After the day of visiting many different attractions, we had a day of mostly driving. It was amazing, the scenery was stunning and we went on one of those roads that switched back constantly as it snaked up to the Dochu la pass and back down into the next valley. At the top of the pass is a set of 108 stupas to commemorate the soldiers lost in a war

The road is being widened, but since it is the only road, that causes logistical problems.  The first problem is that they can’t work on it in either the winter or the rainy season, which leaves about six months. The second problem is of course the fact that it is the only road and so they have to keep opening and closing it to let the traffic through. There is apparently a roadblock report on the news every night to let people know when they will be able to get through. Our driver timed our trip so we only waited once for an hour between the three roadblocks.  We did have to stop a few other times when the road was only narrow enough for one vehicle  I took

some pictures of decorated trucks at one of these places

On the other side of the pass we stopped at the phallus temple for a walk and lunch. This is the temple that commemorates the master who seems to have been quite a lech, but is revered because he subdued some pretty nasty demon. Because of him, there are penis decorations all over, like the one from yesterday’s post.

When we got down into the valley, we visited the old capital and its dzong (parliament building). Tomorrow we will go back over the pass and spend three nights in Paro