Taj Tashi Thimphu

Greetings from Beautiful Bhutan! This small kingdom nestled in the Himalayas between India and China is truly spectacular. Clean air, beautiful scenery, interesting architecture, strange animals, and LOVELY PEOPLE are some of Bhutan's assets.

This is a Buddhist country. Today we went to a stuppa (religious shrine) where a holy man was going to give blessings. What a mob scene! We were almost to the entry in a pushing mass of people when the guards closed the ...

[I just uploaded a bunch of pics to my last post so please check those out as well!] So yesterday, Sangay and the driver (who's name I still don't know) drove me to the capital city, Thimphu, which is 1 ½ hrs away from Paro where there is the national airport. Thimphu has about 60,000 people and its surprisingly European in feel - the standard of living here is striking, particularly compared to India as well as my assumptions giving its historical isolation ...

Today I woke up late as there's some weird ass half hour time change from Gaya, India to Paro, Bhutan. I ate breakfast quickly and power packed my bag. Sangay and the driver met me promptly at 9am and we went to the National Museum. The museum was really interesting - it was in an old fort (you can see the picture of the round building). There is no photography allowed inside, as there is a concern that the country's cultural heritage and design will be ...

... is great! Very beautiful and serene. Quite a contrast to India. Weather-wise, it supposedly goes down to below freezing at night and up to about 45 degrees during the day. However, I felt pleasantly warm walking around this afternoon so I'm not too worried about getting cold. I exchanged some travelers checks today at the bank (I was amazed they had no problem accepting them! particularly after the whole to do about that stupid 1000 rupee e.g. $20 note that the ...

An early morning today. This is the day we were surely going to see the king, as we were headed to the National Stadium to be part of the official public coronation. The stadium, seating 25,000 was only 3 blocks from our hotel, so after receiving assistance getting dressed into traditional Bhutanese clothes once more, we headed out with cameras in tow. We ran smack into the long, long lineup for the stadium also immediately after ...

... a landing (having taken honours after the closure of Kai-Tak airport). I recall that the issue was with the cross winds that barreled through the narrow valley. In any case, we had a fine landing and I was very happy to be on land with no additional flight miles for at least 2 weeks! Paro is beautiful. The valley is lush and green, and the high altitude sun (with it's ultra high UV) was warm. This little airport gets very few arrivals, but ...

... blown away that we made it to the Takzang monastry -a major ordeal for two not so fit people-was worth all the agony.-an incredible remote monastry.One of the toughest days of our lives was followed by a very late lunch at the yakherders camp where we were served local wine and yak meat. Our guide from Keys to Bhutan has been more than helpful today. Very patient encouraging us all the way. Tomorrow off to Thimpu

... t have any symptoms of altitude sickness. It was here at base camp that a new addition joined our traveling crew. Unbeknownest to me Bhutan is infamous for the amount of stray dogs in the two biggest cities: Paro and Thimpu. There is even a popular children's book about the adventures of one of these stray dogs. Along with the cities there are several strays at different spots along the trail. One of the hitched up with our group at base camp and stuck ...

... and he took my 2 hands and had the most amazing smile ever on his face. He took me by the elbow and we walked around the chorten together and down the street until our path separated. What a beautiful old man! We went to another monastery where arms and tshechu costumes were hanging (actually the temple diety). There was also some beautiful black papier mache masks used for a dance I haven't seen yet and must see some day! I love those hats and the mini ...