Life On The Road Day 189: We went on a day trip from Thimpu to Punakha, Bhutan

🧐 Warning for the sensitive - Cultural Penis Pictures in this post! No insensitive comments please to respect the Bhutanese culture🧐

We went on a day trip from Thimpu to Punakha and found out you’d need to pass an immigration control to show your visa to continue on the road. It was easy because Mr. Tashi handled it for us.

We visited Punakha Dzong and different Stupas while enjoying the scenery esp. the Himalayas view from the Dochula Pass.. will post the photos later!

On the way back from Punakha Valley we visited the Temple of Fertility! It is said that couples who are struggling to have children come here to be blessed and then start having babies! We dont need (or want) that kind of blessing, but we still wanted to see it. Only Jonathan hiked up to the temple while I explore the shops and hang out with the locals selling the souvenirs (I still couldn’t walk on rough road uphill so lucky for Jonathan, I won’t be praying for triplets. kidding!hahaha😌)

The strangest thing for foreigners about this temple is its worship of the phallus/fallace (Phallic symbol). Yep, penises everywhere!

Carved into stone and wood, painted on the houses and sold and souvenirs large and small. Here it is a symbol of protection.

The phallus actually represents a mythical dagger used by a Lama (Buddhist teacher) to slay a demon at the site of the temple.

This particular Lama is said to have enjoyed good wine and beautiful women and still today is a symbol of 'anti-convention.' Well, I think it works because Bhutan is till the happiest country in the world ❤️😍

Next- Exploring Thimpu, Dressing up like a Local, visiting Dzong and our luxury experience at Le Meridien Thimpu ❤️