Tashi Yangtse
Tashi Yangtse is 53km (2 hours’ driving) from Tashigang and borders the Indian state of Arunchal Pradesh. The small town is concentrated around the large Chorten Kora, and is famous for its wooden cups and bowls made using water-driven and treadle lathes; it is also a centre for paper manufacture and much of the local paper around Bhutan is made here.
Few Western Bhutanese have visited Tashi Yangtse as it is so far east. Those that do are nervous at first because they find the atmosphere so different from what they are used to in the west of Bhutan, but once they have settled in they are often reluctant to leave!
For an account of a trek to a remote monastery near to Tashi Yangtse, by kind permission of the author, read Solange Hando’s article “Rigsum Gompa“, which first appeared in the Druk Air magazine “Tashi Delek” – text and photos copyright Solange Hando, all rights reserved
Interesting Places
Chorten Kora is modelled after the Bodnath Stupa of Kathmandu in Nepal and was built in 1740 by Lama Ngawang Loday. It is highly revered. People who cannot visit the Bodnath Stupa come to the Chorten Kora; they are thought to bestow equal religious merits on pilgrims. During the second month of Bhutan’s lunar calendar (March or April), the people of Tashi Yangtse celebrate the Chorten Kora festival which attracts people from far and wide.
Bumdeling National Park. Two to three hours’ hike from Chorten Kora is the National Park, an important nesting place for black necked cranes. The broad Bumdeling valley also provides a habitat for migrant birds.
On the way from Tashigang to Tashi Yangtse, after about 13 km, is Gom Kora, a very holy place because of the bodily imprint left by Guru Rinpoche while meditating. The Gom Kora festival is held here each spring.
