Laya Trip – 2019...

December 27, 2019

Laya Trip – 2019...

I have this habit of opening the Google earth application on my laptop whenever I am idle and checking out the different places which I have heard of but have actually not been there with just a click of the button. Can you imagine on having that feeling of actually being there in just a flash of light? There is a saying “Love at first sight”; and so such is the feeling for me too. The only difference here is that I fall in love with the place at first sight. I look at those places in the Google earth moving around in a 3-D dimension view and what more…I close my eyes and I am there.

One such place I recently went to was Laya located in the north western part of Bhutan at an altitude of approximately more than 4000 m. Most of the information on the place, the locality and the community can be easily found from Google search engine and that’s why I will directly be sharing on my 2019 experience i.e. the Laya Trip 2019. I mention it as a trip here because it was a run, hike as well as being a participant as an audience in the Royal Highland Festival for me. The place is accessible from Gasa Dzongkhag (district) and is also registered under the same. Accessible in the sense that there is a motor-able road to a certain point half way from Gasa and after which only horse track/foot track is available to reach Laya. But please bear in mind here that you wouldn’t want to take your small personal vehicle to reach the road end point from Gasa because you will cry after seeing the condition of your vehicle later.

The beautiful Laya

So the Royal Highland Festival, 2019 was held from 23^rd – 24^th October 2019 coinciding with the Laya Run of 25km on 23^rd October 2019. I had gone to Laya before in 2017 of course participating in the same run event but I was not able to share about my experience with you all. I tried going in 2018 again but due to unavoidable circumstances I could not attend the festival. Nevertheless I decided to attend the festival along with by participating in the run alone. Usually I prefer my own company and I enjoy traveling by myself. I can take my own time and be the master of myself. But of course even though I had assumed myself to be traveling solo to Laya, it was nice to have met a couple of work colleagues with whom I could patch up my trip then. I am pretty sure of the feelings which have been experienced by most of the solo travelers during the initial stages of their travel journey about having to travel alone, the anxieties which keep popping up and the never ending mixed and confused feeling of whether to embark alone in the journey.

I decided to take my vehicle up until Gasa where the motor-able roads are better. Oh! Before I forget, Gasa district is also known for the hot spring services it has offered to many visitors who come along to soak in it. It is said to cure the sickness and illness in the human body. The hot spring has guest house services also under the administration of the Gasa District which makes it convenient for travelers coming by to avail the services. But I am freaking scared of hot springs that the thought of soaking in it gives me chill down the spine. Though I have no problem of swimming in cold water, diving in cold water but the thought of hot water and especially soaking in it aside from the hot water shower in winter times just does not even give me the guts to gather up and atleast soak my feet in it.

Gasa Tsachhu on the morning of 23.10.2019

Ok! Back to being at my work place and starting up for the journey to Laya, I picked up my work colleagues from Zomlingthang ground (this place falls on the way towards Gasa) on 22.10.2019 after getting a few days leave from work. Here the organizers are to be appreciated for the work they have done towards making everyone’s stay starting from Gasa to Laya and back arranging the transportation of luggage from Gasa to Laya and back in horseback, home stay at Laya comfortable. So basically the event was something like on 22^nd October 2019 we were to reach Gasa at the hot spring area commonly known as “Tsachhu” in the local dialect, on 23^rd October 2019 there would be the run event from the start point namely Ponjothang under Gasa district all the way till Laya covering a total of 25km which would also be falling during the first day of the Royal Highland Festival. The festival would continue up until 24^th October 2019 which would also be the last day of the festival.

The registration for the run event was open online with a registration fees of Nu. 1000/- per person (for the nationals) and this covered the dinner on 22.10.2019, accommodation on 22.10.2019 at the Tsachhu guest house, breakfast on 23.10.2019, transportation charges of luggage from Gasa to Laya & back and transportation of runners from the hot spring to the start point of the run and back which I found it be reasonable.

I was really not prepared for the run as I had not got time to practice due to work load. Howsoever, I had set up my mind not to run but rather to hike along the way which I did stick to my plans. We were to do our medical checkup upon reaching Gasa and only after which our chest numbers would be handed over to us. Initially, I was a little scared and worried because in 2017 I had gone with a group of friends but this time it was just me myself from the group going to Laya. Fortunately and to my relief I was able to meet my work colleagues and atleast to say that that I was not alone. And it’s nice to realize that feeling come upon after meeting different people in no time and then you automatically start feeling comfortable. We also met a gentleman during the trip who was really nice to have stayed along with us and who helped us along the way. I bet the world does have some good people in it after all.

After getting our chest number, there was a briefing arranged for the runners on the Dos and Don’ts followed by dinner after which most of us slept off early because the reporting time was 6 am the next day. I find myself very weird and funny at the same time because whenever I go about participating in such events I feel like I am going for my board exams and the anxiety already kicks me off from the previous day even though this is not my first time I have been running. Ultimately I geared up to participate in the run the next day at 6am. On 23^rd October morning we assembled for breakfast followed by handing over of our luggage from 5 am to 6 am. There were vehicles to take us from the taschu till Ponjothang (the start point of the race) almost a 2 hour drive. The race started at 9 am with us wishing each other the very best for completion of the run and also we knew we would not be seeing each other along the way. It is a kind of break for someone like me from the monotonous lifestyle of having to live a 9am to 5pm job lifestyle. We so tend to become dull and for me I prefer such hike, treks, meeting new people rather than partying, drinking etc to overcome the 9am to 5 pm lifestyle. It’s a beautiful feeling to be draped in Mother Nature’s arms even atleast for some days. One of my colleagues and myself, we hiked all along the way, chitchatting, talking about our lives all along the way appreciating on what mother nature had to offer and all. The serene beauty of the landlocked valley we got to witness during the hike, the freshness of the water we got to feel, the headache we started getting after reaching the higher altitudes (we did cover our heads soon enough), the chocolates, the refreshments we got along the way was worth to mention. Completing the last stretch of approximately 5 km before reaching Laya was a little difficult and tough for me because I had not had any practice and as we hiked uphill the oxygen level started becoming lower. During such a time, people coming from lower altitudes most of them tend to get the altitude sickness if they don’t take proper care.

I pat myself and my colleague for having been able to reach the finish line and complete the run irrespective of all the challenges we encountered along the way. Though of course the run was challenging without having had enough practice but to have been able to see Mother Nature this close is something which I had longed for a while.

The serene beauty of Mother Nature en route to Laya.

View of the Royal Highland Festival

It was snowing when we reached Laya with the temperature having gone below 0 degree centigrade. During the briefing the other night, we were being advised to carry some warm clothes in our small back pack and not completely rely on the receipt of the luggage reaching us in time, as arranging the transportation for many runners would definitely be time consuming, so it was better to carry some warm clothes by ourselves and wear that up until our luggage would be brought till Laya on the horse backs. The other lucky thing for us was that our stay at Laya was arranged by one of my colleagues at her relative’s place which meant that we didn’t had to stay at the home stay which was earlier arranged by the organizers and thus were able to save some cost in it. Our friend, she reached well in time and stood 5^th in position unlike us where we didn’t run at all and were nicely enjoying the route like tourists. Yes! We were tourists at Laya because we don’t travel that side frequently. Having organized things before hand by our friend, it was comfortable for us to be able to warm ourselves from the fireplace namely called as “Bhukari” and to be able to get a hot homemade meal was surely a blessing in disguise. What more could you expect when you have hiked for this many distance in the extreme cold and then we get this comfort. Most of the households in Laya lend their houses as home stays to visitors. There were also other visitors from the film industry who were staying at our host’s home. Having taken rest for a while and having changed back to warm clothes after receipt of our luggage along with receiving the hospitality from our host didn’t make me realize when my eyes drooped down. To stay as a bachelor away from near and dear ones because of work leaves us with no option than to make yourself your own best friend. During my stay at the home stay, it felt like being a part of a big family coming together laughing all our hearts out, enjoying the simple rice and emma datshi meal. Frankly saying, a simple meal does taste good amongst the company and warmth of many smiling faces. Sometimes this is all we need in life and yet we human beings are such that we run after materialistic things and forget on the small things which give us happiness. And so one has rightly said “Buddha left his palace in search of peace and we Buddhus leave peace in search of palace”. And to add more comfort to it, the beds even though was prepared on the floor, the quilts; the pillows were so comfortable, so warm that it actually made us feel like at home. May be atleast for me to get a satisfying, tasty food, getting to interact with many new faces, the warmth given by the bhukari and so much comfortable bed at an entirely new home, new place made me so relaxed that I actually didn’t dream about any of my family members while during my stay at Laya (not be sounding bad…just that after such a tiring hike I couldn’t have asked for more than these comforts which made me so much relaxed).

24^th October 2019 a fresh morning for me. I was totally relaxed after having got a good rest the previous night and was geared up to witness the Royal Highland Festival which also happened to be the last day of the festival. After having a good and a heavy breakfast we moved towards the hill where the festival was being held. It was kind of a morning walk for me and by the time I reached the field the festival was in full swing. I like the attire of the Laya ladies (for sure it has got its own uniqueness) and do remember having tried it out in 2017. But sadly this time in 2019, I couldn’t get the chance to try on the dress.

Self in 2017 with our home stay host

I am pretty sure the dresses have been made of yak wool and is suited for a climate likewise that of Laya. One definitely has to wear warm clothes starting from covering your heads to covering your hands and in short the whole body. You might land up looking like an Eskimo but it’s better to keep yourself warm than to have that blue and teeth chattering experience. Also, I’ve got to say that the ladies from Laya are very beautiful and soft spoken. During the festival various events like short run, horse race, encouragement of local products from other districts of Bhutan and so on was going in full swing. In short the show was going on. Kids enjoying with their friends, families, women, ladies all dressed up in their best possible beautiful attires, jewelry which I have never seen before, selling of the famous “mastiff” breed of dogs was the scene I was getting to see every here and there then. I would have definitely loved to bring one dog along but I was being told that it would be very difficult for such a breed to survive in the climate like that of Wangdue. And so I just gave up on the idea. Souvenirs, clothes, toys were being sold and people were buying irrespective of the cost.

I really appreciate this initiative which has been taken up to encourage the cultural exchange of the highland people otherwise it wouldn’t take time for this part of the country to be forgotten. The beauty of the nature, the peace, the chirping of birds in the morning, the snow peaked view of mountains from outside your window, those smiling red cheek faces, giggling, gossiping over with a cup of butter tea and so on…sometimes it’s best to forget the hush posh of life and be draped in such peace and warmth of mother nature. Oh! And also the other thing which most Bhutanese are aware of but not the foreigners is that there is no banking facility at Laya and please do not go about expecting to do some online banking transaction when you are there. It is entirely cash which works and to my surprise I didn’t see any Bank outlet at Laya. I am not sure how far it is true but I was being told that Laya people usually wraps their cash in plastic and keep it underneath the wooden planks on the floor. And they are being said to be rich people. The main source of income for them is by selling “cordeceyps”. I noticed that they bring their rations and other edible supplies from a lower terrain like Punakha. Sometimes it makes me think how long will these people be depending on the cordeceyps business. Don’t they ever have a plan B in store? Up until a few years back the people there didn’t give much importance to education. I was surprised when I came to know that children would be absent from their classes during certain period of the year because they would be gone to collect cordeceyps with their parents. But I am also happy to say that I read news online a while back which mentioned that the people of Laya are beginning to give importance on the value of education. They might have realized that the future with cordeceyps is uncertain or howsoever the scenario would turn out to be in future. So long they have started realizing the value of education; it is worth to appreciate them. In 2017, when I had gone to Laya then and at one time I was standing outside the school there in the morning hours waiting for my other fellow mates. It was a funny scene filled with pity and innocence to see a small boy who must have been in class 1 or 2 run out of their so called hostel or I’d rather call it dormitory which was a stone built one big room. I doubted on the gaps in between the windows, the door and there he was washing his head in the cold water amidst the so cold weather at Laya and after washing run back as fast as he could to his so called dormitory. Shortly, I saw him dressed up in his school uniform and run to his class room which happened to be nearby carrying his set of books and rattling his empty geometry box which must have been filled with small pencils and few other stationary. Children of his age in places like Thimphu, Phuentsholing and other developed districts would have the privilege to be treated with some healthy breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, laundry being taken care by family members, hot water readily available and many more facilities unlike for that little boy whom I doubt even really did have hot water to take shower. Such is the vast difference in the level of education. Fortunately while I was writing this blog and keeping myself updated on what was happening in and around Bhutan, I came across the article where fuel efficient and eco-friendly Korean system of heating has been introduced in the Laya School with the initiative between UNDP, Gasa Dzongkhag and other concerned RGoB departments. This system is called “Ondul”, a traditional Korean Room Heating Technology and this is an under floor heating system that uses direct heat transfer from the wood smoke to heat the underside of a thick masonry (stone, sand and mud) floor. I appreciate and thank all the concerned towards helping these school going kids who might turn out to be successful in future because they know how hard it is to get something and it cannot be obtained just be dreaming. To make your dreams come true one’s got to work hard and never give up.

The two days festival officially closed around 5pm on 24^th October with wrap up programs organized for the locals and the visitors in the late evening which continued till 11 pm. There was bonfire arranged with musical entertainment performed by some famous musicians and film artists. A friend and myself, we both had stayed back to attend the entertainment program in the evening while my other colleagues went back home as they were not able to withstand the cold and they felt it better to enjoy the warmth of the bhukari. I got the chance to meet the famous singer Misty Terrace and blogger/vlogger Denkersgetaway. “Suja”, “Desi” and “ara” were being served to the people who were there on the ground to witness the entertainment programs. I got the chance to try out “ara” which was a must in the cold weather like that of Laya and where “suja” was not really serving the purpose. There were singing, dancing, entertainment filled with laughs, smiles, shouting, screaming which made the environment so lively irrespective of the extreme cold weather of snow. 12:30am was the time we came to our rooms. This happened like those nights out days in one of those weekends where people usually reach back home late.

The next day on 25^th October after bidding adieu to our host, we started back to Gasa from Laya around 7 am to make it in time to catch the vehicles waiting for us at the start point of the race and who would be taking us back to the hot spring location. The journey downhill was pretty comfortable, of course leaving aside the slippery and marshy track which was made by the downpour of the rain the other day and the horses’ tracks. Basically, this was actually the horse track with humans also walking along. Four of us walked downhill together and were able to reach the start point of the race in no time. We met many people while on our way back including the runners and tourists who had come along to witness the festival. And it so happened that although we reached the hot spring back in time but out luggage took a pretty long time to reach us. Infact, we were later being told that the horses that were to carry the luggage were not yet arranged up until the last minute and as a result of which our luggage took time to reach back and infact reached us very late at night. Due to this some of us including myself could not start back for our journey from hot spring to Wangdue on 25the October.

Anyways, leaving aside the talk of our luggage reaching us late, we somehow managed to fit in from the available rooms for the night. A big token of thanks goes to my fellow friends with whom I travelled along and who were kind & generous enough to fit me in their group. I travelled with a group of almost 8-9 people in 2017 and here I was in 2019 travelling with less people but getting to know them all along the way. I reached back to my workplace the next day on 26^th October which was a relief to be able to take a hot shower bath, have home cooked yet simple food and to get to relax along in the weekend before gearing up for work again. Leaving aside the laundry which took me almost a whole week to clean, I say that my trip to Laya was indeed a memorable one. I don’t regret for not having scored a position in the run event because my main intention behind participating in the run was to get the experience of self in a new and a beautiful place. It’s always a nice feeling to be to be away from the hush posh of life, the so called networks be it cellular phone or relations and to just be with yourself, the home made simple rice and curry accompanied with butter tea, to get to see the snow peaked mountains so very close to you, to be able to feel the breeze, the cold wind of the north, to watch the river flowing by along, to walk along in the muddy marshy tracks, to interact with the locals, to get to wear their attires, laugh along with them, share along their experiences was indeed a really memorable trip.

People often say to me that why do I want to go to the same place again, to which my reply would be like – “You will never understand…travelers are dreamers who feels good to be lost in the right direction”.

Some photos of the trip: