Blogs from Bhutan, Asia - page 25

The night's sleep proved most effective, still I'm not doing too well. I wake up with a headache and a slight stomach pain, the voice is still out of order, the throat is soar and I keep sneezing a lot. Still, the climate here in Mongar is much warmer than in Bumthang and it doesn't hamper my mood. After a slow start we go out to take a look at the local dzong before moving on towards Trashigang. The Mongar dzong is a fairly new construction, built as late as in 1953. The original dzong was located in Shongar near Lingmethang which we passed through yesterday. The dzong is located above the city and the view from here is quite nice, blue sky with fluffy little white clouds. Compared to the historical dzongs the Mongar dzong ... read more

We're waking up to another glorious day, the sun shines brightly in a cloudfree blue sky, and the temperature is chilly enough to make the cold morning shower feel like a chore. For the first time of the trip we are allowed the luxury of staying in the same place two nights in a row, Tshering having scheduled visits to the remaining temples and sights here in Bumthang. Mr Dorji, proprietor of the Gongkhar guesthouse, offers up a toast and cornflakes breakfast, cycling the menu a bit to keep things interesting. This man really deserves recognition for his spotless operation, and I would heartily recommend a stay at his guesthouse if you happen to be in town. After breakfast Tshering suggests we go back to Lhodrak Kharchhu Shedra, the buddhist college located on a hill above ... read more

Waking up to yet another sunny day in the Punak Chhu valley. After a light breakfast I sneak outside for some quick morning views before departing for Wangdi. The hotel is situated in a residential neighbourhod of Lobesa with typical two-three story apartment blocks and smaller houses and sheds. The roads are littered with primary school students of varying ages walking to school in their blue and grey uniforms. I walk down the road with some 3rd grade students who are both curious and shy at the same time, and speak a lot better English than many grown ups in this country. As I head back to the hotel I learn that Tshering and Dorji had a pretty lousy night, having had to make do with a shared a room with other staffers. Seems the Y.T. ... read more

At 3.30 in the morning I came to an abrupt halt just outside the hotel door. Standing there bag in hand just about to go down to the street and flag down a cab I noticed that it was raining. Well, correction is in order, it was pouring down in a noisy cascade of grey and black. Luckily there was a taxi parked a bit down the road and even though I ran to it like crazy I still managed to get completely soaked from head to toe. The rain continued to hammer the roof relentlessly as we got underway, southbound for the airport. As the taxi came to a halt under an elevated road the car suddenly felt very silent and disconnected from the world, the windows still running with water and turning the outside ... read more

27/09/06 - 29/09/06 Wangdue Sure enough with Bless-ed Rainy Day over, the weather picked up and we started having sunshine and blue skies. Our journey back West was initially to the Yanghill Resort in Trongsa. Our first incident of the day was a landslide on the road. We whiled away a few minutes in the sun waiting for the JCB to clear the boulders away. It didn't take too long ,this was the main East - Wast highway after all! Following our morning traveling, we went for an afternoon drive south, following the valley to an old village, Kuenga Rapten. En route, along the side of the road, sat two characters; country folk in country hats. We stopped and agreed a fee of some apples in return for photographing their expressive, photogenic faces. We stopped at ... read more