Hotel Uma Paro

... from traditional Bhutanese paper. Overnight in Thimphu.<br>Day 03: Thimphu Sightseeing.<br>After<br>breakfast continue sight seeing, visit to Textile museum and Folk<br>Heritage Museum, These museums, both of which opened in 2001, provide<br>fascinating insights into Bhutanese material culture and way of life.<br>Handicrafts<br>Emporium: This government-run enterprise displays a wide range of<br>beautifully hand-woven textiles, arts and other craft products.<br>Bhutan<br ...

... Diccon 10 years ago. Renuka a determined character smiley but has a certain hardness about her comes across as very ambitious and has the tendency to be argumentative, I thought to myself here is Geraldine and Tashi plump and good natured reminded my very much of Graham in his earlier days, very jovial and funny loves his food can get a little stroppy sometimes.<br><br>So here is the team, who are under my tutelage for the next three months, lets see how they respond to ...

... are everywhere and a revered life form since they may come back as people in their next life. They do tend to bark at night but Tsetan tells us how the dogs are welcomed because they ward off unseen spirits at night thus protecting the people. So I say let 'em bark. They roam free but are mostly human fed and have been vaccinated in Vet programmes against rabies so are not a threat. In fact the dogs were placid laid ...

[Editorial note - Long time no write, as internet time has been secondary to enjoying the trip - now writing from Delhi from my hand written diary but wont be able to do all of it and photos to be added later - here is a taste] PARO BHUTAN In the foyer where I sit at the Janka Hotel, Paro, Bhutan is a round wall mural in bright greens pinks bliues and grey. A tall tree with lovely fruit is out of reach to elephant monkey rabbit and rooster. But monkey sits on ...

... ancient Buddhist mantras in Sanskrit and periodically poured bless water on them from a curled silver urn that had ornate peacock feathers on top. Occasionally, he tossed rice over them in a direct and calculate manner. They are now blessed to take Buddhist well wishes, goodness and knowledge into the world beyond the Bhutanese borders. Another great culture moment was coming back to my hotel in Paro, and coming across these incriedibly ...

... mixed with a Himalayan version of the Swiss Alps (you get me?!) There's beautiful lush greenery everywhere, bubbling brooks, stepped farming plots, and joyful smiling beautiful people. They all looks so happy to be alive! The houses are designed in traditional Bhutanese architecture, which looks a lot like a Chinese inspired Swiss Chalet. There are no people begging! And no one cares that I'm a single white woman traveling alone (although i told Sangay that I'm ...

... the Raven. Keep in mind, standards are low just now as we have been camping, but it is still a very comfortable hotel! I bolted for the hot shower, and unfortunately for Kitty, the hot water did not seem to last well beyond my time in the tub. Actually, that was unfortunate for both of us, because I did not hear the end of it for some time..... The town was truly alive, and with commerce extending until well after 10pm., we ...

... Off we went, past a couple of stupas, and everytime we looked up, we were getting closer. I suppose that this is the added bonus of going straight up. After around thirty minutes of struggling and shooting, we had arrived. We did a lap of the monastery first of all, spinning all the prayer wheels whilst reciting the first poem once again. Om, you get the drift !!! Inside, we were greeted by a few monks, and inside ...

... of western products and the massive amount of packaging that accompanies these goods was transforming the landscape for the worse. Two reasons that were given for the accumulation were an increased flux of tourists onto a limited number of trails and the fact that locals are not ingrained with the notion that litter is destroying their cash cow of tourism. There is plenty that can be done to ensure that trekking in this part of the world remains ...

... selling to eat on special occasions! It probably seemed worst today because a lot of people were gone back to their district of origin to vote for the first election ever in the country. It felt like the Phillipino maids at Lucky Plaza in Singapore or downtown Hong Kong where they all meet on their day off! Very weird! So we drove for about an hour before we came to a halt. We don't know exactly what happened, a landslide (it had rained the day before) or ...