Fourth Day
We wake to an incredible view: mountains and the flowing river. Wonderful.
Two important rivers meet in Punakha: the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu.
“Pho” means male and “Mo” female: the male and female rivers. Rather like the comparisons we make with the Tigris and Euphrates, they join here to form the Punatsang Chhu.
In front of us is the Mo Chhu, the female river.
We go rafting on it in the morning.
It is extraordinarily beautiful: green, clean, sometimes fast, winding through the landscape. The water is cold and clear. An amazing experience.
We cannot resist swimming where the current is gentler, although swimming is still very difficult. The water makes you feel alive.
The rafting scenery is breathtaking.
Then we visit a nunnery.
The roads are narrow and twisting, with places where two vehicles can barely pass. We come almost face to face with approaching traffic.
But there is forest everywhere. The mountains make the road climb and descend constantly.
The Fourth King and four sisters
The Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, is married to four sisters:
Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck
Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck
Ashi Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck
Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck
All four are daughters of Yab Ugyen Dorji and Yum Thuiji Zam.
They married in a private ceremony in 1979, with the marriages later publicly formalised.
The family is recognised as descending from a religious lineage associated with reincarnations of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal.
Two reasons are given for these marriages:
1. Expanding the royal family. 2. Ending an old political-religious conflict and the story of a curse.
According to the legend our guide told us, supporters of the king and of Zhabdrung’s reincarnation lineage once struggled for power. One of Zhabdrung’s reincarnations was killed.
The early deaths of the Second and Third Kings were later linked to this event in popular belief, creating a curse narrative.
The Fourth King’s marriage to the four sisters from this religious lineage is believed to have symbolically ended the old division.
Since the king is now in his seventies, the curse must really be over!
The royal family also supported the construction of the nunnery we visit.
Land reform
Our guide said the government distributed land in 2008, giving families five acres on condition that they did not sell for ten years.
There were indeed major land reforms under Bhutan’s kings, particularly the Third and Fourth Kings, reducing large estates and providing land to farmers.
Lunch is at Leki Farm House, a Bhutanese farming home.
Guesthouse businesses are permitted here. This is a small one with three rooms and a lovely view. The rooms have rugs and low seating platforms.
On the way back, we walk part of an old Bhutanese trail. Before modern roads, these paths carried people around the country. This is part of a historic route system running west to east.
In the evening, a lovely Bhutanese massage, then a night at COMO Uma Punakha.