Blogs from Paro, Bhutan, Asia - page 6

Oy. I did not sleep well last night at all…I think I got eaten alive around my ankles and that is the worst! It was SO itchy…so I was kind of cranky all day. Anyway, we headed to the Paro Dzong. The architecture is all Bhutanese and apparently the finest. It is a pretty big temple although the area where the tsechu is held in the spring is much smaller than Thimphu. We then headed to the National Museum which used to be the old watchtower for the dzong…its sits up on the hill above the dzong. It is definitely an informative place and well worth the drive there…although it is just above the dzong you cant go the direct route as it is just for royalty so instead you take a 12 minute drive…neat. Mind ... read more

As I write I am on the Druk Air flight to Paro, Bhutan. We have a quick stop in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The flight is not all that long…2 hr 15 min to Dhaka and nearly two hours to Paro. I am beyond excited to start the next part of my journey. Last night I flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok so I could catch this early morning flight. I decided that instead of killing time a t the airport hotel in between my arrival and departure, that I would rather fill my time by heading into the center of Bangkok. I opted to take the bus versus a taxi, which still would have been inexpensive - one hour is only about 10USD versus the 5USD for the bus. But I figured I’d meet more people to ... read more

Okay, that title may not make sense now, but I promise it will soon! The highlight of our India/Bhutan tour was -- Bhutan! We wish we had planned to spend more time there and we've promised ourselves to get back there some day. We flew to Bhutan on Thanksgiving Day. Our flight was on DrukAir -- the Royal Airline of Bhutan -- and the ONLY airline allowed to fly in and out of the small Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan where about 700,000 people live. Bhutan lies along the lofty ridges of the eastern Himalayas and on our flight we were blessed with magnificent views of some of the world's highest glacial peaks -- including Mt. Everest! (Check it out Gary -- we were thinking of you!) The Bhutanese people are peaceful and unassuming and from what ... read more

22/09/06 Taktstang - The Tiger's Nest Taktsang Temple monastry is probably the most famous site in Bhutan and revered as a holy place built on the spot where Guru Rimpochey, the Great Buddhist Master landed on his Tigress after flying from India in the 8th Century and meditated in a cave high up on the cliff side. The shrine in the cave was slowly added to with additional buildings until the monastic temple was formed. Destroyed by fire in the 1990's, the temple was completely re-built and only finished and re-ordained in recent years. Legend has it that the gold statue of Guru Rimpochey was just too heavy for the men carrying it up the mountainside (When hiking up the steep steps from 2200m - 3100m you can really appreciate that it would have been hard ... read more

Bhutan is like the land where time stood still! Mobile phones have just hit the streets here and TV’s are barely out of their boxes in this Himalayan paradise. Bhutan although shunning the western thirst for gadgets and commercialization does have great ambition and is a sort of trendsetter in its own right - one of the few countries to completely ban tobacco and the proud owner of the largest book in the world (just a whisker taller than me!). Also we soon noticed in our luxury hotel that the restaurants were keen to set a world record for the fastest time to serve a 3 course meal, the 7 staff serving us managed an impressive 33 minutes on our second night!! The service is extraordinary at breakfast I was offered tea countless times by numerous ... read more