch and some local Red Panda Beer. After a few hours of socializing and drinking they would get back to it! I can only imagine how much harder hitting a target is with a midday buzz. For both archery and darts (pictured below) they take turns aiming for the target and if anyone hits it, they are awarded with a sash that corresponds with the area on the target. The best part is, after a score, everyone dances and sings. No poor sportsmanship here!
Ugyen, our driver, is an avid archer and dart thrower. We were fortunate enough to have a mini lesson from him. The target we practiced on was about half the distance (maybe a quarter) than what they usually play on and still wasn’t easy. That being said, I did hit the target three times with darts. Shooting an arrow was a different story, ha.
Since the drive was so long, we didn’t have a lot of time for pit stops but we did visit the Trongsa Dzong before heading into Bumthang. Inside this gorgeous Dzong, we saw these kitties with their collars to ward off evil spirits. :)
