Saturday, March 11th, Punakha, Bhutan

Greetings!

We started off the morning with a trip to the local vegetable market, currently occupying the children's play yard and par course.   What a great statement of health: eat well and exercise.  The bulk of the product is trucked in from India each week, but plenty is locally sourced.  

Our stop at the Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Lhankhang Nunnery, a Nepali-like stupa became special when we discovered that royalty were in attendance.  The stupa was built to honor the Queen's father, and is the site of his cremation and burial.  Today, at the end of a 16 day silence ceremony, his widow and one of her four daughters (all married to the current king) were quietly sitting with the nuns in a beautiful prayer ceremony.  As we watched, those who could recite the prayers, and take in holy water, were in the royal presence. 

Crossing the river is the Nation's longest suspension bridge, which sways easily when travelers aren't careful.  Mid-point photos are not advised unless one-handed techniques are mastered.

Once across, we descended into the courtyard and entrance to the Punakha Dzong ("Palace of Great Happiness"), built at the junction of the Phochu and Mochu Rivers in 1637.  It served as both the administrative and religious center of the kingdom in the past.  

During one particular ceremony each year, the entire face of this inner structure is covered by a colorful tapestry.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Saturday, March 11th, Punakha, Bhutan

Friday, March 10th, Punakha, Bhutan

Greetings!

Traveling between Thimphu and Punakha means driving over the Dochula Pass.  Separating two climates, two eras of the Kingdom, and two Dzongs (palaces), the 10,000 foot pass presents alpine, rainforest, and troical flora along some of its hairpin turns and gorgeous views.  At the top sits the 108 stupa memorial to the purge of Nepalese dissidents arranged by the 4th King of Bhutan.

Dropping down into the Punakha side of the mountain, we stopped at a recently created prayer flag spot that beautifully allows for the presentation of Bhutanese expressions.  Tandy recounted how the site has evolved during his visits over the past decade.

Next, we stopped at Chimi Lhakhang, a Budhist temple and monastery across from a restaurant with a view of rice fields and farms spread out over the valley floor.  We're staying at the Zhingham Resort in Punakha.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Friday, March 10th, Punaha, Bhutan 

Thursday, March 9th, Thimphu, Bhutan

Greetings!

Early this morning, students and workers walked to school and their jobs in Thimphu.  Before breakfast, I walked the streets of the town to view and greet them.   More polite young people I have not seen in our travels.  

After breakfast at the hotel, we visited a National Memorial for a recent King of Bhutan.  A Stupa which is attended by many, exercising their rituals, and we listened to Tandy explain Budhist beliefs.

Our next stop was the tallest sitting Budha in the world, wherein hundreds of thousands of small statues are housed.  The site is spectacular, developed at a cost of $100 million, and inspiring.   On the way back, we drove to the Takin Preservce, home of the Nations national animal.  With a goat's head and a cow's body, it is a strange and unique animal.

Finally, we stopped by the nation's central paper-production company.  An all-organic process, it's workers showed us how they take the bark of a local tree, soak it, heat it, compress it, mold it, and dry it into the most useful and beautiful paper stock of all sizes, shapes, and functions.

To see all of the photos we took today, click on Thursday, March 9th, Thimphu, Bhutan.

 

Wednesday, March 8th, Thimphu, Bhutan

 

We saw this sign at the confluence of the Paro and Thimphu Rivers.  The tagline ("Happiness is a place".) certainly describes our first day in Bhutan. 

Leaving Kolkata early this morning on one of the two remaining daily flights to Bhutan, we arrived at the reportedly most dangerous airport in the world.  Actually, the flight was unremarkable.  The food was excellent, and the little prop plane flight landed softly with plenty of runway to spare.  As we headed off on the first of many winding roads, our guide (Tandy) mentioned that the straightest road in Bhutan was the runway.  

Bhutan is a mountainous country. with very few valleys wide enough for a plane to fly into.  That's why Paro is the home of their international airport.  it's just wide enough, and deep enough for a runway.  Over the past decade, the road system has been widened, and our trip to Thimpfu was pleasant and beautiful.

On the way, we stopped at a roadside market, and learned of Bhutanese love for chiles.  We also toured a spectacular weaving museum, and were shown by Tandy and the exhibits how much clothing and its creation plays a central role in the life of Bhutan.

Before gathering at our hotel restaurant for dinner and a general briefing and introduction to Tandy, we walked around the town and through a very large vegetable market.  In amazing variety, the stalls provided everything necessary to keep Bhutan gastronomically happy.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Wednesday, March 8th, Thimpfu, Bhutan.

Tuesday, Mar 7th, Kolkata

Greetings!

We made it to Kolkata, a day ahead of our tour group meeting, and slept almost all of the day.  We did venture out of our hotel for about an hour, and spent it navigating the sidewalk in front of our hotel and crossing the street to a park.  It was exhausting, especially after 32 hours without much sleep on the way here.  

We were very prepared for getting lots of catchup sleep, and made it down to breakfast this morning.  The buffet was spectacular, and we hope you check out the photos in the album (link below) to see what one of the best hotel breakfasts looks like.   We sat by the pool for a few hours afterward, and read about what we were just about to begin.  We also read the international newspapers available in the hotel.

Leena, our tour guide met us at 11:30am, and the group spent a couple of hours introducing ourselves, and hearing from her about what to expect of the tour.  She also described what to expect from the unique day we would encounter - arriving on Holi day.  India celebrates Holi days all over the country, and today we would observe it as we were driven on a 5-hour tour of Kolkata.  

We visited the Victoria Memorial, a Jane Temple, Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity Motherhouse, and a backstreet where lots of Hindu statues were sculptured.  The album of photos linked below will take you on that journey.  

Throughout the photos you'll see our fellow travelers.  We're beginning to get to know them, and are looking forward to hearing more about their own adventures.  

To check out all the photos we took today, click on Tuesday, Mar 7th, Kolkata

Sunday, March 5th, Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates

Greetings!

This is a photo out the front window of our Emirates 380 descending onto the Dubai Runway after an 18-hour flight from San Francisco over the North Pole, across the Soviet Union and Iran into the United Arab Emirates. We're now in the sleep/fly seats in our gate waiting for the flight to Kolkatta, India.  

Back to India, Nepal, & Bhutan

 Greetings!

Travel Map

Back to the end of Heart of India

On to Nepal and Bhutan

Fly from SF to Dubai to Kolkata, India

Fly from Kolkata, India  to Paro, Bhutan

Fly from Paro, Bhutan tp Delhi, India

Drive from Delhi, India  to Varanasi, India

Fly from Varanasi, India to Delhi, India

Fly from Delhi, India to Katmandu, Nepal

Fly from Katmandu, Nepal to Pokhara, Nepal

Fly from Pokhara, Nepal to Katmandu, Nepal

Fly from Katmandu, Nepal to Delhi, India

Fly from Delhi, India to Dubai to SF, USA