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Bhutan through a biker’s eyes

24 October 2008

If glimpses can form a collage, here is Bhutan. Rabi C Dahal reports.

Not even thinking how the roads would be and how dangerous it would be to travel across the country on bike, I joined the Cruising to Celebrate Coronation and Centenary team. Besides giving me a chance to celebrate the historic occasion with wider public, the travel also provided me an opportunity to gain an amazing insight into the Bhutanese life, the scenery, rivers and mountains.

Having an opportunity to visit all the dzongkhags at once and to see different cultures and traditions was an elevating experience.

I have seen and felt the pulse of the rural Bhutanese life in 13 days. More than 70 percent of Bhutanese, who are supposed to be living in the villages, lead a life that is in harmony with nature. The beautiful sight of bubbling silver streams cascading through the sleepy hamlets stands as a testimony to the Bhutanese people’s love for nature. In almost all parts of the country, religious beliefs helped protect the environment.

The people associate diverse natural features with certain spirits. The cruising team marvelled at breathtaking forests and countless waterfalls and endless rolling hills punctuated with golden paddy fields. The endless stretch of power cables from Punakha to Gasa indicates how far Bhutan’s development has travelled.

Changes are evident everywhere. The paddy fields of Khuruthang in Punakha have turned into a beautiful town. Bajothang in Wangdue is awaiting a concrete jungle. We saw the people in western clothes but we also saw the elegant people in our traditional attire. Asparagus is no more a delicacy of the rich. The people in the eastern Bhutan grow and sell it in abundance by roadsides.

Throughout the journey, our meals consisted of a few items: phagsha, nosha, emadatsi.

Stopping by Sunkosh river for a refreshment, we observed the works on the first phase of the Punatsangchu hydroelectric project. The Wangdue-Sunkosh road is impeccably maintained. Towards Dagana, and the road becomes a major challenge.

The zig-zag road is riddled with potholes and bumps. The end of the road was the end of everything. There is a dzong, a few huts making up the Dagana town. Nothing beyond them. Only the mountains. Dagana, Lhuntse, and Pemagatshel are some of the dzongkhags that have few concrete buildings. The Sunkosh-Dagana and Gelephu-Zhemgang highways are the roads least taken.

Tsirang, a district with huge economic potential, still awaits electricity. Damphu, the dzongkhag headquarters, is lighted by a diesel engine and a micro hydropower station, which is erratic.

The town is still using the crumbling water supply scheme built in the 1970s. The new dzong is ready to be accupied. A new water supply from a nearby stream is making progress towards Damphu, and power cables from Basochu hydroelectric project are being laid.

Business in Gelephu seems as bleak as it is in Samdrup Jongkhar; more shops and fewer customers. Moving across Trongsa, another megaproject, Mangduechhu, is in progress.

The nighthalt in Bumthang was a spiritual experience. It is the holiest place in the country. But the holiest place has a dark underbelly. Tourist guides and visitors complain of rowdy youth picking a fight anytime. A tourist guide says there are cases of gangfights, mostly during the tourist seasons.

Farm roads have reached most parts of the country. Roads are being constructed on rocky cliffs with minimum damage to the environment. Mongar is neck and neck with neighbouring Bumthang in terms of infrastructure development. Some towns are ever expanding.

But for Lhuentse, Dagana, Trashigang and Pemagatshel, there is simply no room for expansion.

In short, Bhutan is a-changing.

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