Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [147]
Special permission is required to visit Dungkhar, although check with your travel agency as this may soon change. The Jigme Namgyal Naktshang and the renovated 16th-century Dungkhar Naktshang are above the village. (A naktshang is a temple dedicated to a warlord or protective deity.) Also here is the renovated Dungkhar Choeje, the birthplace of the first king. Guru Rinpoche meditated in a cave overlooking Dungkhar, and Pema Lingpa visited the area many times and built Goeshog Pang Lhakhang near the river below the village.
Singye Dzong
Singye Dzong is on the old trade route from Bhutan to Lhobrak in Tibet. Guru Rinpoche meditated here and it’s an important pilgrimage place for Bhutanese. The trek takes three days in each direction, but is off-limits to tourists. Yeshe Tsogyal, the consort of Guru Rinpoche who concealed many terma here, founded the goemba.
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TRASHIGANG DZONGKHAG
Trashigang is the heart of eastern Bhutan and was once the centre of important trade with Tibet. There are several goembas and villages that make a visit worthwhile, but a lot of driving is required to reach this remote region.
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MONGAR TO TRASHIGANG (92KM)
The Mongar to Trashigang stretch is easier and shorter than the journey from Jakar to Mongar, but you still need about 3½ hours to cover the 92km between the two towns, plus an extra two hours if you detour to Drametse Goemba. The road crosses one low pass, then follows a river valley before making a final climb to Trashigang.
Mongar to Kori La
17km / 30 mins
Leaving Mongar, the road climbs past fields of corn to the power substation and shedra (Buddhist college) at Kilikhar, then through rhododendron and blue-pine forests to the few houses in the scattered settlement of Naling. Soon the road is clinging to the side of a cliff, passing through a deep forest of rhododendrons and orchids.
About 3km past a forest nursery is Kori La (2400m), where there is an array of prayer flags and a small mani wall. The forest surrounding the pass is under a management plan regulating the harvest of trees and bamboo.
Kori La to Yadi
21km / 1 hour
The road drops from the pass into the upper reaches of the extensive Manas Chhu drainage, switchbacking down through broadleaf forests to the small private Guru Lhakhang, near the village of Naktshang. Above the road are several small buildings used by monks as retreat and meditation centres.
The road continues its descent past fencelike prayer flags (the Bhutanese equivalent of road safety barriers) and through fields of corn and mustard, past the road-crew camp at Ningala, finally reaching the substantial village of Yadi (1480m). The Choden Restaurant ( 04-539113) here is a good place to break for a cup of tea and a look at the village lhakhang just across the road.
Below Yadi a dirt road branches off 17km to Shershong (or Serzhong) and, for Bhutanese pilgrims only, a two-day walk to Aja Ney. The ‘A’ of Aja is a sacred letter and ‘ja’ means ‘one hundred’. Guru Rinpoche placed one hundred letter As on rocks here, and for devotees it’s like a spiritual treasure hunt: the more you see the more merit you gain. Those without sin usually find the most.
Yadi to Thungdari
33km / 1 hour
Beyond Yadi a long stretch of prayer flags lines the road; below are numerous switchbacks, nicknamed the Yadi Loops, that lead down through a forest of chir pine, dropping 350m in 10km. There is a good viewpoint where you can see the road weaving down the hill; pictures taken from here often appear in books and brochures to illustrate just how circuitous Bhutan’s roads are. The unpaved road that heads west before the loops begin leads to the village and hydro plant of Chaskhar.
After more switchbacks, the road crosses a bridge painted with the eight auspicious