Blogs from Paro, Bhutan, Asia - page 4

Hello Everyone - We hope that you are all well! A couple of thousand years ago, Guru Rimpoche flew on the back of a tiger to a remote cliff face in order to meditate. Some plucky monks subsequently built a monastery at this sacred spot. How they managed this is a mystery. It represents a builder's worst nightmare for location - it is a rock face with a building sticking out the side. Anway, we trekked up here with our friend Pem. The inside is as impressive as the outside, and from here, perched high up on a cliff face overlooking an enormous valley the view is probably amazing. Unfortunately for us, we were in the middle of torrential moonsonal rain, and shrouded by thick thick cloud, so our view could have been anywhere. It was ... read more

The taxi driver to the airport to catch flight number 15 was a bit of a maniac. We were glad it was early on a Sunday morning so it was nice and quiet. In India outside Ladakh we have loved the architecture and enjoyed the company of some of the people we have met (both locals and 'tourists'), the colourfullness is nice and the chaos can be fun. The heat and humidity was manageable, it didn't kill us, but we would have enjoyed it far more if they were both cranked down 2 notches. And we don't mind paying tourist prices in poor countries (as long as they are reasonable) or being touted for business. But we hate the underlying dishonesty and being messed around, by no means is everyone like that but it is so ... read more

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

Typically, I dedicate an entire blog about food in the country I visited. I failed to do that in Bhutan. Bhutan has many many lovely sceneries ... from the stunning views of the Himalayas to the gho or Kira-clad Bhutanese going about their daily business, to the monks and mini-monks, and the quaint architecture of their Dzongs and temples. Food was the least of my concerns while I was there. For one, I've been warned that Bhutanese cuisine does not exactly count many fans. Vegetarians would likely not complain. Most dishes are non-meat. There isn't also a good source of seafood outside of those brought in from India. Landlocked, there isn't much variety in local ingredients. For the whole week I was there, I ate a lot of potatoes and vegetable dumplings. All that accompanied by ... read more

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