Journey of a Birder!!! Chapter 4- Bhutan

May 10, 2015

Imagine the most beautiful and exhilarating painting of Himalayan mountains,
breathe life to it
that is Bhutan!
The land he fell in love with,

Bhutan is a country that inspires and invokes passion from within. It is the land of truly free people. The country that measures its development by measuring the "Gross National Happiness" rather than "GDP" etc etc.
There was something in these people. Being in their presence brought me peace and tranquility. I got my permit to extend my stay by another week and visit other places of Bhutan that I earlier did not have permits to.
There is a thing about Bhutan. In its endeavor to protect its culture and tradition, it does not actively promote tourism and hence one needs special permits for visiting areas other that Thimpu, the capital ( I may be totally wrong in the reason I just gave but that is what I kept hearing most of the time in Bhutan).
Let me take you to Thimpu and give you a glimpse of the beauty that it is:

The beautiful city that is Thimpu!!!

I would be out on the streets of Thimpu and see people happily go about their life, smiling at each other as if life was nothing but a soulful dance, a celebration of joy!
As I was leaving Thimpu for Paro a famous tourist destination in Bhutan, father of the owner of the hotel I had stayed at gave me a various personal contacts of is for rest of my journey and told me not worry as everything was taken care of. It was as if a watchful guardian was there above me!

I catch a bus to Paro and stay at a local hotel near a river:

The journey I was to take for my mystical bird brought me closer to many many beautiful species such as:

Blood Pheasant

So in Bhutan one mainly does birding on the road. Yes on the road!!! Birds are not afraid!! They are out there on the road and one may spot them while driving past. However old habits die hard and I would often walk outside the vehicle to spot the birds.

I finally reached Chele La, the point where crossbills are commonly heard but no sign of them... I was heartbroken but then a few wise words I once heard rang through me:

One shall remain unhappy if the focus is only on the final result and not the journey for the moment of achievement is fleeting but it is the journey that stays with you.

True to the word, I started observing the beauty around me and man it was mesmerizing. See for yourself (P.S. Pictures do no justice to the place):

The Oriental Turtle Dove

The Nutcracker! Look at the beak!!!

Determined I took the journey again the next day to Chele La and it was so amazing!!! The beauty was breathtaking!!!

Blue Pine!

No idea what it is!

The curious Nutcracker kept following me around!

After the Chele La journey went till the snowline of these mountains! These photographs were taken from Chele La. Never felt so alive!!! WOW!!! EEEEEHHHHAAAA!!!!

Hey Shrikeeee!! Shrikeee!! Love these birds!

Guess what!!! I heard my first crossbill during my second trip to Chele La. Did the sound recording of them. I was beyond joy!!!

Now super excited after hearing my first Himalayan red crossbill. I decided to go touristy!!! So I went to the Hanging Temple. Boy this place was exquisite!

Ladies and Gentlemen!!! May I present the HANGING TEMPLE to you!!!!

Wait a minute!!! Only outside of the temple picture!!! What about inside???

Yaaaaaa... they don't allow camera or phones inside the temple. So...

Ashy Drongo

Pine!!! Where are you crossbills???

Himalayan Black Bulbul!!!

Now I head off to the Eastern side of Bhutan- Bhumthang. Its nearly a day long bus journey. I have never taken such a bus journey! The bus driver had microphone and huge speakers, while driving he would keep talking to the people in bus telling us where we were and often cracking jokes, sometimes he would start singing! It was quite an experience in itself, I loved it!!

I reach Bhumthang and I was in for a pleasant surprise!!! The entire city was celebrating Environment day! They had street plays and environment shows!!!

Raise Voice, not sea level- Environment Day 2014,

On the environment day, absolutely no road traffic is allowed in Bhutan except for emergency services!!! Earlier they had once a month where no traffic was allowed to curb pollution!!!

It is indeed humbling to see an entire nation so dedicated towards environment and conservation!!!

Old Palace of the King! Now it is set to be converted into a museum!

Met Mr. Sherub over there and he is famous in the entire town as Bird Sherub! He is a professor at Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment. He was working on Himalayan Griffons!! Amazing person, amazing researcher!!! I did go with him to look for his Griffons!!! I was sweating from the trek at 3 degrees Celsius!!! The trek was breathtaking both literally and figuratively!!!