Told in the hills
Flags in the wind
The thousands of flags at Chele La are not decoration. They are lungta, 'wind horse' prayer flags, printed with prayers and mantras, and the Bhutanese belief is that the wind carries the prayers across the land as the flags flap, spreading blessings to all beings. The coloured strings, in blue, white, red, green and yellow, stand for the elements. The tall white flags on poles, called darchor, are often raised in groups of 108 in memory of someone who has died, to help their passage.
High passes are favoured places for flags because they catch the most wind and are where travellers have always stopped to give thanks for a safe climb. Bhutanese families drive up to Chele La to put up flags on auspicious days, sometimes with a monk to bless them first. You may see a family tying a new string between poles while the old ones, faded and torn, are left to wear away; burning or throwing old flags on the ground is avoided.
If you want to put up flags yourself, your guide can help you buy them in Paro and choose an appropriate spot, and will explain the right way to raise them. Do not take flags as souvenirs or walk on fallen ones. The pass is also an old crossing: before the road was built, people walked between the Paro and Haa valleys over this ridge, and the road follows a route that farmers and traders used for generations.
Pinned to the board
Did you know
At about 3,988 m, Chele La is generally described as the highest motorable road pass in Bhutan.
On clear days the pass gives views of Jomolhari, at about 7,326 m one of Bhutan's most sacred mountains, on the border with Tibet.
Haa valley, on the far side of Chele La, was opened to foreign tourists only in 2002.
