Holiday in India & Bhutan (9): Paro
Thursday was largely a travelling day, but a much easier one than our other travelling days. The journey was from Phuntsholing, just inside Bhutan, to Paro, a town south of the capital of Bhutan in the west of the country. Our guide in Bhutan is called Jigme (which means fearless) and our driver in Bhutan is called Karma – so we knew we would be fine.
We left at 7.40 am and arrived at 1.20 pm, so it was a journey of about five and half hours. But there were two checkpoints (requiring provision of passports), two comfort breaks, and several photo opportunities. The weather was wonderful: sunny with blue skies. The scenery was spectacular: soaring hills, rushing streams, verdant greenery.
As soon as we arrived in Paro, we had lunch at a restaurant. This included the choice of the national dish of Bhutan which is called ema-datsi and is made of chilli cooked in cheese – something of an acquired taste.
Suitably refreshed, we then made a visit to the Namgay Artisanal Brewery which produces seven types of beer, each of which we could sample in a small quantity before choosing the best for a full glass.
Back in the centre of town, we were turned loose for an hour of free time. Jenny and I browsed the souvenir shops and each of us bought several gifts, before we had coffee and cake at a delightful place called “Brioche Cafe”.
At 5.20 pm, our minibus rolled up to our accommodation just outside town. This is the highest accommodation of our holiday: 8,000 feet (2,450 metres).
It is not just called the Tiger’s Nest Hotel; you can see the Tiger’s Nest from the hotel. Tomorrow we will climb up there. It will be the highlight of our tour, but the most most challenging feature of the tour because the climb up to the monastery is so tough and none of us knows how we will cope with the ascent at such height and at such altitude.