Waking up in Trongsa was very similar to going to sleep – magnificent views of Trongsa Dzong from the balcony, sweeping panoramas of the deep valley below and no electricity in the hotel.  Our visit to the 16th  century dzong was absolutely stunning, perched high on the cliff, comprising many courtyards and buildings within its massive stone walls, the former seat of government for kings in the early 20th century and still home to the local government of the district as well housing 300 studying monks and a massive 320 year old cypress tree in the front courtyard.  A great way to start another day in Bhutan.

But eastward we travelled, along steep switchback narrow single lane tracks, or as our driver said, “all road is bumping”.  After a good climb through layers of thick fog we hit Yotong La Pass at 3,425 metres our highest point on this trip, shrouded in mist and single digit temperatures with shaggy yaks casually grazing by the side of the road.  Then down the other side, below the clouds and eventually into the wide and green Chhume Valley. 

Here the skies were clear and the local farmers were growing mainly buckwheat and potatoes.  Buckwheat is not very exciting but is a staple at high altitudes because it survives frost and can be made into pancake/bread things and noodles. 

But the Bhutanese architecture of the family homes really stood out here.  Traditionally homes are three stories, very large and square.  The bottom floor is the main living area, the second floor is the sleeping area and the top floor is the covered but open storage area for rice, wheat and anything else the family needs for the winters.  The home usually caters for three generations, maybe up to a dozen people, and is almost always elaborately painted, especially around the window and door frames.  Homes also frequently feature paintings of tigers, garudas (birds), other animals and monstrous graphic phallic things.  I’m thinking this won’t catch on at home. 

We hopped over another minor pass and ended up in the Bumthang Valley, following the fast moving Chamkhar Chhu River to the central town of Jakar.  The central area of Jakar was burned down in 2010 and the government rebuilt most of the homes and shops to a more boring and utilitarian design but apparently the locals liked it because they got running water in their homes and an internal toilet.  We had a great eight dish lunch in one such place, way too much food for our lunchtime stomachs, and then moved up the valley for another dzong.

The Jakar Dzong was built in the 17th century, perched high on a hill overlooking the entire valley.  Like the other dzongs in Bhutan, it was an impenetrable fortress which acted as the home for the king and his army plus the local lama, his temple and his monks.  Today this dzong still has the same mission – it houses the district’s local administration (same as in Trongsa), a temple and monks. 

Taupo, our trusty and informative guide, as always filled us with heaps of good information, even if some of it is a bit dubious, including taking us up steep stairs in the highest tower of the dzong to show us the ‘skins’ of demons that had been slayed in battle.   Taupo grew up in the far eastern areas of Trashigang which was cut off from the rest of the world until he was a teenager.  He constantly tells us stories of demons and how various Buddhas through history turned into various forms to fight and ‘subdue’ the demons.  He earnestly told us about demons as recently as the 1950s who were “very large with long hair and big teeth that would eat people”.  He said groups of families would cling together and build big fires at night to ward off the human-like demons and save themselves from certain death.

Demons or not, we drove further up the green Chokhor Valley to Jampey Lhakhang (remember Lhakhang = temple), originally built in the 7th century and containing the oldest part of any temple in Bhutan.  It is here that the three steps of life (past, present and future) are found with the current one above ground containing the imprint of a 7th century leader called Guru Rinpoche some say was the second buddha (if you can keep all this ancient buddha and king stuff straight you’re better than us).  We obligingly stepped on this sacred stone and took on some holy water in front of the buddha.  This was a pretty cool moment and we felt the significance of being there.

Not tiring of momentous religious moments, we went further up the valley to Kurjay Lhakhang, another series of temples, the oldest of which originally dated from the 14th century around a cave which had a body imprint of Guru Rinpoche.  And then, with heads swimming of Bhutanese Buddhist history and completely baffled by where mythology ends and reality begins we headed across the river to Tamshing Goemba, another historically significant site in this incredibly remote and forgotten valley.

A goemba is a monastery, most of which, including this one, are still in their original form.  We passed young monks going about their studies, their washing, even their assigned gardening duties on the way to the temple in the inner building.  In this temple we pulled out our torches and walked down dark alley ways to see amazing original 14th century paintings of various buddhas and other religiously significant people and moments.

This building was old (obviously) and in poor condition, most recently having been damaged in a rare earthquake in 2011.  The paintings were unprotected and in many places amateurishly damaged as monks tried to repair the cracked walls.  We found an English team in the dark confines of the upper balcony photographing and documenting the paintings as part of a preservation project. This contrasted with Taupo, our trusty guide, who told us the villagers were angry they had such an old and shabby temple to worship in and the plan was to bulldoze this temple so they could build a brand new one.  We couldn’t get to the bottom of the truth but the whole thing was a bit strange.

On the way back to town we stopped to see the amazing site of clearly recognisable marijuana plants growing wild by the side of the road.  They were growing in multiple places, thick, green and healthy, some about half a metre high.  Taupo said this was common here but didn’t seem to acknowledge the issue because, as he said, smoking everything in Bhutain, including cigarettes and marijuana, is illegal.  He did eventually concede that sometimes worried parents of nearby school kids come by to cut the marijuana down but it always grows back. 

To the town centre for some browsing of Chinese and Indian imported goods, to the hotel for drinks and dinner as the only guests in a hotel without consistent power (dinner by romantic camping light) and a good night’s sleep in a room with our own wooden stove we stoked for heating.