Chimi Dema traversed the Trans Bhutan Trail before she was even born. Her mother, four months pregnant, carried her in her belly as she made a four-day pilgrimage to Chimi Lhakhang, known as the fertility temple, in west Bhutan’s Punakha valley.
Having miscarried before falling pregnant with Chimi, she was taking no chances and went to seek a blessing for a healthy pregnancy.
Chimi explains this as we stroll through emerald-green rice fields leading to Sopsokha, a village that sits at the foot of Chimi Lhakhang. At about a 30-minute walk from the car to the temple, it’s a significantly shorter, and far less precarious trek compared to the four-day journey—in both directions—her mother endured.
It’s also a reminder that tales from the trail aren’t far-flung legends, but living memory for many Bhutanese, including Chimi, who was assigned to as a guide during our stay in Bhutan. Visitors to the country are required to have a tour guide when visiting cultural and religious sites, which was admittedly off-putting at first. But spending time in Bhutan simultaneously lifts and thickens the veil on its mystery, and in a country as reclusive and mysterious as this, having someone that acts not just as
