The Half-Day 7-hour Drive

25 October 2013

In spite of the fact that our itinerary described our drive from Samdrupjonkhar to Trashigang would be seven hours, we did it in twelve. It took so long not only because we stopped to photograph along the way, but also because of the challenging “highway” here. The only highway is constantly under construction in many places due to the rock slides on the mountain passes and the heavy use by so many large trucks. It is so curvy that you can only average about 15 mph and roughly 20 bends per mile. At times we climbed to elevations of 1200 meters where it appeared from the back of our coaster bus as if we driving straight into the clouds. One of the most interesting stops was at Khaling Heirloom Center, an NGO that trains under-privelaged young women to make hand woven kiras, the traditional garment worn by the women of Bhutan. They live on the campus for 9 months learning to dye and weave the silk/cotton kira designs, then go back to their own villages to start their own businesses with continued assistance from the NGO. The absolute highlight of the day was our visit to Khaling Muensel, a higher secondary school for disabled children. Overlooking a beautiful valley at sunset, the young students gathered outside for us to sing two traditional songs in our honor. Their beautiful voices and eager faces brought tears to our eyes. They truly graced us with their talent and joyful voices.  We boarded the bus for our final leg of the day’s journey in time to witness the clouds drop down into the mountains as if they were bedding down for the night, like the cows who bedded down along the road with the sunset. Driving this winding road in the day feels like an adventure, but transforms into a perilous thrill ride at night. We broke into a hearty round of relieved applause for our driver when he safely landed us at our favorite hotel so far, the Linghar Lodge in Trashigang.