Wangdue Phodrang; a Town in Bhutan

Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, Bhutan

Wangdue Phodrang is a town and capital (dzongkhag thromde) of Wangdue Phodrang District in central Bhutan. It is located in Thedtsho Gewog. The town shares its name with the dzong, built in 1638 which dominates the district. The name is said to have been given by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal who was searching for the best location for a dzong to prevent incursions from the south. At the chosen spot the Shabdrung encountered a boy named Wangdi playing beside the river and hence named the dzong "Wangdi's Palace". The dzong was burnt down by a fire in the afternoon of 24th June 2012. However, as the dzong was being renovated at the time of the fire, most of the historic relics had been put into storage and so were saved from destruction. 

There are three paved roads in Wangdue Phodrang dzongkhag. The Lateral Road enters from the west at Dochu La Pass, crosses the Pana Tsang Chhu at Wangdue Phodrang dzong, and continues east to Tongsa. One spur road heads north from Wangdue Phodrang to the dzong at Punakha and slightly beyond. This becomes the footpath to Gasa. A second spur departs the Lateral Road near the Pele La pass halfway between Wangdue and Tongsa, traveling south a short distance to Gangteng Gonpa and the Phobjika valley where the rare Black-necked Cranes (grus nigricollis) may be found.

Trongsa; a Town in Bhutan

Stunning View of Trongsa; Bhutan

Trongsa, previously Tongsa (ཀྲོང་གསར་, Wylie: krong gsar), is a town and capital of Trongsa District in central Bhutan. The name means "new village" in Dzongkha. The first temple was built in 1543 by the Drukpa Kagyu lama, Ngagi Wangchuk, who was the great-grandfather of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel, the person who unified Bhutan. 

Trongsa Dzong: 

Chökhor Raptentse Dzong at Trongsa which was built in 1644, used to be the seat of power of the Wangchuck dynasty before it became rulers of Bhutan in 1907. Traditionally the King of Bhutan first becomes the Trongsa Penlop (governor) before being named Crown Prince and eventually King. Built on a mountain spur high above the gorges of the Mangde Chhu, the dzong controlled east-west trade for centuries. The only road connecting eastern and western Bhutan (the precursor to the modern Lateral Road), passed through the courtyard of the dzong. At the command of the penlop the massive doors could be shut, dividing the country in two. 

Higher yet on the mountainside is a watchtower, called "Ta Dzong", to guard the dzong from enemies.

Trashigang; a Town in Bhutan

Trashigang, Bhutan

Trashigang (Dzongkha: བཀྲ་ཤིས་སྒང་།) (IATA: YON), or Tashigang, is a town in eastern Bhutan and the district capital of the Trashigang Dzongkhag (district). 

The town lies on the east side of the valley above the Drangme Chhu River just south of where it is joined by the Gamri River. Trashigang is the eastern terminus of the Lateral Road, Bhutan's main highway leading to Phuntsholing in the southwest. 

The population of Trashigang was 2,383 in according to the 2005 census. 

In October 2011, Trashigang Dzong, under renovation since 2007, was on the verge of collapse. The dzong was built in 1659 by Trongsa Penlop Minjur Tenpa and served for centuries as an administrative headquarters and monastery, though government offices mostly relocated by 2011. Its sinking eastern foundation and crumbling upper walls necessitated either relocation or total destruction and reconstruction, according to dzong officials. However, as of 2012, the Trashigang Dzong was still used for the town's yearly tsechu.

Trashigang is the largest district in Bhutan. it has two sub-districts and fifteen gewogs.

Samdrup Jongkhar; a Town in Bhutan

Samdrup Jongkhar, Bhutan

Samdrup Jongkhar is a town and seat of Samdrup Jongkhar District in Bhutan. 

The town is located at the south-eastern part of Bhutan and borders the Indian state of Assam. Though there is not a clear historical record of the development of the town, it is said to have developed as a result of the construction of the Samdrup Jongkhar-tashigang national Highway in the 1960s. In the past the Sharchops of Tashigang, Dundsan, Orong and yangtse used to trade in a small town called Gudama (current day mela bazaar). Today it is one of the most important trading towns for the eastern districts of Bhutan. Post-2003 militant flush out in the district and the ULFA and BODO militant problem, much of the business was halted, causing ripple effect on the developmental and socioeconomic life of the people of most of the eastern Bhutan people.

Samdrup Jonkhar Dzongkhag have a mix of population largely dominated by the Sharchops and by Lhotshampas in Bangtar.

Punakha; a Beautiful Town in Bhutan

Punakha, Bhutan

Punakha (Tibetan alphabet: སྤུ་ན་ཁ་) is the administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is about 72 km away from Thimphu and it takes about 3 hours by car from the capital Thimphu. Unlike Thimphu it is quite warm in winter and hot in summer. It is located at an elevation of 1,200 metres above sea level and rice is grown as the main crop along the river valleys of two main rivers of Bhutan, the Pho Chu and Mo Chu. Dzongkha is widely spoken in this district. 

Pungthang Dewachen Gi Phodrang:

Pungthang Dewachen Phodrang (Palace of Great Happiness) or Punakha Dzong was constructed by Tuebi Zaow Balip under the great command of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1637 and believed to have been completed in two years of time period. It is also the country's most beautiful Dzong.It is the winter residence of Bhutan's Central Monastic Body led by HH the Je Khenpo. The Dzong houses the most sacred relics of the Southern Drukpa Kagyu school including the Rangjung Kasarpani, and the sacred remains of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and Terton Padma Lingpa. 

Punakha in Spring

In 1907, Punakha Dzong was the site of the coronation of Ugyen Wangchuck as the first King of Bhutan. Three years later, a treaty was signed at Punankha whereby the British agreed not to interfere in Bhutanese internal affairs and Bhutan allowed Britain to direct its foreign affairs. 

In 1987, the dzong was partially destroyed by fire. 

Due to its location at the confluence of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers in the Punakha-Wangdue valley, the dzong is vulnerable to flash flooding caused by glacier lakes (GLOF). According to a recent report, flash flood damage to Punakha Dzong occurred in 1957, 1960 and 1994. Currently (March 2010) work is in progress to protect the dzong from future flood damage by deepening the river channels and raising the embankments using four large steam shovels. 

A Bridge in Punakha

A covered wooden cantilever bridge crossing the Mo Chhu river was built together with the Dzong in the 17th century. This bridge was washed away by a flash flood in 1957 or 1958. In 2006 work started on a new covered wooden cantilever bridge of traditional construction with a free span of 55 meters which was completed in 2008 with the help from the Germans. 

Ritsha Village, Punakha: 

Punakha valley is famous in Bhutan for rice farming. Both red and white rice are grown along the river valley of Pho and Mo Chu, two of the most prominent rivers in Bhutan. Ritsha (meaning at the base of a hill) is a typical village in Punakha. The village houses are made of pounded mud with stone foundations. Each house is only two storeys high. Surrounding the houses are the gardens and the rice fields. The gardens also usually have fruit bearing plants like oranges and papaya among the organic vegetables. In the recent years, the farming work is mechanized and power-tillers instead of bullocks are used to plough the fields and villagers have become relatively prosperous. This is a model rice growing village in western Bhutan.