Roadtrip around Bhutan (part 1) - Stumbling across a Tsechu in Samdrup Jongkhar!

At 7:30am I was woken up by a lieutenant from the Royal Bhutan Army banging on my door and yelling for me to get moving. 

“Natasha! You’d better not still be asleep! Wake up! We have to leave right now!” 

Sonam had kindly offered to give me a lift down from Dewathang (where the SJI launch had been held) to the main town of Samdrup Jongkhar. Unfortunately, I'd slept through my alarm. I looked at my unpacked luggage sprawled across the room. My head was throbbing . My throat was parched. The night before we'd celebrated the end of the SJI launch by dancing around a campfire and drinking multiple glasses of ara (Bhutanese rice wine aged in a monastery for 3 years, 3 months and 3 weeks). . It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. In hindsight…. Not so much. 

I pulled together my belongings, threw my stuff in my bag and dragged myself to the car. The hour long trip back down to Samdrup Jongkhar over unpaved roads, while Sonam blasted earsplitting Hindi pop music, did nothing to ease my throbbing headache. 

I checked into a hotel in the main town of Samdrup Jongkhar which cost a whopping $3 a night. I was so excited to have a mattress (after 5 days of sleeping on A cold floor) that I threw my bags down on the CONCRETE floor and jumped on the hard mouldy mattress in excitement. I later opened up my brand new Macbook to find a handsome crack staring back at me. Throwing my bag on the floor had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Again  in hindsight… not so much. 

Water. I needed water. I wandered outside of my hotel to find all the stores  closed. Then, hungover and severely sleep deprived, I literally stumbled into the Samdrup Jongkhar Tsechu. Tsechus are an annual religious festival held over 3 days in each dzongkhag (district) and involve elaborate costumes and thrilling performances. They are attended by practically every member of the community and everyone dresses in their brightest and most elegant kira or gho. 

I think it’s amazing that, apart from small donations made to the monks,  Tsechu’s are not a  commercial venture. The performances are for community bonding and religious celebration purposes .  This is particularly true in isolated areas such as Samdrup Jongkhar where camera wielding tourists are nowhere to be found. They are performed by locals for locals. Apart from myself, there were no other foreigners in sight. 


The second surprise of the day happened as I was walking home from the Tsechu.  During the SJI launch, a young girl, named Ngawang (or “Tiny” as she called herself) had given me a scarf as a gift and asked for my address in Sydney so that she could write to me. The scarf was beautifully woven with blue, orange, purple and green threats.  That day, as I had walked home from the Tsechu I had been thinking how incredibly nice it had been for her to give me the scarf, how I felt like I hadn’t shown enough gratitude and how I desperately wished I could thank her one more time. Low and behold, thirty seconds later I saw Tiny on her way to the Tsechu! She was ecstatic to see that I was wearing the scarf and I thanked her repeatedly.
 Definitely one of those 'Bhutan moments'  that make me think there is definitely something special going on in the land of the thunder dragon!