Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan and the most developed Dzongkhags (District) in the country. Although it is the biggest and busiest city of Bhutan you can call it the most pleasant capital in world. Spread over an area of around 1,843 square kilometers and inhabiting 1,00,000 people you might think Thimpu will fail to give you true essence of Bhutan, amazingly thats not the case. Bhutanese have done a extra-ordinary job in conserving their tradition and culture.
We stayed at Hotel Ghasel in Thimphu which is opposite to clock tower which we came to know when we enquired about clock tower. Started at around 10:00 in morning according to Bhutanese time which is around 30 minutes ahead of India we headed for breakfast at hotel NTe.
We started our day from the taxi stand near the clock tower and booked a cab for local sightseeing as the only way to explore the city is either to walk or by a cab. We decided to start our day from National Memorial Chorten. It is one of the most visible and famous religious structure in Thimphu where many monks come to offer their daily prayers with a prayer wheel spinning it in clockwise directing praying for health and internal peace. Afterwards we moved to Buddha point to have a look at the magnificent Buddha idol of 169 feet (51.5 meters) tall, the largest Buddha structure in world.
After the incredible view of Buddha point and the awe-inspiring view of Thimphu from there we decided to move to Kuenselphogrand Nature Park which is just 5 mins walk from Buddha point were you can climb up the mountain to see the beauty of Thimphu, later we moved to Changangkha Lhakhang the oldest temple in Thimphu. Finally we decided to take a break for snacks and then started from Motithang Takin Preserve which is a wildlife reserve area for takin the National Animal of Bhutan, some years ago all the animals were released in the wild as the fourth king decided it was not in keeping with Bhutan’s environmental and religious convictions. and now you can only find Takin in there. Then we decided to visit the Institute of arts and crafts which was closed unfortunately and so we headed to folk heritage museum which is a 2 minute walk from the Institute. Museum is its true sense a heritage museum which is a four story building and each of its room is displayed the way people used to live in ancient time. Unluckily National Library was also closed and so we decided to call it a day at local Thimpu market which is slightly costlier that Paro to understand more about Bhutanese culture.
The Itinerant Analyst 