Norling Hotel Trongsa

... earths and hells." - The Earl of Ronaldshay As the internet here is quite slow and costly ($4 and hour versus the 40 cents and hour in India), here are some slightly random notes from the last several days in Central Bhutan... - I ate Doma last night - its a Beetle Nut that's dried, wrapped with dried lime and covered in a leaf. Its basically like a local chewing tobacco (they have this in India as well) and costs about two cents ...

... about drinking whatever interesting things might be in that water, but was reassured when I saw that the wife was bringing the water with sugar and tea leaves to a proper boil. And there we were. On the floor. Me sitting on a bed of yak hide, being offered prepackaged cookies and some dried wheat meal in a traditional woven bamboo basket. We drank our tea from plastic mugs. At one point, I noticed the old woman had dumped and entire ...

... Our trek today was expected to take a little over 4 hours, however it would be a series of significant uphill ad downhill sections along a number of mountainsides. The views were to be outstanding, including several monastery sites and other religious points of interest, including the ubiquitous prayer flags. We started out by crossing a felled log across part of the lake....quite the balancing act with a 12lb pack and a camera slung ...

... and trees, and whle chilly, it was a beautiful sight seen by so few. Two bowls of hot water arrived at our tent for wash-up, along with a tray of hot coffee. Nice touch!! Even the Nescafe instant was tasting gourmet by this point in the trip, and this was truly welcomed. With no showers on offer, I made dure with the bowl of warm wather and a pile of wipes that I had smartly packed away into every pocket of my luggage ...

... threadded like beads on a necklace). in any event, it was slightly suspect, but i ate it and it was not half bad! Dnner back at camp was amazing - fresh food, served hot & spicy. It definately took the cold off, and as night fell, we sat by the fire looking up at an ocean of stars that could barely be seen anywhere else in the world. We were many miles away from any significant light sources, so as far as i can tell, we had the best night view of any place on earth! Brilliant!!

... agreed to bring the old woman back. Later that night he went to his mothers bed and told her that she needed to fulfil all the roles of a wife, as she had promised, and sleep with him. She was horrified by the suggestion and told him that he was insane stating that nothing of the sort would take place. She yelled at him asking "What kind of son would make such a request of his mother". He continued to press her on the subject keeping her up all ...

Monday, March 24, 2008 Elections / Gangtey to Trongsa Dear Readers: Today is a national holiday as everyone is off work in order to vote in the historic first national election for parliament. We get to the nearest polling place before it opens at 9am in order to document the event. We have a vivid sense of watching the country make a dramatic step forward before our very eyes. The people walk and ride from far away to cast their first vote, and you can see the pride and ...

... crane which migrates between Bhutan and Tibet every year. You may have heard about them on the Discovery Channel. Some guys spot a few cranes while I am in my tent getting ready for our final night with the crew. Everybody goes through their clothing, and selects things that they can donate as part of a tip for excellent service. I am happy to get rid of quite a few old clothes. I also meet with the tip auditor to figure out the complicated ...

... Monastry. The town of Wangdu is litterally falling down so they are moving it. It is very old and cos it is being moved it is very run down. Behind the town is the Shabdrung monastery, the 3rd oldest in Bhutan. While it was good to see there wasn't any thing special about it that I remember. We also had morning tea in Wangdu, thankfully not butter tea. I tried butter tea yesterday and it tasted like dirty dish water. Not for me again. We had a long drive still to go ...

... face it, not very exciting even though you know there is a king inside (plus I have no intentions on being a queen - hence even less exciting...) Basically, our full day was spent driving. When we finally did arrive in Trongsa, we checked into our guesthouse that was run by the ex-Governor of Trongsa (CELEBRITY SIGHTING #4) and then headed into the ...