Photos

I think that Bhutan is a land of many budist fortress named Dzong. This fortress or dzong I found on the hill of the holly city Wangdue. It was a stormy day and I liked the threatening view of this old building against the darker sky.

Wangdue Phodrang spelled Wangdi Phodrang) is a dzongkhag (district), of central Bhutan. This is also the name of the dzong ( the fortress) (built in 1638) which dominates the district, and the name of the small market town outside the gates of the dzong. The name is said to have been given by the 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".

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 road eventually becomes the trail 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 monastery and the Phobjika valley where the rare Black-necked Cranes (grus nigricollis) may be found...