Bhutan Highlights, Day 3 Punakha: hiking, rafting, and a luxe “picnic”

Day 1 in Bhutan fell rather flat partly due to a delayed arrival into Paro and then into Thimphu. Day 2 was a little better, though it was rainy and the visits to the different sights was clearly part of a tourist circuit - something that was generally the case throughout our trip.

Day 3 on the other hand, was a highlight. We started the day late, having waited until the clouds parted at Aum Leki Farmstay, revealing an amazing view.

We drove past the Punakha Dzong (fortress), stopping only for a picture at a viewpoint.

Our destination this morning was a hike through the rice fields to a monastery.

The rice fields at this time of year, early October, were starting to turn golden, ready for harvest.

Such amazing views!

I took a million of such photos, going up the hill, and also going back down.

We reached the monastery and temple, Khamsum Yulley Namgyel Choeten in about 1 hour. By this time, around 12:20pm, the monks were on lunch break so we couldn’t enter the temple building.

So my family opted to go back down without entering. We’d already been to quite a few temples by now, and had even more on the agenda in later days. Here’s a bodhi tree with a statue of Buddha underneath.

On our way back down, Keshab showed us the lemongrass plant growing in the wild.

More pictures of the beautiful rice fields, the mountains, and Bhutan’s dramatic clouds.

I notice some of the fences were tied together using rags of pretty textiles.

Along the path, we passed by what seemed like a family selling fruit, and we bought a bag of guava.

Then we passed by another group of small children, who were desperate to sell their last two bags of guava so they could go home. We accepted their offer of 100 nu, about $1.20 USD.

Scarecrows in the fields.

At the bottom of the hike, we then got into inflatable rafts, the next activity!

I’d never been rafting before, but after a short introduction of the commands - forward, stop, lock your feet, and hold on - we were off! The two doing the steering and more of the paddling were the rafting guide and another guide, a rather young boy named Kewa, or potato!

The rafting trip was not only a fun physical activity where we got quite wet, but the guide also pointed out different monuments along the way, such as the royal family’s house in Punakha, and also where the Aman resort was. At the end, our driver Namgay was waiting, with a mat of leaves made for us to change shoes without getting muddy or dusty. Such a nice touch!

Namgay then drove us to a picnic site, which the rafting guide said was one of the most famous in the whole country. We had seen tents set up along the banks when we were rafting down.

But we didn’t realize they were set up just for us! Keshab had told us the day before that he would arrange for a “picnic,” so this was truly a surprise.

Such a luxury: there was a buffet set up, with the food kept in insulated containers. And there were two attendants serving us!

There was a great spread of momo, beef curry, potato cheese, steamed pumpkin, red rice, naan, and very nice fiddlehead ferns.

A lovely lunch in beautiful environment.

Lastly we were served bananas in cream and tea and coffee (which I had).

Another look at our set up along the Pho Chhu (“female river”).

While we were eating, dogs came by politely waiting for scraps.

We also saw interesting birds.

A kingfisher…

A Hoopoe bird, which Keshab identified for us.

After lunch, we walked over to the other side of the picnic area to observe an archery match. Archery is very popular in Bhutan! Keshab explained that for each hit on the target, the archer collects a sash, which they hang around the waistband.

This archer clearly has hit many targets.

And when the archer hits a target, their team does a “short dance,” as Namgay explained. Apparently Namgay is quite good with archery. He described it modestly, “with the traditional bow, not too good, with the composite bow, not too bad.”

What’s amazing is that the target itself is tiny - much smaller than a dart board - and sits on the ground 150m from where you shoot the arrows.

After archery, we actually didn’t have time for Punakha Dzong. But that was ok. It was already a full day, and next we went off to the Gaselo Eco Lodge in its stunning environment.