18th January 2020 We werent going to eat last night given the amount of lunch we'd had, but I started getting peckish at around 8...I did have half a taco after all. Shane isnt going to have anything. He's still full from lunch. The Riad does cook meals but you need to give advance notice. The cook can make some cous cous up if thats ok. I'm well happy with that and so apparently is Shane, who isnt going to have anything tonight because he's still chockers from lunch! Honestly, both of these meals were monstrous and included salads and 2 tagines of cous cous and beautiful vegetables and lamb. We've had a fabulous day today exploring the city and its outer areas. The beautiful park here behind the city, Perdicaris Park, was owned by a ... read more

Saturday 3rdNovember We hit the road this morning for the 6hr trek that isTaktsang Palphug Monastery - ‘Tigers Nest’. I can’t say I’ve been looking forward to this climb even though it is the reason for my wanting to travel to Bhutan. I have no doubt it will be worth it, I just wont enjoy the climb….I never enjoy the climb lol. According to the legend, it is believed that the Guru Rinpocheflew to this location from Tibet on the back of a tigress. This place was consecrated to tame the Tiger demon. In one of the caves here, the Guru then performed meditation and emerged in eight incarnated forms manifestations and the place became holy. As we drive out of Paro and round the next mountain, we view the temple perched precariously way ... read more

Today is a dry day in Bhutan bahahahahahha .It is also a day when no-one in the country apart from taxis and tourist vehicles are allowed on the roads. There wasn’t much going on at the festival early on so we went out to the Kurjey Lhakhang temple. Its an impressive piece of architecture as they all are but today was a very lucky day for us. The first Goemba is presided over by a Lhama in prayer and is very serene. The walls are covered by frescos once again, and also by the thousand Bhudda statues on the opposite wall. The shrine itself is all gold and beauty. We cross over to another of the Goembas which is very sparse as the shrine is hidden by hundred foot wooden doors. Shane decides he isn’t going ... read more

Wednesday 31st October After about 7 hrs on the bumpiest , dustiest and windiest roads on the planet, we arrived in Punakha Valley and visited Chimi Lhakhang, a monastery built by the Divine Madman, Lama Drukpa Kuenley. It was a great walk across the paddy fields. Most of the monastarys here in Bhutan are also orphanages in disguise. There are obviously religious monks living in them, but there are also orphaned boys, and boys whose parents cant afford or aren’t able to keep their children, living in them as well. Lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time yet again, we have received a “wang” (blessing) from the resident monk. This entails being dubbed on the head by an arrow and a large wooden phallus, much to our amusement. Well mine at ... read more

Monday 5thNovember Well that was a bit of a fizzer really. We were the 4th car there out of about 150 and we had a deluxe view. In India that means you get to sit in dodgy lounge chairs in a room on the third floor of a dodgy building with sliding windows, and then, if you’re me, the window you had dibs on because you got there so early, gets invaded by some arrogant German prick who gets there at 5am – and the mongrel wont move! After a hearty breakfast we went to the Mountaineering institute and then to the zoo. The Snow Leopard was an absolutely gorgeous cat as was the sleek and slender Bengal Tiger. Apart from that only the Black Bear was of much interest. The Tibetan Refugee Centre was interesting. ... read more