Tshimalakha: Place Frozen in Time and Hidden in Fog

Foggy Evening View

I have been to Phuntsholing more than I have been to any other Dzongkhag, but because road runs straight down through Tshimasham and I didn’t have reason to divert away from the highway I could never come to this place I am at. Thanks to this workshop which brought us here.

Tshimalakha was muffled in dense fog when we reached here yesterday, not so surprising since I always heard about the place. But reaching here and seeing the place for myself made me realized how much I have assumed. When the fog disappeared this morning I was startled by almost everything, the place is so unique from the rest of the places I ever been to. Of course the whole place came in at once when Chukha Hydro project was on. Nobody passing by the highway would expect such a huge settlement hidden in the heart of the hills.

The place defines a time period in the history of Bhutan, and today when I look at the place I see the time frozen on the face of the structures still standing. Sometimes the so many old building standing against the force of time gives an impression of a world that has survived a nuclear war. I suddenly feel a sense of attachment to the place, as if I have been here before. I love this place so much but I won’t like to live here.