Dungkar

Dungkhar means “conch shell” in Dzongkha; the village bears its name because the slope on which it is located winds around like the spiral of that shell. The packed-mud houses spread along the hill with fields, cows and chortens in between. The village has a pleasantly faraway feeling to it. It stands as an outpost 3–4 hours by dirt road from the already remote Lhuentse. Here, life continues as it always has. This village is unique, though — in the middle of town, Dungkhar Ngatshang stands out as a four-story mansion among the local farmers’ simple two-story houses. From this noble house of Dungkhar, the Bhutanese royal family descends. The father of the first king of Bhutan, Jigme Namgyel, was born in this house. Later, he left to become the ruler of Trongsa. His son became the first king of Bhutan, a title that has since been passed along the family line. These days, the house stands empty; the royal family resides several days’ drive away in the capital. Instead, a few monks from Lhuentse Dzong act as caretakers. They show interested visitors around the vacant mansion. On the crest of a hill just below Dungkhar Ngatshang, another beautiful four-story mansion houses the Dungkhar Choejay. This noble family also descends from the ancestors of the royal family and from P...