Journey Towards My First Placement (Part I)

can't imagine those roads

It was quite by chance that I got Trashiyangtse as my first placement. Both me and my wife were destined to hit the last Dzongkhag of our small country. Well, I haven’t been there myself, but my wife is from there. So there was something to cheer about after all.

 I just knew that it took two complete days by bus to reach there, and that was it. Soon I found that, we were getting ready to leave, for we had to reach the Dzongkhag office for our final placement. So we  bid adieus to all our loved ones and set off.

Since it was in a peak fall, we had to encounter loads of snows on our way. I took a time to look at everyone’s face in the bus and found all in very stern expression. So I got serious too. The bus driver kept that broken stereo full on, till our destination.

Travelling two days, sitting in a bus is no joke my friends. I often had to lift my bumps to change my weight balance off. It was simply tiring. But then sitting beside my wife indeed felt quite loved.

Beautiful Trongsa Dzong

First night- we spent in a very unfriendly hotel in Bumthang. All my life, I thought that the hotels were supposed to be very welcoming (after all we pay for it, right?), but how it got me wrong, once I reached Bumthang. For heaven’s sake, there was only one sleazy blanket (only god knows since when it was used and by how many people) in the hotel. I mean its winter people! And temperature in Bumthang during winter is no joke. It can freeze us to death for crying out loud.

Of course we could change our hotel, but the nincompoop driver took us straight to this particular hotel for what so ever matter. He even warned us (literally) that, if we were to go any other place than that hotel, we were very likely to miss our bus. So changing our hotel was out of option. And still who wanted to walk a mile, in the freezing night knocking on other hotel doors? So we called the day off with heavy heart in that very hotel like the rest of the passengers.

Next day, the handy boy waked all of us around 5 in the morning. My wife wanted to freshen up, but the mere touch of the ice water felt like a chain saw tearing on our bones. So we skipped the idea of fiddling the water. Our journey officially resumed at 5:30 AM exactly.

Once in the bus, I really felt good. For how I wished to get out of that dirt filled hotel having sour smelling blankets. I was happy that we didn’t have to stop for night in anymore, but reach our destination by evening. Half the day was again journey through the snows. I don’t know how many snow covered high passes we crossed. I was hoping not less than five when we finally reached Trashiyangtse.