Blogs from Bhutan, Asia - page 14

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

I started a Kickstarter campaign to present some previously unpublished photos from this trip. I hope you'll help support the project by contributing or passing on the info. Thanks! Be sure to go to the link and watch the short video. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2064172001/crossroads-in-the-himalaya Contributing to this Kickstarter campaign will allow me to print and frame a series of photos that I shot in Bhutan and Ladakh in 2007-08. I will seek out gallery space to present this exhibition and host an opening. I want to present them to the public as a gallery opening because gallery exhibitions are a way to create a focused space. The public can meet at a destination to explore what these photos mean in a new context. In essence, I want to bring people together in similar... read more

Spending a week in Bhutan yielded 3 blog posts here and I feel I'm not done yet. Not until I write about this. Of all the cultures I have experienced, theirs is markedly different in a way I feel compelled to explain. After all, it is not everyday that you find houses with hanging phalluses and the same subject painted on their walls. Some in full color, even beribboned, with matching pubic background. Excuse me, did you say THAT is the phallus of one of your favorite saints? Yes, this requires some good explaining. Our tour guide Sonam Norbu gave us a glimpse of Bhutanese culture as he narrated the story of the "Thunderbolt of Flaming Wisdom" which is how they referred to THAT. He narrated it so matter-of-factly that one begins to believe how seriously ... read more

I would have thought I stepped into my own imagination. My own dream. This trip to Bhutan is so markedly off the usual, beaten paths. Not being melodramatic, but Bhutan is truly one fairyland. Men and women in local costumes, dogs blending in with the locals like they are members of the small Bhutanese populace (they are still under 1 Million as of this writing), mountain views and bubbling streams, a culture so unique, a very strong national identity. Dzongs as Fortresses and Monasteries White monoliths dominate the landscape. Like castles. Some on dry, dead mountains. Others at the junction of flowing rivers. We have been to three dzongs, but managed to explore only 2. We regret having missed exploring the interiors of the Paro Dzong (Rinpung Dzong) as we were dead tired after that climb ... read more

Yetis & dragons review They were right when they told me my traveling experience is incomplete if I haven't visited Bhutan. I thought it was just a normal sales pitch, by the travel company I hired, Yetis & Dragons. They are a good bunch of efficient people, and very kind people as well, so I thought I well name this article as yetis & dragons review. I recommend this agency to anyone who is going there, and you will be impressed by their services. My visit there, made me believe that there is one land on this earth where people are still the same, same here means pure. When they laugh they really want to laugh, it comes out from their soul. And now I know more about United nations as well. UN has this happiness ... read more