24 hours in Paro

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This was published 12 years ago

24 hours in Paro

Himalayan gateway ...  the Paro valley.

Himalayan gateway ... the Paro valley.Credit: Louise Southerden

In the gateway to the kingdom, Louise Southerden wanders among monks, archers and Parops in national dress.

Flying into Paro, in western Bhutan, can be, er, interesting. There are the views: if you're sitting on the left-hand side of the plane and the skies are clear, there's a good chance you'll see Everest, before the wingtips almost graze the forested ridge lines on the descent into the Paro valley.

Then there's the fact that this little Buddhist kingdom high in the Himalayas is home to one of the most challenging runways in the world. Bhutan's only international airport, built in 1983, is 2280 metres above sea level and surrounded by 5000-metre peaks. It's said that only eight pilots are certified to land here and cloud regularly reduces visibility to metres, cancelling flights.

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If you do find yourself stuck in Paro, however, that's not such a bad thing. In fact, even if you were to see only this city, Bhutan's second largest, you would see a lot of Bhutan. It has mountains, temples and monasteries, the residents wear national dress and, because independent travel is not allowed, you'll have a guide and a driver at your disposal.

9am

For a view of Paro that lingers longer than the one you had flying in, drive to Bird's Eye View lookout above the airport. Further on, up a hill (as almost everything is, beyond Paro's main street), you'll come to Kyichu Lhakhang. One of the oldest temples in Bhutan, it was built in the 7th century to pin down the left foot of a troublesome ogress who was preventing the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet (Lhasa's main temple, the Jokhang, was built over her heart).

Slip off your shoes and step into the pall of incense. Be careful not to walk on the pieces of coral and turquoise embedded in the wooden floor as you gaze at the statue of Guru Rinpoche. He brought Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet in the 8th century, arriving on a flying tiger; the place he meditated is where the Tiger's Nest monastery now clings to a granite cliff just outside Paro (accessible via an all-day hike).

Kyichu Lhakhang is open daily from sunrise to sunset.

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10.30am

Driving back to the city centre, you might see two teams of men playing Bhutan's national sport at the archery ground. High-tech, carbon-fibre bows and arrows are now used instead of bamboo ones but archers must still wear national dress. It's for men only (it was once taboo for women even to touch a bow and arrow), and they wear a robe called a gho, cinched at the waist with a sash to make a pouch where Bhutanese blokes keep their car keys, wallets and mobile phones. Chivalry is alive and well here: the losing team pays 70 per cent of the costs of running the match, such as the fee for using the ground, while the winning team pays 30 per cent, "to show humanity and respect to the loser", according to my guide.

Uma Paro resort has one-hour archery lessons from $US15 ($14) a person, for two people, non-guests and guests; see uma.paro.como.bz.

11.30am

Paro's main street is short but it can take a while to amble along it because there's much to see: monks, tractors, men and women in national dress (for women, it's a long striped skirt called a kira, worn with a short jacket). All the buildings are two-storey and even new concrete ones are built in the Bhutanese style. As one official puts it: "We are modernising, not Westernising."

You'll find souvenir shops such as Chencho Handicrafts at street level, selling everything from postcards and fridge magnets to turquoise jewellery, Buddhist accessories, yak-hair hats (which look as if they have built-in dreadlocks) and antique locks shaped like fish. Some buildings have rickety stairs up to hidden-away art galleries where you can buy paintings of Bhutanese landmarks such as the Tiger's Nest.

Chencho Handicrafts, corner of the town square; phone +975 8 271 633.

1pm

Behind the main street, walk down to the Paro River, to a riverside path, which is a lovers' lane for Bhutanese couples. Follow it towards the airport and you'll find an idyllic, grassy picnic spot next to a covered bridge below Paro Dzong and shaded by towering cypress trees.

The food is surprisingly good in Bhutan's tourist restaurants, usually a vegetarian buffet, accompanied by a Druk 11000 "super-strong beer" (with an alcohol content of 8 per cent). But for a more authentic experience, if the weather's fine, ask your guide to arrange a picnic and try some Bhutanese fare. Be warned, though, it can be spicy - you'll see red chillies drying on almost every rooftop in summer and there's a saying that "no food is complete without chilli".

2pm

After lunch, cross the covered bridge and walk uphill for about 15 minutes to Paro Dzong. It's as intimidating as it is impressive, for good reason. Dzongs are monasteries and administrative headquarters but once served a third purpose: as fortresses to defend Bhutan against Tibet in the 16th and 17th centuries. Cover your arms before entering, always walk clockwise around anything (a chorten, a temple, an inner courtyard) and bring sunglasses; although the interiors of temples are dark, the whitewashed buildings inside the dzong, some five storeys high, can be blindingly bright in the alpine sunshine. Little Buddha, starring Keanu Reeves and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, was filmed at this dzong.

Paro Dzong courtyard is open daily but the temples inside are open only on weekdays.

3.30pm

Take a short drive uphill from the dzong to the national museum. This circular, six-storey structure, whitewashed like a dzong, could be a Buddhist lighthouse but was built as a watchtower (its walls are 2.5 metres thick), where sentries kept an eye out for invading Tibetan forces, and has been a museum since 1968. As you work your way along its curving corridors and climb up and down staircases that creak like an old ship, you'll get a vivid snapshot of Bhutan, with English signage. There's the Tree of Wisdom, an elaborate carving depicting the history of Buddhism; stuffed snow leopards; a scale model of the Tiger's Nest; and the largest mask in Bhutan, which is two metres high, weighs 65 kilograms and was made for the coronation of the fifth king in 2008.

A stamp gallery taking up the entire sixth floor is surprisingly compelling, particularly since Bhutan had no postal service until the 1960s. As well as stamps commemorating world events such as the Apollo 16 mission (1972) and Charles and Diana's royal wedding (1981), there are "talking stamps" - Bhutan was the first country to introduce these, in 1973, and they contain tiny records that play the national anthem.

The museum is open 9am-4.30pm Tuesday to Saturday, closed on national holidays; free entry.

6.30pm

Dinner in hotels is included in most guided tours but, for a treat, dine at Uma Paro's circular Bukhari restaurant, which has valley views through blue pine trees. The a la carte menu, presided over by a New Zealand chef, includes seasonal, locally sourced organic produce such as apple wood-smoked yak loin, as well as international dishes, served with Australian, Californian, Chilean, European and New Zealand wines. There are Indian set menus, and Bhutanese dishes such as chicken and buckwheat soup and red rice, and clove ice-cream and tsheringma (a herbal tea) sorbet for dessert.

Uma Paro serves dinner 6.30-10.30pm every night; groups of five or more must book in advance; phone reception on +9785 8 271 597.

9.30pm

Despite being devout Buddhists, Parops (citizens of Paro) enjoy a drink as much as anyone. One in every three shops sells alcohol in urban areas such as Paro and the largest city, Thimphu, and the government recently banned the sale of alcohol one day a week; Tuesday is the designated "dry day".

If you're here any other day, try Himalayan Pizza for a quiet after-dinner drink beside a bukhari, a traditional wood-fire stove, which has stones on top to keep the room warm when the fire goes out (nights can be cold in Paro). For dancing, there's Millennium, an older-style disco frequented by locals.

Millennium Club is open from 10pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Entry costs about $US5; Wednesday is ladies' night (no cover charge for women).

Louise Southerden travelled courtesy of Peregrine Adventures and Uma Paro.

FAST FACTS

Getting there

Druk Air flies to Paro from Bangkok (3hr), Kathmandu, Kolkata and Delhi. Buddha Air flies from Kathmandu to Paro. Visas are required and must be obtained by a licensed tour operator and cost $US20 ($19), plus a $US10 tourism development fund fee. The Kingdom of Bhutan also requires visitors to pay $US95 a person a day (comprising a government royalty of $US65 and an FIT surcharge of $US30).

Touring there

Peregrine Adventures has a nine-day Dragon Kingdom tour of Bhutan that begins and ends in Paro. It costs from $3195 a person, twin-share, including visas, accommodation, meals and transport within Bhutan, and runs from October to May; see peregrineadventures.com.

Staying there

Uma Paro, a COMO Hotels & Resorts property, has 29 rooms and suites. Rooms from $US330, including breakfast; see uma.paro.como.bz.

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