Rongtse Nye
4th-12-2021
Rangtse Nye (also known as Sangbe Rinchenling) is located at Sombaykha which is in Gakiling Gewog under Haa Dzongkhag and it is believed to be the secret abode where Guru Rinpoche and Khando Yeshey Tshogyel meditated.
This was the hike or could say cave exploration or more of a road trip consisting of three people including myself, Ugyen who had a sleepless night that day, and Jimba, the person who drove more the 14+ hrs that day.
Jimba started from his home at 4:05 am sharp and picked me up at 4:14 am and it was 4:35 am when Ugyen got into the car.
We started from Thimphu to Haa and Haa to Sombaykha via Tergo La (hidden treasure door). It was a mesmerizing drive from Haa to Tergo-La unless you don’t have motion sickness like me. Ugyen kinda seems to have got motion sickness that day. The scenery was enchanting, saw the white fluffy cloud from above, it felt like we were moving on the shore of the ocean of clouds. The kinda sight I would never stop admiring. Soon we had to descend down the mountain coming closer to the shore of those fluffy white clouds. Then I realize maybe something is meant to be adored from far.
Upon reaching Sombaykha, roads were rough and bumpy, it seems difficult for light vehicles. Almost took more than 7 hours drive to reach Rongtse Nye base.
11:49 am we were taking the first steps toward the Rongtse Nye.
It was a mild uphill hike. We had to walk around 40 minutes or 1 hour, had to crisscross the same Nyachhu (stream) three times to reach Rongtse Nye. Found some washed away broken bridge but we were lucky enough that the river was small and shallow, it had a wooden bridge not exactly a wooden bridge, three or four small tree trunks tied together kinda bridge. Anyway, thankful for that kinda bridge as we didn’t have to dip our foot into the cold river water. Heard Rongtse Nye remained hidden until His Majesty the King’s visit on December 23, 2017. On the way, we met with the person selling a book of Rongtse Nye called “A Guide to Sacred Site of Guru Rinpoche- Rongtse Ney” written by Rinchen Khandru, which had a detailed description of nye, wanted to buy but we were cashless and he was not accepting mobile banking. So we drop our idea of buying and became our own guide.
Upon reaching we found two different entrances one lead to Guru Drubkhang (the meditation place of Guru Rinpoche) and the other to Khandro Yeshey Tshogyel Drubkhang. We decided to first enter the Drubkhag of Guru Rinpoche, which took more than an hour to explore. It is believed that there are seven doors inside the cave, but we managed to cross only the five doors. After reaching the third door (Nyego) felt like the cave got warmer and we started to sweat( I don’t know if that was just me), found some bats hanging and sleeping peacefully, but no, peace for me, as it scared the hell out of me and I was getting suffocated with darkness and maybe oxygen was kinda less, I am no science expert though. The further into the cave, the narrower it became and we had to crawl. It was pitch dark. We gave up upon reaching the 6th door as it was too narrow, felt like a tunnel, and kinda got a vibe like we gonna get stuck there. I wonder if there were people out there who dared to enter those 6th and 7th doors of the Nye as all I heard was people returning from the 6th door like us.
Then we enter Khandro Yeshey Tshogyel Drubkhang, which took around less than 30 mins. to explore. The cave was pitch dark and narrow. Unlike Ugyen Guru Dubkhang there was no Nyego.
Found various seashell kind of formations inside both caves which kinda look like a fossil of seashell, with Stalactites Stalagmites, Rimstone, and shiny Piller, found Ugyen guru Footprints, religious book (Stone formation), crown, and many more. But the interesting thing found was Demon’s heart turned in stone, a demon who was subdued by Ugyen Guru.
Before the way to the entrance of the cave, with a 10-15 minutes walk, we can find a magnificent tree believed to be the ' Paksam Joenshing' (Wish fulfilling tree) with peculiar shaped rock and footprints of Guru Rinpoche nearby the wish fulfilling tree.
Jimba drove slowly while returning as it was me and Ugyen who felt like puking now and then. It was around 11:00 pm that we reached home, I mean I entered my house. and directly landed on my warm and cozy bed after having a warm shower.