Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [91]
Return to beginning of chapter
SOUTH OF THIMPHU
A road leads uphill from Babesa to the Royal Botanical Garden at Serbithang, which was inaugurated in 1999 and has a collection of 500 species of plants. It’s a favourite picnic spot of Thimphu residents and has an information centre that sells seedlings and medicines from the medicinal-plants project.
South of Babesa a steep gravel road leads 1.3km uphill to the Gangchen Nyezergang Lhakhang, an ancient lhakhang that was rebuilt and reconsecrated in 2001 under the sponsorship of Lyonpo Jigme Thinley.
Simtokha
Simtokha is about 5km south of Thimphu on the old road to Paro and Phuentsholing. The junction with the road to eastern Bhutan is just before Simtokha.
In the valley below the road are the EU-funded plant-and-soil-protection project and the large, red-roofed Royal Institute of Management.
SIMTOKHA DZONG
Officially known as Sangak Zabdhon Phodrang (Palace of the Profound Meaning of Secret Mantras), Simtokha Dzong was built in 1629 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. It is often said to be the first dzong built in Bhutan. In fact, there were dzongs in Bhutan as early as 1153, but this is the first dzong built by the Zhabdrung, is the oldest dzong that has survived as a complete structure, and is the first structure to incorporate both monastic and administrative facilities. It is the home of the Institute for Language and Culture Studies; the students are both monks and lay people.
The site is said to have been chosen to guard over a demon that had vanished into the rock nearby, hence the name Simtokha, from simmo (demoness) and do (stone). Conveniently, the site is also an excellent location from which to protect the Thimphu valley and the valley leading to the Dochu La and eastern Bhutan. The dzong is about 60m square and the only gate is on the south side. (Though the original gate was on the west side.)
The utse is three storeys high and behind the usual prayer wheels around the outside there is a line of more than 300 fine slate carvings with painted faces depicting saints and philosophers. The large central figure in the central lhakhang is of Sakyamuni; he is flanked by images of eight Bodhisattvas: Jampelyang, Chana Dorje, Chenresig, Jampa, and the less-familiar Sai Hingpo (Shritigarva), Dupa Nampasel, Namkhe Hingpo (Akash Garva) and Kuentu Zangpo. The paintings inside this lhakhang are said to be some of the oldest and most beautiful in Bhutan. One of the lhakhangs, Gen Khang, may be visited only by the lamas. In the west lhakhang chapel are paintings of Chenresig, green and white Taras, and an early painting of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, which was restored and cleaned in 1995. Large paintings of mandalas and the guardians of the four directions adorn the gorikha (porch).
* * *
DAY WALKS AROUND THIMPHU
In addition to the walks to Tango Goemba and Cheri Goemba, there are good day walks to monasteries and lookout points near Thimphu. You cannot go into the monasteries, but most are architecturally interesting and command good views of the valley. The Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN) has published Mild and Mad Day Hikes Around Thimphu by Piet van der Poel & Rogier Gruys, with details of 27 hikes as well as numerous alternatives and side trips. You can also download it from www.bhutan-trails.org/index.html. As the title suggests, the hikes range from easy walks to the 25km Thimphu to Paro ‘Punishment Trail’. It is important to remember that many of these hikes pass meditation cells near monasteries. Don’t shout, disturb them or knock on the door to ask for directions.
Drolay Goemba
It’s a two- to three-hour round trip from the parking lot below Tango Goemba to Drolay Goemba at 3400m. The walk offers amazing views of the Thimphu valley and you can combine it with a walk to Tango Goemba.
Lungchuzekha