Thimphu

Monday, 13 November 2017

Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan. This afternoon we toured the downtown and governmental areas.

Despite a fair amount of traffic, Thimphu has chosen not to have traffic lights. Instead, major intersections have traffic officers in kiosks to direct traffic.

Dogs were everywhere. According to the Bhutanese, the dogs sleep all day and bark all night.

Vegetables, especially chilis, for sale on the main street.

The craft stalls along Norzin Lam, the street we walked to get to the fortress. The walls are woven matts over a wooden frame.

The Thimphu Fortress (officially Trashi Chhoe Dzong) holds both the national government offices and the main Buddhist monastery for Bhutan. This building is the main prayer hall. Because it was a weekday, we had to wait until after business hours (4:30 PM) to enter the grounds.

Another view of the Dzong.