News-Probe.com

Travelling by foot, Michael Palin’s Bhutan tour, a part of his BBC Himalaya journey, took him from woodland to high nation with bare mountain faces and isolated, spectacular villages. Having said farewell to the giants of the Himalaya, he then explored the spiritual centres of the Bhutanese towns and monasteries.

Michael started this episode of his epic Himalaya journey close to the Tibetan border on the north-western extreme of Bhutan. Tours operating by way of this region can embody various trekking routes, perhaps through the recent springs near Gasa, or the impressive Drukgyel Dzong close to Paro or the remoted mountain village of Laya - dwelling to ancient tribespeople. All these trekking routes are dominated by the majestic Himalaya vary, from which Michael trekked to the inexperienced valleys of Bhutan, heading ultimately to the flatlands of the Bay of Bengal 600 km to the South.

This BBC Bhutan tour’s entourage consisted of twenty ponies to hold the tenting gear, meals and tools, and half as many guides and porters to arrange camp and lead the way. This was obligatory as their route was “off-piste” (as Michael referred to as it) taking them by way of a surprising, mountainous panorama with no roads following trails that mountain males have used as trade routes for hundreds of years, transporting food, garments, animals over lengthy distances.

Michael was fast to point out how he was privileged to be trekking in Bhutan. Tourists should pay a heavy, day by day levy while within the nation which, together with a restricted number of flights into the country, limits the numbers of visitors. In contrast to some prohibitive, conservative nations that Michael had visited prior to now, he explained that the levy was not meant to maintain foreigners away, however merely to handle the effect that they have upon the Bhutanese landscape.

After a 3 day trek, Michael and his crew arrived at an unbelievably picturesque, grassy spot alongside the Paro River, the place they’d camp for the night. He took off his boots and soaked his aching toes in the icy glacial meltwater, commenting that it was “perfect reduction” for feet that had walked 15km a day or more, and had been normally solely “used for going up and down stairs.” He additionally mentioned that he’d slept higher during his Bhutan tour than he often does in London. Where some people struggle to sleep at higher altitudes, he put the depth of his newfound slumber down to the sheer exertion of the trekking experience.

At Paro the next day, Michael joined two thousand pilgrims who had completed Bhutan tours of their own to reach the town in time for the Tsechu Pageant, the religious and cultural spotlight of the year. He approached the dzong temple by a market thronging with Bhutan tourism, chanting monks, and stray canines, before joining the crowds within the temple. They gathered around the staircases and balconies overlooking a sunlit, square courtyard. Inside the circle of the audience, the musicians beat upon drums and bells, singing in long tones, while troupes danced elaborate, whirling routines dressed in baggy tunics and flowing fabrics. In a rustic that has had television for lower than a decade and few theatres or cinemas, this was the nice entertainment for the gang, who had been clearly enthralled by the show.

Later, the Tsechu Competition allowed Michael a while for some meditation in the Queen Mother’s chapel, and he witnessed the sacred early morning ritual of the unveiling of the great thanka (religious painting) which is as high as a 5-storey home and must be coated again before it is touched by the first rays of dawn.

Trekking in the Himalaya clearly had an effect on mister Palin, the perennial traveller. On the highest level of his Bhutan tour, on the Chomolhari base camp - a everlasting staging area for trekkers and Bhutanese travellers - Michael was reluctant to leave the last of the great range behind. Wanting up at Mount Chomolhari (7,314 m) he stated, “Farewell large, monumental, Himalayan peaks. Farewell Chomolhari.”