With a little more sleep and a bit more refreshed we made our way around Thimphu for the morning visiting the handmade paper factory, the Dordenma statue that overlooks the city, and on the road to Punakha.
Our morning began at 7:00 AM and after a tasty breakfast, we traveled to the J-P Paper Factory. The process is fascinating and we took our time understanding the paper preparation and asking questions. Made from the bark from the Daphne tree, the bark is stripped, separated by hand, and then made into a mush/slurry in water that is then transferred to a vat where a worker uses a bamboo screen to separate the mush from the water. Individual sheets are pressed and then separated to dry. As you can see from these images, the work is involved and detailed.
From the factory, we drove the steep hills to Dordenma Buddha temple complex and toured the shrine rooms and grounds. The project, begun in 2006 is nearing completion, and the site is massive. The intricate craftwork, painting, and statuary are remarkable (I use this work A LOT in Bhutan), and we heard from Namgay and Tenzin about the project and its importance to Bhutan.
We had a bite ot eat (food on this trip has been exceptional), and drove the winding roads to Punakha with a stop at Dochu-la Pass. The Pass is the site of Chortens that honor important individuals in Bhutan, their ashes interred in the structures.
Our adventures led us to the inevitable purchase of dried cheese. A delicacy inspired by culinary experts, this cheese is available at roadside stands almost everywhere in the country. I offered ONE caveat to those brave souls who decided to purchase these bits of hard ambroisa: they are a commitment in time in your mouth. To be specific, HOURS of time in your mouth. See, the cheese is rock-hard…no, really, like a stone. It slowly (SLOWLY) dissolves in your mouth. The taste is an acquired one and a couple of our travelers partook in the effort. I’ll let them regail you with the stories here (stay tuned to this channel!).
We finished our day in Punakha near the confluence of the Mo Chu and Po Chu rivers….tomorrow, if the weather holds, we’ll raft this stretch.
Have a wonderful day!
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