Continued from Thimphu and Punakha
Part 3: Paro
After a breakfast that included a masala omelette and an aloo paratha, we set off for Paro. While on the latter dish and food in general, from what I understand folks in Bhutan don’t really like roti. They’re pretty happy to eat rice all day, happily acknowledging their tummy growth while at it. In many restaurants, rotis are for Indian tourists. Also, Buddha and non veg co-exist in Bhutan, and apparently the king is a non-vegetarian too. But then again, as per Theravada, the Buddha had no qualms about followers eating pork, chicken etc so long as the animal wasn’t killed specifically for them. In fact, they couldn’t refuse it if offered as alms since it would arouse the thought of ‘self’.
Meanwhile, the journey to Paro was the same route from the day before, barely bypassing Thimphu city. That made the journey almost a 2 hour one. We passed the airport, which we realised was a reasonably risky one to land at, given the proximity of the buildings. The Paro dzong was on the outskirts of the town and Sonam assured us that our hotel would give us a great view.
Lunch was once again a place Sonam and we agreed on – My Kind of Place. A contemporary cafe that had gotten rave reviews online. Comfortable and stylish seating and a nice view of the main road below. Here’s the thing – this would be an expected standard in say, Bangalore, but not so common in Bhutan. In that sense, we felt that Paro was more creature-comfort friendly than Thimphu.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have Hoentay (momo) that day, so we tried the noodle soup. Beef for me, and chicken for D. Pho like, both were excellent. Their Suja (butter tea) was also the best I had tasted thus far. We got the place to ourselves until the end when a party of moms and kids landed. From their behaviour, we stereotyped them as local posh moms, but they talked about paying in dollars that took that hypothesis for a spin!
