Druk Hotel Thimphu

... that tourism is an important means of achieving socio-economic development. It also recognizes that tourism, by encouraging travel to other countries, can promote understanding among people and build closer ties of friendship based on appreciation and respect for different cultures and lifestyles. There are, however, problems associated with tourism which, if not controlled, can have devastating and irreversible impacts on the environment ...

... We soon headed back to our house, ensuring thigh bones were still attached and thankful that we had limited our fluid intake as our bathroom was down a ladder, out 2 doors, through the vegie garden in a wooden outhouse, about 4 feet high. Better to go thirsty for the night. After a hike down the mountain the next morning, we left the other group and made our way to the monastary of the Bhuddist figure, the Divine Madman. The Divine Madman is a bit of a character in Bhuddism, as ...

... So it was that our final day of travel en route to Bhutan began. Tired, cranky, stomach too sleepy to accept the notion of any food. But food did arrive courtesy of our travel company. The best part of it all was that the Indian gentleman who brought it up to our room was sufficiently underwhelmed with his tip, that he indicated it was 'quite small', and duly asked for some more. Not fully awake, we duly obliged but later realized that we ...

... your usual three icons, the Bhudda, the Unifier and the Bringer. It was pretty nice. Once out, we moved on upstairs to another temple, The Demon Subjicating temple. There were no demons and all over the place were Bhuddas. It was different to anything we had seen so we left a donation and walked out. One other thing about Cheri Monastery is that there are loads of mountain goats, and as they won't be eaten, they are ...

... back country on the planet. The cast of characters was as follows: -2 guides -7 trekkers -7 staff -3 horsemen -17 horses/mules -1 stray dog Our journey began with a 30 minute bus ride to the end of the Paro valley. The3 landscape was dotted with chortens (stupas or religious monuments), monasteries and the beautiful traditional stone and wood homes of the Bhutanese farmers. An old dzong (fortress) marked the start of our path. It meandered through ...

... of the monastery itself as you approach it that it the most impressive. Inside there are statues of Guru Ringpoche who is supposed to have jumped here on the back of a tiger to save the people from some evil forces. Nobody knows what happened to him after that. I had streched properly not to feel pain the next day and was OK. My guide had no clue what I was doing when he saw me stretching, not very athletic this young man! This time we went up at the same ...