Nov 7, 2014, Friday Punakha to Jakar/Bumthang Valley

This morning we headed out on a five hour drive from Punakha to Jakar/Bumthang Valley.  The road was very rough in places and under construction.

Typical Stretch of Road

There were a few small waterfalls along the way.  However, it was near the end of the dry season so none were really spectacular.

Roadside store:

Along the way we stopped at Pele La Pass (11,060 feet) where there were mountain views, a small Chorten in the middle of the road (cars go around on the left, just like walking around Chortens and temples, and cars can circle it an odd number of times)...



Baby Chorten on the big Chorten

and a few roadside vendors.

Our driver, Sangay, trying on a hat at one of the vendors.

Sangay, driver extraordinaire.

While at the pass we hung some prayer flags.

The views the first half of the day were spectacular and we saw bits of the Eastern Himalayas. 

Steep Valleys of Bhutan

Snow Capped Eastern Himalayas

Randy taking pictures

Picturesque Farms

Prayer Flags on the hill

Road across the valley

 During the drive we stopped at yet another Chorten in another picturesque spot.

Saw a number of yaks along the way.

The yaks always seem to look out of focus in the pictures.  That's because they are so fuzzy.

And lots of drying chili's, used in the national dish (Ema Datsi).

Chilies Drying on the Roofs

And on the walkways

We stopped for tea in the morning for views of the Trongsa Dzong, the largest and longest dzong in Bhutan at 750 feet long. We didn’t stop to tour it until our return trip. 

We arrived in Bumthang after dark and checked in.  Shortly after arrival the lights went out and were out for quite a while.  Power outages were very common (daily) in Nepal but we hadn’t experienced many in Bhutan.  Dinner was eaten by candle light.