Blogs from Bhutan, Asia - page 18

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Asia » Bhutan » Thimphu November 16th 2009

The ceiling fan blowing air at full speed and the sun rays being blocked by the surrouding buildings, I slept till 8.30 am what seemed a luxury a couple of days ago at HMI. Welcome to the plains ! I hurriedly freshened up to keep the appointment at 9.00 am. In the last month, bath showed up just a couple of times on my morning schedule. No chance here. We crossed the border to Phuntsholing and headed to the immigration bureau for our permits. They accept only passport and voter id cards. Shyam had his driving license and we had a tough time getting through. The people at the Indian embassy were unhelpful to the point of being rude. Not that the Bhutanese guys are courteous, but the Assistant immigration officer might just help you out ... read more

Asia » Bhutan » Thimphu November 15th 2009

Photos : Here Duration : 9 days Cost : Rs. 4200/- per head for a group of 3 from Siliguri, India Itinerary * Day 1: Siliguri to Jaigaon (WB) (4 hour journey) and halt * Day 2: Obtained permits at Phuntsholing and head to Thimpu (5-6 hour journey). * Day 3: Local sight seeing in Thimpu and obtain permits for Punakha, Thangu-Cherry and Takstang monastry * Day 4: Day visit to Punakha monastery and back to Thimpu * Day 5: Day hike to Cherry monastery and back to Thimpu. * Day 6: Thimpu to Paro and local sight seeing in Paro * Day 7: Wasted in Paro due to extended friday night celebrations taking an unfortunate turn * Day 8: Day hike to Takstang Monastery and back to Paro. * Day 9: Paro to Phunstholing ... read more

Asia » Bhutan » Thimphu November 15th 2009

After 28 days in mountains, it was time to head for plains, to Jaigaon, the border town in India where one can enter Bhutan, the land of the Thunder dragon. I boarded the only direct state transport bus to Jaigaon from Darjeeling at 7.30 am (ticket Rs.135/-). A less time consumping option would be to take a shared jeep to Siliguri and then another one to Jaigaon. The bus seats were quite comfortable and an advance booking got me a single seat right next to the driver. The driver was a jolly person having been perfected the art of multi-tasking. He knew almost every other person on the way and waved to each of them as his other hand negotiated the narrow hair pin bends. When not waving, he talked on his swanky Moto razr phone ... read more

Asia » Bhutan » Trashigang November 3rd 2009

This year has travelled more than I have, and faster. Only two months left for the Raffle Quiz. Here's are new RQs: 11.1: What is the national bird of Bhutan? 11.2: What year were USA advisors first sent to Vietnam? 11.3: Lo Muthang: where?... read more

Asia » Bhutan » Thimphu October 19th 2009

While we were changing money currency at the bank, we noticed that one of the tellers had rather dramatic eyes with ultra thick eyeliner. Mmm.... we were pretty curious on the "standard" of beauty in Bhutan. Then in Thimphu, we saw Sonam reading a copy of Yeewong. We kaypoh lor, borrowed his copy to browse. The magazine contained pictures of Miss Bhutan 2008 contestants and write-up about them. Being the bimbo us, we screeched and bitched about how these women looked. "My god, look at their eye-liner (they outlined the entire eye with thick black ink)..... Goodness, look at their hair.... Aiyo, make-up so ugly" But Ok, to be fair, they all looked pretty fine in their casual no-make-up look. We tried to do a simple on-ground survey. "Sonam, Namgay, who is pretty here, who is ... read more

Asia » Bhutan » Paro 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
Schools Kids
Lunch place
Religious ritual at local home

Asia » Bhutan » Paro October 18th 2009

Heard from the gals that nightlife in Thimphu is very happening. Wanted to go explore right after we came back from trekking. Can't believe it! We could actually still bothered go chiong after 3 days trek. To our little disappointment, we ended up in a "tame" restaurant cum bar Tenzes. Asked the waitress if there's any disco in town. Her eye lit up and said on Fri (tmr). She suggested we can go together tmr! A pity we had to leave Thimphu for Paro tmr :( On our last day at Paro, Sonam brought us to a local club. It was like a community nightclub where customers get to pick a song and the dancers will go up to the stage to perform. The songs and dance were hilarious. After that, we went to a karaoke ... read more

Asia » Bhutan October 17th 2009

Planned for a 3 days not-too-difficult trek, starting from Phobjika Valley to Wangdue. My 2 travel mates were most worried about, what to wear and how to go toilet... I was extremely shocked to hear that Mich wore her pyjamas pants beneath her Columbia pants (to keep warm)!! So hilarious... glad she finally decided to take it off before we embark on the journey. Our entourage was impressive! For just 3 trekkers, we had a guide, Sonam, 1 cook, 1 asst cook, horseman + wife together with their 6 horses! First day was pretty easy, we walked on road, some trails and some mushy grassland... lovely scenery. We were also treated to fabulous lunch of soggy instant noodles and soft boiled eggs yummy! Arrived at our first campsite well before dusk. Wow! So elaborate! 2 sleeping ... read more
Campfire warming my feet
Camp fire
Morning view

Asia » Bhutan October 10th 2009

Learnt about the Wheel of Life at Punakha Dzong today. In summary, the Wheel of Life is driven by the hub of 3 poisons, snake depicting jealousy and hatred, cock depicting greed and pig depicting Ignorance. These corrupt us from within, which determines the cause and effect of lives. The 3 poisons are surrounded by the six world which sentient beings take rebirth. They comprises of god, demi-god, humans, animals, hungry ghosts and demons. The wheel reminds us that everyone is responsible for their own fate, dependant on their karma, the effect of their own deeds. I'm sure there are more to the teachings than just this simplified version. However, it got me into thinking of the "poisons" which we possess... though I'm not sure what is the effect gonna be on us. I have to ... read more

Asia » Bhutan » Trashigang September 28th 2009

Hello Everyone Well here we are in Trashigang, Eastern Bhutan. Since I last "blogged" in Thimphu we have travelled approx 600km across the country, on what must be the windiest, narrowest but most beautiful road in the world..... The No 1 highway basically runs through the middle of the country from Thimphu (the capital) to Trashigang (where we are now). As I think I may have already mentioned Bhutan is made up of a series of very steep valleys, so the road winds it's way up, down & around the mountains. Progress is very slow as the road is cut into the side of the mountains, is very narrow with sheer drops on one side. It turns back on itself constantly, with almost every bend at least 180 degrees. I would love to know how many ... read more




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