Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [119]
Atop the next ridge at 2020m is a Dantak canteen that specialises in dosas (paper-thin pancakes made from lentil flour). It also has public toilets (‘officers only’). Beyond a second road to the Tala project is another road-crew camp at Makaibari (Cornfield), then Asinabari (Field of Hailstones) and the small settlement of Chasilakha (la kha means ‘grazing field’). About 9km before Gedu is the shedra of Tsatse Lhakhang.
Another climb leads to Gedu, a fair-sized village with several small restaurants near the road. The best bet for a meal is the Lhamu Restaurant & Bar ( 05-272332) at the south end of town, with great Nepali-style food and cheese momos. The nearby Laptshakha Lhakhang has some nice new murals.
Beyond Gedu a side road leads downhill to Mirching and the Tala power station and will eventually be completed all the way to join the Phuentsholing road just north of Rinchending.
Gedu to Rinchending
41km / 1¼ hours
A short distance on from Gedu is a chorten that marks Jumja village at 2050m. Farmers here sell bottles of buttermilk and squares of local datse (cheese), wrapped up in banana leaves. The road makes a sharp bend and gingerly crosses the huge Jumja slide that often wipes away the road during the monsoon, closing the road for up to a week at a time. A sign apologises for ‘inconvenience regretted’. Passing the Kuenga Chholing Lhakhang in the village of Kamji, the road turns a corner and starts to drop like a stone, winding its way down to the plains.
At Sorchen a road construction camp houses the workers who continually repair damage from the huge landslides that frequently close this section of road. A diversion (‘bye pass’) was built in 2001 to provide an alternative road for when the main road is blocked. A new road from Jumja to Phuentsholing via Pasakha should soon provide a short cut around this volatile section of road.
From the bottom of the slide area it’s a 12km drive past an industrial area and army camp to the checkpoint at Rinchending.
Rinchending to Phuentsholing
5km / 10 minutes
Rinchending is the former immigration checkpoint, where you may have to register. If you are heading northwards invest in the fruit stalls here as the price of bananas rises almost as quickly as the altitude.
Below Rinchending is the small Kharbandi Goemba, built in 1967 by the late royal grandmother Ashi Phuentso Choedron, who has had a winter residence here. The modern temple houses large statues of Sakyamuni, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and Guru Rinpoche. In the lush grounds are examples of eight different styles of Tibetan chortens.
Below Kharbandi the road switchbacks down to Phuentsholing, offering spectacular views over the Torsa Chhu valley as it bursts out from the hills onto the plains.
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PHUENTSHOLING
05
The small, sweltering border town of Phuentsholing sits opposite the much larger Indian bazaar town of Jaigaon, separated only by a flimsy fence and a much-photographed Bhutanese-style entrance gate. Coming from India you will notice an instantaneous change in the degree of cleanliness and organisation. Coming from Bhutan the new air is thick with the smells of the subcontinent. There’s not a great deal to do here but keep cool and soak up the border atmosphere, as Bhutan blurs into India.
Just to the west of town is the wide flood plain of the Torsa Chhu, which in its upper reaches is known as the Amo Chhu and has its headwaters in Tibet’s Chumbi valley. Several hours’ walk away, on the opposite side of the Torsa Chhu, is the home of the Doya minority group.
Orientation
The busy bazaar, called the upper market, is close to the border. From here the truck-clogged main road leads uphill to the post office, banks and government offices, then starts immediately climbing towards the capital, 172km away.
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