Visit to Gasa Hot Springs
Tsachus or hot water springs are found in many parts of Bhutan. According to folklore, these were created by Guru Rinpoche, the saint who converted Bhutan to Buddhism. Tsachus of Laya and Lunana are the most isolated and least known. Gasa Tsachu is easily accessible and most popular. The waters of the hot springs have medicinal properties and are effective cure for a number of ailments.
One winter morning, to be precise on February 5, six of us left Thimphu by Hilux for Gasa hot springs in the far north of the country. The weather was bright and sunny. With three short halts on the way, it took us seven hours to reach Damzi Chorten - the end of motor able road to Gasa. We looked for a place to park our car.
The local people, mainly horsemen who escort the visitors to Gasa hot springs informed us that there was no parking place at Damzi Chorten and to leave the vehicle unattended was not safe. So we decided to park our vehicle at the horsemen’s place that we had hired along with their horses to accompany us to Gasa hot springs. These horsemen though quite helpful are not at all honest and try to cheat the visitors who repose trust in them. There are instances of visitors robbed of their entire belongings by horsemen. We were six of us and very watchful, even then they took away our gas stove. We came to know about it when we reached Thimphu.
To check this type of cheating, it’s essential that the horsemen are registered with the District Administration and made mandatory for them to display their registration number on their dress. It would be ideal to open two offices, one at the road point and the other at the gate of the hot springs during the peak season as is done during important tsechues. These offices can register the horsemen, fix the rates and give the registration number of the horsemen to the travelers.
After a short halt for quick lunch and engaging horsemen and horses, we left Damzi Chorten at about 1 pm and reached Gasa hot springs at about 4 pm. The walk through dense, verdant forest, the steep gorges and craggy cliffs offered us a magical experience of Bhutan’s wild and unspoilt beauty. We took about three hours to reach Gasa. But for old and sick, it would be five hours’ journey.
We were greeted at Gasa hot springs by a signboard saying, ‘Welcome to Gasa hot spring - our common heritage, use with care’. The Gasa hot springs bubble forth from the riverside at the base of the dzong. From the opposite side of the springs the dzong looks unreal. It seems floating in the air against the backdrop of towering snow peaks and brilliant blue sky.
The hot springs have five ponds. Each is fed from the different springs and each treats a different ailment. Though there are bathrooms and shower rooms and a notice instructing the visitors, ‘Do not enter the pond before taking shower from this bath house’, people enter the ponds without taking bath and that too with their dirty clothes on. This irreverence to the instructions may be attributed to the illiteracy of the people and the absence of the guides.
Out of the five ponds one is a royal pond. The water from this pond flows to the second pond. The water of these two ponds is very hot and is said to cure tuberculosis. The water of the third pond, it is believed cures blood related and bone diseases. The water of the fourth cures insanity and that of the fifth venereal diseases. The water of the hottest pond is supposed to cure venereal diseases but Gasa is an exception. Here the water of the cold spring is considered to cure venereal diseases.
According to folklore a man from Laya who was drunk entered the pond and got drowned. His death made the pond impure and its water lost its heat. Another pond next to this also dried up as a woman made it impure by delivering a child in it. These hot springs are sacred sites - home of deities and water goddesses. So, one has to be very careful while entering it. If traditional customs are not observed they lose heat and their curative powers.
MEDICINAL WATERS: There are 13 medicinal waters in and around the hot springs. I went on tone called Tokomanchu located at about one and half hours walk from Gasa hot springs. Since my brother-in-law and I did not have any guide, we lost the way thrice, only to be corrected by the rural settlers. The water here is ice cold but is said to cure headache and migraines. We were asked to immerse our head in the water as long as we could endure it. My head was in water for half an hour while my brother-in-law could keep his only for 20 minutes. I could have continued for a longer period, had the people around not compelled me to come out. They thought if continued longer, I would faint.
SINUS CURE HOLES: Gasa Tsachu is famous for curing sinus. Here the holes from which the gas comes out are fitted with plastic bottles from which the afflicted persons inhale the gas. There is a belief that those who suffer from sinus are cured by inhaling the gas but if others do so, they develop sinus problems. Quite a number of people take the water home for their relatives and friends from the nearby stream.
ACCOMMODATION: There are two guest houses at the hot springs - one for the royal family and the other for the general public. A flat rate of Nu 50 per night is charged for a small room which can with difficulty accommodate six persons. There are three such rooms. Besides these rooms, there are two common halls - one upstairs and another on the ground floor. The rent for the ground floor is free. Here, the visitors can cook their own food. The District Administration, on request, gives permission to government officials to pitch tents on the ground next to the guest house. The general public without seeking permission from District Administration can pitch their tents on a site little further down from the ponds which is crowded and dirty.
I do not approve of pitching the tents as the practice is not eco-friendly. Every time a new group comes, it cuts trees to make poles for tents. If the practice is allowed to continue, the hot spring areas would soon be without young trees. To deal with this problem, caretakers should be employed to take care of the poles used by the previous visitors.
We left Thimphu on February 14, after spending nine nights at the hot springs. According to a Buddhist belief, it is auspicious to end good things in odd number, so we spent nine nights at the hot springs. This was a very memorable trip and I look forward to visit the Gasa hot springs again but for a longer period.
By: Phintsho Dorji