On arriving at Phuentsholing we noticed that there was a massive crowd already waiting outside the immigration permit office. Apparently, the festival season attracts quite a large number of people. So, we had to spend a night in the border town itself while we got all the paperwork sorted out. Once we did get moving again, we drove straight into mountainous terrain, winding higher and higher towards Thimphu. Again, the distance isn’t much, about 150 km, but because of all the twists, turns, and hairpins along the way, it can take anywhere between five and 10 hours. For the most part, the road was fantastic. Fogs rolled in, obscuring everything around us, but with the Brezza’s fog-lamps turned on, we just kept on moving. The lush greenery and sheer size of the mountains were amazing to behold. We were held up for a bit as debris from a landslide had blocked up the road, but the local authorities worked quickly and we were soon on our way.
We arrived in Thimphu by night and settled down early so we could check the local sights out the next day. Our first stop was at the Memorial Chorten. The Memorial Chorten is a stupa like no other. It has an eclectic shape that’s more square than circle (which is the usual shape for stupas) and looks delightful; its white walls glinting and golden arches and tip shining bright in the early morning sun as you walk across its green lawns. It was built in 1974 and was just about two kilometres away from our hotel right in the middle of town.
