Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [128]
Since Bhutan does not have the carpet-weaving tradition of Tibet, yathra pieces have often served the same function as Tibetan rugs. Today yathras are fashioned into toegos, the short jackets that women often wear over the kira in cold weather.
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A further 1km on is Sangay Arts and Crafts, a crafts shop that has a great cartoon mural of three phalluses above the entry. At nearby Zungney you pass the 1.5MW Chhume mini-hydro plant, which supplies electricity to Trongsa and Bumthang. Just before Zungney a new paved road branches off to Nimalung Goemba (see below).
Stop at the two shops at the eastern end of Zungney village to watch the weavers. The speciality here is yathra, distinctive strips of woven woollen fabric in numerous colours and patterns. You can buy single strips of cloth or woollen jackets and blankets. Zungney Lhakhang is the small building to the west of the first yathra shop. Just past Zungney look out for some unusual two-storey prayer wheels.
Zungney to Jakar
16km / 30 mins
East of Zungney, Prakhar Goemba is visible on a promontory on the opposite side of the river. It’s a charming 10-minute walk to the three-storey goemba, which was built as a residence by Dawa Gyaltshen, a son of the famous Pema Lingpa (boxed text). On the ground floor is a statue of Sakyamuni crafted by artists from Nepal. On the middle floor are statues of Guru Tshengay, one of the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche. The top floor contains nine small chortens and murals that are as old as the goemba. The Prakhar tsechu is held in autumn (middle of the ninth month) in the courtyard of a nearby newer building.
A stiff 20-minute walk uphill from Prakhar leads to Nimalung Goemba, a Nyingma monastery that was founded in 1935 by Dorling Trulku. It now houses more than 100 monks who study here in the shedra (monastic school). The ground-floor inner chapel contains a venerated statue of Drolma (Tara) inside an amulet. Walk behind the cabinets full of statues to see the collection of black hats used during the tsechu in the fifth month (around July). Also here are large metal boxes, one of which holds a large festival thondrol (huge thangka, painted or embroidered religious picture) that was donated to the monastery in 1994. The upper floor is a goenkhang (chapel devoted to protective deities). Outside you might catch the monks playing kuru, a game that is part darts, part archery.
The road follows the valley down past the apple orchards of Mangar and into blue-pine forests. A new road is being built from here to Ura, bypassing Bumthang. It’s a short climb to the Kiki La, a crest at 2860m marked by a chorten and many prayer flags. Once over the side ridge, the road descends into the Chokhor valley.
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JAKAR
03 / elev 2580m
Near the foot of the Chokhor valley, Jakar (or Chakkar) is the major trading centre of the region. This will probably be your base for several days as you visit the surrounding valleys.
Jakar itself is a fairly interesting one-street town, with a goldsmith, tailor, several butchers and a hardware store, and it’s worth a quick wander. As with other towns in Bhutan, Jakar plans to shift location to a new town, just north of the Sey Lhakhang, though no date has been given as yet for the move.
Bumthang has some important festivals, of which the most important is the Jampey Lhakhang Drup, in the ninth month (October). The recently introduced three-day Bumthang tsechu, a week earlier, features mask dancing in the dzong. Tamshing, Nyang and Ura monasteries all have large festivals. Click here for dates.
There is a strong wind from the south every afternoon, which makes Jakar nippy in the evenings.
Orientation
The road from Trongsa enters Jakar from the south, passing a football field that doubles as an army helipad. A traffic circle and the 14th-century Jakar Lhakhang mark the centre of the town
The main street leads east from here to a bridge over the Chamkhar Chhu. Just before you cross the bridge to leave the