Layaps
A woman wearing black coat, black skirt and a peculiar hat with colourful beads which looks nothing like our national dress, is a sight that is hard to miss. Bhutanese have seen and encountered them and not to forget the stereotype we have, " all Bjobs (Layaps) smell, for they live high up in the cold mountains and hardly take a bath". So, I decided along with my three friends to trek to Laya and find out the truth😂
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| The Laya Zams |
How to get to Laya?
Laya is under Gasa
Dzongkhag, and to go to Gasa we have to pass through Punakha. Punakha is a very
popular destination for the tourists for it boasts of having one of the most
beautiful fortresses in Bhutan and also has the longest suspension bridge and
many more.
The bridge is also used by you know who :P
Punakha fortress at night
It is almost three hours
drive from Punakha to Gasa. Unfortunately there are no bus services to Gasa
from Punakha (atleast to my knowledge, we travelled in October) and so we
need to book a cab. It was our first time travelling to Gasa and so you cover
two dzongkhags (Bhutan is divided into twenty dzongkhags or districts) when you
travel to Laya, which is like icing on the cake.
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| As you enter Gasa
GASA
Gasa, is famous amongst the Bhutanese for its therapeutic hot
spring. So, yes we did visit the famous hot spring and at this time of the year
it wasn't busy and didn't have to sit like a cinnamon roll (I had a bad
experience at crowded Gelephu hotspring, sitting like a cinnamon roll :P). All
twenty districts in Bhutan have fortress (we call it Dzong) and the walls of
dzong screams of the history of Bhutan and plays a significant role in the lives of Bhutanese.
Gasa Dzong (fortress)
Koina
Koina,
might be the last settlement you will see before you actually enter Laya. It
takes two hours drive from Gasa to reach Koina. Sadly, the road to Koina is
inaccessible for small cars and you need to book a BOLERO ( I call it the
moster vehicle, in a good way), and when its festive season it costs Nu.5000
for single trip to Koina. Fortunately, we made a good bargain with the driver
and he dropped us there for Nu. 3500 ( We got his number if you ever plan to
visit Laya :D ). You can fuel yourself there at Koina, for there are food
stalls there.
with our monster vehicle on the way to Koina
The food stall at Koina
Koina - Laya trek
So, people have been asking me how long
do we need to camp to reach Laya? Here is the thing folks, we can reach
Laya from Koina just in a day. You need not camp anywhere on the way and need
not carry food, for there are food stalls (its bit expensive though for the
right reason) on the way if you are travelling during the highland festival. I
believe before when there were no roads, it took two days to reach Laya. TSAGAY
MALANG 😝 ( Dont' worry), now we reach there after walking for 7 hours ( if you
are a slow walker like us and likes taking multiple pictures). What's more, the
trek takes you through rocky terrain, deep beautiful valleys, wooden bridges,
emerald rivers, view of snow capped mountains and of course the pony guys with their ponies (don't forget to say
"KUZU ZANGPO ( meaning hello)" to the pony guys). They are very busy during the festive season for ponies are the only
means of transportation to Laya.
   
What’s
in store for you at Laya?
After
arduous 7 hours journey, we finally reached Laya. Once you reach there, you
will realise why the people chose to settle high up in the cold mountains away
from all the intruders. It is absolutely stunning for their village is plain in
the middle and surrounded by gorgeous snow capped mountains. I think what makes
Laya more beautiful is the people in it with their unique dress and culture. I
found them very friendly and the fact that you can only see their homeland
after that strenuous walk, makes you appreciate their beauty more. There are no
traffics just this feeling of euphoria everywhere, that will make you want to
marry a Layap there and settle there forever :P
 
yaks are the main source of income for the Layaps
So,
the question “Do Layaps smell?”. Here is the thing, Laya is so cold that, when
you get served with free food, and you know how you have to wait for the curry
just for few minutes to eat with the rice, by the time curry is served, your
rice is already ice cold. That is how cold Laya is. When it is cold, the
question of sweating profusely is out of the question, and I think we stink
more for you know we are always sweating. Modernisation has taken a toll there
in Laya and they know how to take care of themselves and now you know they don’t
stink. Their beauty, culture and hospitality overshadows everything even if few do smell :P
When West meets the East
Note to
the readers
 Laya Central School with the students
We all have that desire to travel, be it abroad
or anywhere. Sometimes we are just busy or we are too broke to travel, and when
you have money you don’t find the friends who likes to travel. Here is the
thing again, I had been planning this trip to Laya since last year and I made
this happen by asking most of my friends if they wanted to go. And for budget
travelling, we shamelessly asked our old friends at Punakha, Gasa and even Laya
if we could crash in at their place and honestly it didn’t cost us much. For the leave you know you can manage, cook up some stories 😛. We
might not have had the best sleeps in the world but travelling sure filled us
with enough memories and you know we might be better story tellers to our future
grand children. So, before you believe in the stereotypes, go find it
for yourselves for stereotypes are meant to be broken. Wishing you many more travels and blessings :)
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