Blogs from Paro, Bhutan, Asia
May 6th 2012
DAYS AT THE TINY, ENIGMATIC KINGDOM OF BHUTAN KUZUZANGBO LA (“Hello in Dzongkha, the official language of Bhutan) I started travelling to the Himalayan region in 2005 with my first trip to Tibet. I got a taste of the Buddhist way of life up close and personal, and fell in love with it. In the years to follow I returned to Tibet two more times, and visited Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, India and Thailand. One last place where Buddhism is prominent remained on my bucket list until now: the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the Land of the Thunder Dragon. My curiosity about Bhutan heightened when I read about its philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) and even more so when I met an young Bhutanese who spoke so proudly of his country’s eco friendly stands ... read more
May 2nd 2012
The Road to Tibet, ....I mean Bhutan - Part 2 April 25, Pokhara to Janakur, Nepal After an enjoyable stay back at the Temple Tree hotel in Pokhara, we are ready to continue our journey. We have 3 long days averaging about 360 kms per day, which doesn't sound like much, but over here that is between 8 and 10 hours driving time, a long time on a motorcycle over horrendous, dusty, busy roads. The first leg is Pokhara to Janukpur. Rabi arranged for special accommodation at a guest house located inside a Leprosy treatment center. My first encounter with leprosy was on my last visit to Nepal when we raised money for the Sewa Kendra leprosy center in Kathmandu. The chief medical officer and nurse gave us a tour of the facility. There were over ... read more
December 4th 2011
I have been looking at photos and videos. Been reading travelers' accounts about their trek up the Taktshang Monastery.This is Bhutan's most famoust monastery perched on a cliff overlooking the valley of Paro. My mind was set that I would at least hike up to the Halfway Station where the Cafeteria is, and where one is able to look at the pilgrims' site at eye level, but for the deep abyss separating the Cafeteria site and the cliff-hugging Monastery on the other side. From the base up to the Halfway Station, the trail crossing a pine forest is basically a copper-colored dirt path following a stream for some time , then winding up the mountain. After that it's stone steps down the side of a hill and back up to the temple. About 900 meters above ... read more
December 1st 2011
The Himalayas. Shangrila. Gross National Happiness. The Mystique of Tibetan Buddhism in Bhutan. Young and Newly-Married Monarch... A young King at 27. Prime Minister Thinley looking more like a Dalai Lama to me, speaking of a country's collective pursuit of HAPPINESS. Monasteries which also house state offices and serving as fortresses, called Dzongs. Church and State ruling under one roof. Houses painted with phalluses, in memory of the Divine Madman, one of its revered saints. The same phallic symbols turned into hanging ornaments decorating both village houses and urban buildings. Mini-monks, bald chanting nuns and local folks --- so pious, so polite and so amazingly trusting. Where and how do I begin my story about my week in Bhutan?... read more
May 10th 2011
We were sorry to leave the Dang Chhu and the beauty of Hotel Kichu. Nonetheless, many hours of driving were ahead of us as we moved into the final 2 days of our Bhutan experience. After driving all morning through the endless beauty of Bhutan's mountainous landscape, we arrived in Thimphu for last minute shopping and lunch. We then continued on to Paro where we visited the very moving former home of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the revered teacher of the 14th Dalai Lama, who left his body in 1991. A Tibetan who fled the Chinese invasion, he eventually made Paro, Bhutan his home, and was greatly honored there. His home felt very personal with lots of photos and personal effects. Next door was his monastery which had some of the finest statues of Padmasambhava we've seen. ... read more
September 7th 2010
It was an early start Friday morning, up and on the tube to Heathrow by 6.30am. We arrived in plenty of time to pick me up some new shades and enjoy a glass of champagne in the lounge, before boarding the near empty flight to New Delhi. We managed to get the exit row seats so plenty of leg room for the 8.5hr journey. The new airport in Delhi was very spacious; sadly it looked like the carpets were from the late 70’s, brown with a wide pattern. How they found a company manufacturing carpet like that is a mystery. After walking about 1km we arrived at customs. I was a little nervous as realised I had a business visa and had ticked ‘holiday/leisure’ visit. But all was well and we were both waved through and ... read more
November 22nd 2009
Today we hiked to Takstang, the most famous and the most beautiful monastery of Bhutan. There are no buses from Paro so we took a taxi (Rs 200 for a drop and Rs 600 for a return trip). The trek starts from a village approx. 12 kms from Paro. It is an easy 2 hour trek uphill to Takstang from here. The trail is loaded with stupendous views of the beautiful Takstang perched on a rock 500 m from the valley floor. As you keep climbing up you start getting the panoramic views of the Paro valley below. Exactly halfway through the trek is a government of Bhutan managed cafeteria with neat benched placed on a small platform with unhindered views of Takstang. Without doubt a beautiful place for that hot cuppa tea. But the tea ... read more
November 21st 2009
Today was the big day to trek to Takstang Monastery, also called Tiger's nest, arguably the most famous monastery of Bhutan. But a Friday night out literally wasted out our plans. Paro is a small town with nothing much to do. So at 6.30 pm yesterday we were in our hotel room watching the movie Dostana. Watching a hindi movie on a gay couple with two other guys on a laptop was certainly not our idea of explore Bhutan trip. So we just shut it down and got out of our hotel to check out the 'night scene' of Paro. There are a lot of bars in Paro that boast of 'bar, live music and snooker'. Our first stop was a bar named Khamsaa. It was 7 pm and and bar was almost empty except for ... read more
November 20th 2009
A late night show of Jack Nicolson's "Something Gotta Give" resulted in we getting up late and it was already 10.30 am when we reached the bus stand. Unfortunately there are just two buses between the two largest cities of Bhutan, Thimpu and Paro, one at 9.00 am and the other at 2.00 pm. So we looked around for Taxi. A nice guy agreed to take us for 100 bucks each with the condition that he wont leave till he gets a fourth one. After circling the bus-stand for about half an hour shouting "Paro Chi, Paro Chi" (One seat for Paro), he gave up and headed to Paro. A smooth ride (a rarity in Bhutan) of one hour and we were in Paro. Paro is a beautiful small town with the only airport in Bhutan ... read more
October 19th 2009
Atypical tour. It's not about tourist attractions, shopping, souvenir shops etc... It's all about the simplicity of life, the warmth of the people, the unspoilt nature and the colourful culture. We were lucky to have a wonderful guide who included little "side programmes" to enhance our overall experience. It was like visiting friends' friends, feeling very relaxed and safe. We visited the weekend market at Thimphu. There weren't any tourists around. The locals just got on to their own business, with absolutely no touting to us. They welcomed us to take all the photos we wanted. They'll smile willingly for us and we'll share the photos we took of them, like what we will do with our friends. When we were in Phobjikha, our guide Sonam, brought us to a local store for a drink. It ... read more
