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  • Day 12: The Way Home; Final Thoughts

    Day 12: The Way Home; Final Thoughts

    I slept 7 hours last night without interruption. Pretty sure that’s the first time that happened on this trip. I have slept 7 or 8 hours before, but always up at least once.

    We went out for our walk and back to the hotel restaurant for breakfast when it opened at 6:30am.

    We talked through our day. Ash suggested several final site-seeing ideas but I vetoed all of them.

    Sometimes I’m done before the trip is; this was one of those times. I felt it as soon as I woke up: I’m ready to go home.

    Of all the shopping we had done, we hadn’t accomplished this one particular task Ash had identified long before we left: to get some personal care products of a particular brand he likes for our San Francisco guest house, that are a fraction of the cost here vs. back home.

    After a lazy morning and doing most of the packing, we set out in search of that and made some other stops along the way.

    We finally made it to the neighborhood where we thought the shop was about Noon. As soon as we turned the corner Ash said “this is the Real India.”

    It did remind me a bit of an Indiana Jones movie. We had seen similar in Agra and maybe some yesterday, although much of yesterday seemed like the deep poverty end. This seemed somehow normal – like just a regular neighborhood where people live, shop, and make a living. But we didn’t have people pushing things to buy at us like we had I some of the other markets.

    It was about a 15 minute walk through that area to our destination: Himalayan Wellness Company.

    It’s a small shop. We bought a bunch of stuff, spent like $80. Would have cost $500-600 at home. (Available at Whole Foods!)

    We called for an Uber to get back to the hotel after several tuk-tuk rides already.

    And were greeted by a cow hauling a trailer on our way to meet the car.

    Our haul from that stop before packing it.

    We had lunch in the hotel restaurant.

    BBQ chicken pizza for Ash. But still very Indian. The chicken tasted like tandoori. But it was good.

    Fish and chips for me. The fish and tartar sauce was excellent. So was the coleslaw which I’d already eaten.

    We went back to our room for the final bit of packing. We rested a bit then checked out, and made our way to our 4pm appointment for a shave and a facial.

    I didn’t realize Ash had them take these until a few moment ago!

    This is what I reached for his phone for and discovered the others.

    It is now 5:30pm and we are killing time in the hotel lounge. The earliest they will let us check our bags for our 11:30pm flight is like 7 or 7:30. But we had to check out of the hotel by 4pm so we wait.

    If all goes well, our 16 hour flight gets us to NYC about 6am Friday. Then about a 4 hour layover and scheduled to land about 2pm in San Francisco. It’s wild how we get home in less than a day when it took almost 3 to get to Bhutan! Time differences are a trip and this trip was the most I’ve had: 13 hours in Bhutan, 12.5 hours here. My biggest difference before was 10 hours – Istanbul, Helsinki, and I think Johannesburg.

    So that’s the plan. I’ll think a bit about how I want to close this out and finish it in one of the lounges either in Delhi or NYC.

    ———

    It’s 7:55pm. We got to the airport a little before 7pm and everything went pretty smoothly, getting to the lounge about 7:40. Our upgrade to business got us the lounge access for free so we will have dinner here so we can just sleep on the plane.

    We booked 45 minute foot and calf massages for $25 each. Now we are getting a bite to eat and will board in about an hour.

    Final Thoughts

    It’s tradition after all. Where to start?

    I already did this for Bhutan so this will just address the last 4 days in Delhi.

    Ash was really worried about my reaction to Delhi because of the “sea of humanity” that I would experience on levels I hadn’t before. He said earlier he was surprised I was so unbothered by it all. Maybe because he had prepared me so well? It’s been a lot to be sure, but I never felt unsafe like I did in Maputo, Mozambique last summer.

    For me it was more of a “this is why I travel” experience – getting exposed to how other cultures function.

    In some ways the most fascinating part was the traffic. Some traffic lights which seemed more like guidelines. Lots of roundabouts. Cars, trucks, tuk-tuks, scooters, motorcycles, everything all at once going in all directions and between lanes. This odd dynamic of turning 3 lanes into 4 or 5. Turning from whatever lane you want. A random cow or camel here and there. No protections for pedestrians: cross walks mean nothing, just walk into the road and start navigating around whatever is coming at you. Lots of horn honking, although not quite on the scale of Lima, Peru. Like Ash says, organized chaos. Yet I never saw an accident or anyone get hurt, somehow it all seems to work. That said, I was glad I wasn’t driving and wouldn’t ever!

    If I was surprised by anything it was how beautiful the area we stayed in was. I wasn’t expecting the green, the parks, the fountains, some beautiful buildings. I don’t know why. I just always had this impression of crowded dessert but this was far from that. Ash even said he enjoyed Delhi more than usual – he actually doesn’t like it and prefers the mountains – and credited where we stayed with his improved experience.

    I will definitely come back to India but wouldn’t need to come back to Delhi other than the airport probably. I told Ash next time I will be happy to go to the mountains with him. For reasons I can’t explain it was important to me to experience this first.

    And then of course there was the Taj Mahal. I expected it to be amazing but wasn’t prepared for just how so it was. The history was interesting and it was fun to learn about all of that. I remember learning about it when I was a kid and thinking: that would be amazing to see, but I can’t imagine that I ever will. But here we are. 

    And that is kind of how my life has gone. Ash and I say at least once a day how grateful we are to be so blessed and live the amazing life we live and do the incredible things we do.

    And we always love that you come along! Next up: a Rhine River cruise from Basel to Cologne capped by a few days in London, late September.

    We hope to see you then!

  • Day 11: Around Delhi

    Day 11: Around Delhi

    This entry is for Wednesday, June 3.

    I was up early but Ash slept in a bit. This photo was taken on our walk at 6:11am. We didn’t walk as long as we’d planned because we wanted to get back before 7am and the restaurant got too busy.

    Today we focused on me getting a more complete taste of Delhi and some history, which I love.

    As I said in an earlier entry, it is the 2nd most populous city in the world, with Tokyo as #1. It’s the capital of India, which as of 2023 overtook China as the most populous country on the planet.

    We started our day in the Red Fort. It was built by the same emperor who built the Taj Mahal.

    This is the other side of the security entrance once we got through. It was similar to Taj Mahal and I took this to remind me to write about this part: things are quite segregated between males and females. It’s related to religion and protecting women. At the ticket counter here, there were separate lines for men and women. And also through security. Men aren’t supposed to touch women so if you’re going to get patted down (which we are multiple times a day here, even every time we enter the hotel), there are women security officers available to do it.

    Approaching the entrance.

    The main courtyard. Through the center door there are lots of little shops. This was one of the first 2 story markets in the world and where the Indian royal court in the 1600s did their shopping.

    And there are still shops there today.

    It’s a huge complex with lots of buildings and beautiful open green spaces in between. And some 3 story buildings for various purposes which are still standing. And so high they are really like 5 stories. It reflects how rich the empire was since this type of construction at the time was restricted to the uber wealthy.

    We made our way to the museum.

    There was a lot of great history here and I walked out a little depressed and maybe angry. It reminded me of the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. Once again, white people came in and destroyed a culture just because they believed they were entitled to rule.

    The fort was built in 1639. It was also a palace as Shah Jahan had moved the capital here from Agra. It was even more extravagant than the Taj Mahal. It had many of the same elements such as lots of adornments with jewels and silver. Once the British got there they used it for their own lavish purposes then looted it which helped fund their occupation of India for the next hundred years.

    This map shows how extensive India’s lands were at the time, including parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the west, and Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and even Thailand to the east.

    The British arrived in the mid 1600s via the East India Company, Originally a spice-trading venture, it aggressively expanded into a colonial powerhouse, monopolizing trade in Asia and conquered vast portions of the Indian subcontinent.

    This museum was focused on the war of 1857 which I had never heard of. Very long story short: through secret communications, Indian state leaders across the country had united and were prepared to get the British out. It might have worked were it not for Indian traitors who sabotaged the plans. The British brutally wiped out thousands of Indian families in horrific ways. The Indians did not have the weapons the British had – literally taking a knife to a gun fight. Not even going to get into all of that here. But it set them up to continue to rule India until Ghandi in the 1900s. They completely destroyed a rich and thriving empire. Some of that which they looted sits in British museums, which remains a sore spot with many Indians even today.

    Enough of that.

    We meandered through markets on our way to a mosque.

    The red building is a Jain temple.

    Next door to it is a Hindu temple.

    Across the street, shops were selling flowers to use as offerings at the Hindu temple. Lots of bright orange marigolds.

    The next few photos capture some of the market known as Chandni Chowk which means silver corner. Back before the British looted it, these streets were gilded in silver.

    Cars aren’t allowed. Only pedal powered rickshaws and bikes of all varieties.

    This is a bodhi tree. There was sign in it that claimed Buddha was here at some point.

    Vegetable market.

    The poverty here is hard to describe and it felt exploitive somehow taking photos of some of what we saw, so I didn’t. But heart breaking to see.

    We made it to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in Delhi. Note the white guy in shorts on the left.

    Looking back from the steps. That aisle of tents is more market, very crowded. We skipped that.

    The inner courtyard.

    I was just capturing more of the courtyard. Notice the guy again on the left. A local was accompanying him and we thought it was his guide. Ash overheard some of what the local was saying which was incorrect. Ash being Ash, he corrected him. At which point the white guy says “maybe you can be my guide.” Turns out the local had just latched on to him at the entrance, the sort of thing which happens a lot here. Ash explained we were tourists ourselves but he has spent a lot of time here so knows some things, and he’s welcome to join us if he liked.

    So meet Erik from Estonia. He is 23 and this is the end of his 6 week trip traveling alone, mostly in China, South Korea, and Nepal. Delhi is a layover for him but he booked it to give himself a day here and this was it. The Indian in the photo had approached Erik and asked if he could take a photo with him. We saw this happen to him throughout the day – some fascination the locals have with tall, blond, white guys. I saw the same thing happen at the Red Fort earlier with another guy and thought it was bizarre. So after the photo of the 2 of them we asked for a foursome and the local (who was super handsome himself) was happy to oblige.

    So we had a 3rd. Erik hung out with us the rest of the day and we had a great time.

    This was the entrance to the mosque if you’d forgotten while you were here.

    Photo courtesy of Erik

    This boy had approached Ash for money, something that also happens a lot. Ash refused the money but said he would feed him. We encountered the father at some point who said we could take him home with us.

    Ash treated him to some street food which he was happy to get it. You can’t see it in the photos but there were flies everywhere including all over the food. I have read many stories about Americans getting very sick on their trips to India. So far we have managed to avoid that by eating mostly in the hotel or in higher end places where we trust that the water is drinkable and food is prepared in clean environments.

    We got out of the market area and hired a Tuk-tuk to take us to the Ghandi memorial.

    All 3 of us barely fit.

    I tried to capture some of the ride.

    Outside the entrance of the memorial was a guy selling fresh pineapple juice. We figure this was safe enough.

    Top is the walkway to the memorial, and bottom is some of the lawn.

    The Ghandi memorial itself. If you don’t know who he is, look for the movie of the same name with Ben Kingsley in the title role.

    Camel along the road on our way to the next destination.

    Next we went to the largest Hindu temple complex in the world. All electronics had to be checked in to security so no photos. A double edged sword for sure. Everything about it was spectacular, but everyone taking photos would have been super annoying. We were there probably a good hour.

    It was about 2pm. And hot hot hot. We took an Uber back to the hotel to rest up a bit. I immediately changed into shorts and a Tshirt. Tea time in the lounge was at 3pm so we invited Erik to join us since none of us had had lunch. No one blinked that we brought a guest with us.

    We talked about doing some more shopping and headed out again.

    We were out about 2 hours and it was still very hot – I remained in shorts this time around – so we took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. This one didn’t have 2 seats in the back so Ash squeezed into the front.

    We cooled down in the hotel room for a bit then went out again after sunset to see the lighting of India Gare which happens every night.

    This is the congessional end. Lots more people than we see at 6am! This was about 7:45pm.

    Final selfie of the day.

    We took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel and waited with Erik in the lobby for his Uber to arrive. He is staying at a hotel my the airport, flies to Istanbul Thursday and then home.

    While we were sitting there we were notified that we got our free upgrades to business class the 16 hour Delhi to JFK flight. Woo hoo! That’s a $6k value for free. And a lot more comfortable for the flight where you want that. Sweet.

    Erik’s car arrived so we exchanged hugs and social media profiles and hope to see each other again. He was a super nice, interesting guy and we enjoyed sharing out afternoon with him.

    I was so tired I couldn’t get more than a few paragraphs into this before I gave up and went to bed.

    We have a bit more site seeing to do today then head to the airport for our 11:30pm flight.

  • Day 10: The Taj Mahal; dinner at Indian Accent

    Day 10: The Taj Mahal; dinner at Indian Accent

    I got up about 4am, Ash about an hour later, and we went out for a walk about 5:30.

    The hotel is close to their version of the national mall we have in DC.

    This photo shows congressional buildings at the bottom, India Gate at the top which is where we were headed.

    It was just before 6am, the sun still coming up.

    Completed in 1931, India Gate is a war memorial inscribed with the names of 82,000 who lost their lives in wars, primarily World War I. This site serves as a significant historical place for the country and protests and demonstrations are held here.

    The statue behind it is of Subhas Chandra Bose, an Indian anti-colonial nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians. But then later was allies with Germany and Japan in WW2 so there’s that. He died in a plane crash in Taiwan in 1945 (then occupied by Japan). Indian officials decided to ignore all that an honor him for his work against the British authority in India.

    We made it back for breakfast when it opened at 6:30am. It is quite the spread.

    This is a dosa, something Ash was very excited for me to try. It is a thin, crispy pancake made from rice and lentil flour. This was a masala dosa, filled with spicy potatoes. And a variety of dips to go with it.

    Our Uber driver was early so we finished up and went up to our room to change and pack a few things for our day trip.

    We made one stop about halfway into our 4 hour drive to Agra. This rest stop was like a food court.

    We opted for the coffee and tea options. Oh and some butter cookies because why not?

    Driving in Agra, population about 2.5million, was a more typical India experience than the “posh” area we are staying in. Scooters, tuk-tuks, bicycles, cars and trucks of all sizes competing for small roads with no traffic signs or lights. Ash calls it organized chaos and that’s a good description. I tried to get some visuals but it’s hard to do from a moving vehicle so you’ll just have to trust me 😎

    Why Agra? It is home to 3 UNESCO sites, the most famous being the Taj Mahal, one of the 7 Wonders of the World. (I’ve now just got 2 to go!)

    The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, as a memorial to his 3rd but most beloved wife, Mumtaj Mahal. They were married for 19 years and she bore 14 children, although 8 of them died soon after childbirth. She died just 3 years after he become emperor, killing off his older brothers to get there.

    It took 22 years to build, completed in 1653. Soon after, his son, who also killed his older brothers, took over the throne in a bloody coup. He jailed his father in the fort across the river, which is also a UNESCO site. (We will come back to that some other time!)

    So that’s the gist. Are you ready? Because I wasn’t.

    The guy to Ash’s left is Shakir, our guide. For the sake of brevity, I will skip the complicated logistics that it took to acquire him. We agreed that we definitely would not have been able to navigate what we had to navigate to get in without him. And I will leave it at that. In this photo, we are merely walking down the street to the security entrance.

    At this point, we are past security and heading towards the main entrance.

    He pulled us to the side into a shady spot to give us some of the history. That’s a side view of the main entrance. Oh, and it was about 93°. 

    The front view of the main entrance. See the arched doorway in the center? That will be predominant in the next photo.

    Shakir kept asking for my phone so that he could take photos for me, which I appreciated in the end. He did a really nice job. The next handful of photos are all ones he took. 

    Framed underneath that arch. He walked ahead of us to take this so I didn’t really appreciate it until later. Plus there were so many people it was hard to see anything.

    The next view was the one that really got me.

    Coming out from under the archway, this is what you see. For the first time maybe, I understood the word breathtaking. I literally gasped, and was so overcome with emotion I started crying. It is difficult to describe how spectacular this is. The scale first of all. See how tiny those people are on the raised foundation?What the photo also doesn’t capture are the textures that are so visible even from this distance, and the level of detail that a photo just can’t pick up from here. But it’s visible to the naked eye, even at this distance. (If you want to try, click on the photo then save it to your phone or computer, then open it and zoom in.)

    I look awful because I was crying.

    Same. Ash is happy that I’m so moved. He of course has been here before.

    I am starting to recover. We are in long pants and long sleeves because that’s what you wear to a mausoleum, even though it’s 93°. And in general, this is what the men here wear. The only time I have seen men in shorts is on the mall this morning when they were running.

    A warning sign about the monkeys. We didn’t see any here, but we did see some on our walk this morning in Delhi. 

    I did not realize we would get to go inside. Photos of course are not allowed. I was trying to capture some of the details and it’s really difficult.

    The main material is marble, most of it Indian, some of it Italian. All of it carved very intricately. This is a small example.

    This is all precious and semi precious stones inlayed into the marble.

    Each of the four sides are identical, with one of these towers in each of the four corners. I never realized it was built on a river. This is Ash doing his “try to touch the top” thing which of course is not gonna work at this angle.

    This is the garden looking back at the main entrance.

    Our path back to where the Uber driver was parked, with every shop trying to sell us something as we walked by. 

    We were on the road again by about 12:30 PM. That’s the driver in the red cap. Ash had him stop here to have me sample some sweets that he likes.

    So of course, we bought a couple of boxes.

    We got back to the hotel about 4:20. we went straight to the lounge for a bite to eat since we did not have any lunch other than a couple of granola bars that we had snagged from the breakfast buffet this morning. But we didn’t eat too much, because we are leaving about 6:15pm for dinner.

    ———-

    It is 9:10pm and we are back from dinner. We went to Indian Accent. Ash has been talking to me about this place for years so I’m glad I finally got to try it. He has been to this one a handful of times and the one in NYC once. The one here is currently ranked 5th best restaurant in India, although has been #1 several times before. It’s also currently on the 50 best restaurants in the world list.

    How’s that for a buildup?

    It’s the restaurant attached to The Lodhi Hotel, a luxury brand a few miles away.

    These places always start with an amuse bouche. (Always makes me think of Chandler!) This was blue cheese baked inside a dough.

    We went with the tasting menu with a couple of changes. I took this mostly so I would remember what all was in the photos! That price by the way translates to about $85 a head after taxes and tip. Which is less than half what a meal like this would cost back home.

    Potato chaat: shredded potato rolled into a ball then deep fried. I don’t remember what the sauce was but it was very good. The red is watermelon.

    Scallop with an xo sauce, the white moon is steamed rice cake, with a crispy something I don’t remember on top. This was one of Ash’s favorite items tonight.

    This was essentially a Mexican dish, but I loved it. Chicken, avocado, lettuce, in a tortilla like item. They even said to eat it like a taco. So we did. 

    Sorbet on a stick as a palette cleanser.

    For the main course, I had the pork belly which was incredibly meaty as these things go. It was served in a sauce that reminded me of a sloppy Joe, and I mean that  in the best way. 

    Ash had chicken roulade in a brown onion sauce and said it was great.

    Ash ordered this off the à la carte menu. We had a different version of this at Le Meridien in Paro. A potato dumpling in a five spice squash curry over quinoa. Really nice.

    This was probably my favorite. A lot going on. From the left around: duck in a sort of pastry; black and yellow daal; yogurt with a crispy mint flour topping; duck biryani (like a rice patty). I ate the yogurt with the duck pastry. Incredible. And so full after this. But it kept coming.

    Dessert #1: crispy ball filled with cheesecake on a mango sauce. Yummy.

    Dessert #2: a very dense chocolate cake over a pool of basundi which is primarily condensed milk. No calories in this (ha!). I couldn’t finish mine.

    Dessert #3: an extra provided we think because of the number of times Ash has been here. He had two different conversations with the head chef. At any rate, this is a meringue foam seasoned with saffron. Thankfully very light.

    I don’t know what they call this course, but these meals often end with this mix of sweet and savory snacky things. The only item we liked was top right which was a candied mango. So I’m not even gonna talk about the other three. They were all savory and way too over the top for us. Which is a lot if you are Ash.

    What a day. Ash is already asleep and I will be shortly. We have two full days left in Delhi before we head home on a redeye flight Thursday night. They are largely unscripted so we will see what we come up with. 

  • Day 9: Final thoughts on Bhutan; on to Delhi

    Day 9: Final thoughts on Bhutan; on to Delhi

    This entry is for Monday, June 1.

    Since we leave Bhutan today I figured I would write my traditional “Final Thoughts” just on this portion of the trip. We aren’t walking this morning so seems like a good use of time.

    1. The blend of governance and spirituality was fascinating and refreshing. It’s also interesting how obvious it is – with stupas and prayer flags Everywhere – and yet it doesn’t seem oppressive. I guess when your religion is based on compassion, kindness, and detachment, people tend to be happier in general, and we experienced that with the locals for sure.
    2. Learning more about Buddhism was interesting. I’m very anti organized religion and have always thought if I had to pick one it would be this one. It’s more philosophy than dogma and everything always comes back to compassion and kindness. It’s hard not to get behind that.
    3. There’s not the wealth inequity we have at home and other places. The focus on National Gross Happiness doesn’t allow it. Everyone is provided with a basic standard of living. We saw not a single homeless person the entire trip. That said, opportunities to do really well are limited and younger people are starting to leave.
    4. Given hydroelectricity is their biggest industry, it’s not surprising that there are lots of electric vehicles. Even the police cars in Thimphu are electric.
    5. I couldn’t believe how Dorji had cell phone access everywhere we went. 10k feet in the middle of nowhere? No problem.
    6. I was very surprised how predominant English is. They’ve been teaching it in schools since the 80s. All the road and store signs are in English. We encountered very few people that didn’t speak it and that was mostly in the rural areas.
    7. Bathrooms weren’t nearly as different as others prepped me for. Yes, occasionally you would find the very Asian version where you are squatting but that was actually the exception. Here’s the odd thing I noticed though: there was usually soap and water to wash your hands, but more than 50% of the time – maybe more – there wasn’t a way to dry them. Sometimes there was a literal towel, and maybe I saw a hand dryer once. But more often than not you were walking out with wet hands. Strange.
    8. And finally, this trip was the first time I can recall experiencing the style of plug shown below. Our hotel in India had them and 3 of the 5 we stayed at in Bhutan did, too. We brought adapters but only needed them in two places because of this smart design.

    I took this last night of the fortress all lit up as we were going back to the hotel from the restaurant. Seems like a fitting last photo of Bhutan.

    It’s 6am now. Will pack, go down for breakfast at 6:30, then Phurpa is taking us to the airport at 7:30 for our 9:40 flight to Delhi.

    ————-

    We landed about Noon and made it to our hotel about 1:30pm. Not bad considering immigration, bags, getting and Uber, and traffic in the 2nd largest (by population) city in the world.

    We are staying at Le Meridien, a 5 star hotel in the Marriott lineup. Ash used points to get us 3 nights free; his status earned a free upgrade to a suite. Also club lounge access and breakfast included. No cost to us. Keep that in mind as you see the next few photos.

    The lobby. Ash is on the left at the Marriott Bonvoy desk hooking us up.

    Living room. They later brought us snacks and a bowl of fruit.

    Coffee bar with fresh flowers.

    Bedroom. Ash is very excited about this.

    Bathroom…

    …with a window that looks into the bedroom.

    And a half bath off the entrance.

    We had already decided we wanted to get manicures and pedicures in Delhi and they were available here. Reasonable prices and they could take us now. So off we went.

    We are on the 11th floor. Salon, spa, gym are on the 4th floor. Vertigo kicked in just looking down here.

    It was a full service salon, with separate areas for women and men. There were 5 barber chairs to the left of this and 3 of them had guys in them. Busy place. You don’t have to be a guest to use it. These guys have been working here 25+ years.

    We each got a manicure and a pedicure. With a generous tip, total cost was $80.

    We hadn’t had lunch yet so went to the lounge for snacks about 3:20pm.

    Little quiches, some chicken that tasted just like tandoori and was wonderful, a daal like item with a potato cake filled with peas and spices.

    After we went for a walk and did some shopping.

    The first area we hit is known as Janpath market. Janpath means “for the common people” per Ash. The next several photos are of that area.

    It was called “Bryan’s”. Cracked me up.

    Ash eating Indian guava from a guy on the street.

    We bought a table runner and 12 matching placemats. This is an area where Ash excels: haggling. She wanted 4200 rupees. He got her down to 2500. So about $25. They literally yelled after us once we walked away and were a few stalls down already when she agreed to his price.

    Burger King. We also saw McDonald’s, Domino’s, Subway, Starbucks. None of that in Bhutan.

    Still Janpath just now out on the street.

    Next was an area called Emporium. This is state supported shopping, each state of India – there are 29 of them – has a shop here selling good special to that area. And my kind of shopping: AC and no haggling – the price is the price.

    We bought another pillow case here since we don’t have one from India.

    White napkins from here. Same store below.

    With a cool name: Kamala.

    Greeted by monkeys when we walked out.

    This was Ash’s agenda on this walk.

    He has been talking about this elephant carved from sandalwood for months. He first saw one like the big one in 2012. Long story short: we got the small one.

    This is a Sikh temple known as Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. It has a lot of significance in that religion, and a global reputation for charity, equality, and selfless service. There’s a covered area we walked by where anyone can sleep and hang out all day do they want, and they will be fed.

    Street food.

    One of the things I couldn’t get over was how green everything was. This and the next few shots are just about that. I just wasn’t expecting such lushness.

    We got back to the hotel a little after 6:30pm.

    We were both exhausted so opted for the snacks in the lounge. Those 2 fried things on the right was paneer. So fried cheese if you’re not familiar. Wow. Maybe the best thing I’ve eaten on this trip. Sometimes it’s the simple things, right?

    The hotel has a steam room so I’m going to take advantage of that once I post this.

    We have hired an Uber for the day tomorrow to go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

  • Day 8: The point of it all: Tiger’s Nest

    Day 8: The point of it all: Tiger’s Nest

    This entry is for Sunday, May 31.

    Everything we have done in the last 7 days was leading to today. Namely, a series of hikes with increasing difficulty and increasing elevation, to help get us ready for “the one.”

    Paro Taktsang, as it’s known locally, was built in 1692 to add a monastery to a site that had been considered holy since the 8th century. According to legend, the 8th-century Indian Buddhist master Guru Rinpoche was carried up the mountain on the back of a disciple who had transformed herself into a tigress. Once they arrived, Guru Rinpoche then spent 3 years, 3 months, 3 days and 3 hours meditating in the cave. After he had finished, it became a holy place and became known as Paro Taktsang. It is the crown jewel of Bhutanese Buddhist pilgrimage.

    We left at 5:20am. They had a simple box breakfast for us to eat in the van during our 30 minute drive to the starting point.

    This was 5:50am. A fair number of people already gathering.

    Dorji had to register us, Ash rented a stick, and Melanie got settled on a horse. (Ash would later regret not taking that option for the initial ascent.)

    Our first sighting. See that small circle high mid center? That’s where we are headed. 9000 feet or so.

    The zoomed version from this stance. This is really the back side. The entrance and main sections hug the cliff going up the left side there.

    And we are off at 6:03. Dorji said for a group our size it’s usually about 6 hours round trip. Larger groups take longer.

    Some of the initial ascent, above and below.

    We are exactly an hour in. The horses had already dropped the people at the cafeteria where we would be making a pit stop and were making their way back down.

    The circle in the center is the cafeteria, and the one above that is Tiger’s Nest.

    We were getting close enough to that left side where we were starting to see the whole thing.

    It was a nice little place to stop for coffee and a restroom break.

    Below is the view from this deck, 7:38am. Dorji had said it would take about 3 hours. We were right on schedule.

    Random selfie with Tiger’s Nest in the background.

    Stunning view of the valley and we were blessed with incredible weather after a fair amount of cold and wet the last few days.

    A bunch of small zen gardens on this large rock.

    Sign says Bhutan Pilgrimage. This was probably the moment it hit me that’s what we’ve been on all week. A pilgrimage. Duh.

    8:34am. We are getting closer. That’s it dead center behind the trees.

    This might be my favorite photo from the hike.

    But I love this one, too.

    Love the sign: Warning- Risk of landslide on cliff edge

    I was trying to capture the drop of that cliff.

    We had climbed higher than the monastery and were now descending. There was a waterfall at the bridge. That’s Ash standing at the beginning of the bridge.

    That’s me in the middle of the stairs.

    Past the bridge there were all these steps – climb down and then back up. Both very difficult. Especially the down for me. Vertigo kicked in big time.

    This was the landing to enter the monastery and Temple area. As the sign says, cameras, and phones were not allowed for this point.

    It was 8:59am. 3 hours almost exactly and I was the first one up. Dorji was so excited – she said some groups take 4 or more hours.

    We spent about an hour touring the different temples. There were four or five, I lost count. All very interesting and I couldn’t repeat any of it.

    We started to make our way back down about 10am. Dorji said we should be able to be down in 2 hours given how fast we made it up.

    Since we had another uphill climb from reversing that series of steps, I managed to get ahead of the group. I am much better uphill than downhill so figured I would get as far ahead as I could, knowing eventually they would catch up and probably pass me. (And that is Exactly what happened!)

    But I did manage to get this cool selfie in that process.

    Above and below were taken from the same spot. One of the few places where it was flat.

    By the time we got to the cafeteria everybody had caught up. Ash and I split a chocolate eclair. I was feeling very accomplished and wanted to capture the moment with the celebratory eclair and Tiger’s Nest in the background. Dorji photobombed but then was invited to stay.

    At some point I made a wrong turn and ended up taking a “shortcut” that we nicknamed “steepcut” because that’s what it was. Made it harder on myself and took even longer! Oh well. It was a workout and at that point Ash had joined me so we did it together.

    But make it down we did. Dorji stayed with us towards the end. This was our last look at Tiger’s Nest.

    I looked at the time when I sat down in the van: 11:59am. We did it in just under 5 hours. Dorji was so impressed – she had said all week it would take 6 hours (not counting the hour spent up there); we were the first group to prove her wrong.

    Here was the final count: 6.3 miles and over 15k steps. And 93 floors. Pretty sure that’s a record.

    We had ordered lunch from the restaurant last night so it would be ready when we got back and it pretty much was. We had Indian food. Shocking. (Probably 70% of Bhutan’s tourists are Indian.)

    We had 90 minute massages scheduled for 2pm. They came to our room. Which means they were done on the bed which wasn’t ideal but it did kinda beat having to walk anymore!

    After those, we ordered a taxi and went into town to buy some souvenirs, get some cash so we could tip Dorji and Phurpa, and while we were there…

    …we went back to the ice cream place again.

    It is now almost 5pm. We get to rest up a bit before we head out for our last meal at 6pm.

    ————

    Dinner was at the restaurant of the Le Meridien hotel, coincidentally where Ash and I will be staying 3 nights starting tomorrow in Delhi. The group decided to treat Dorji and Phurpa for our last night and wanted to do something nice.

    And one final shot of the gang.

    We all agreed to get the buffet which was wonderful.

    They gave us a private area which was nice.

    Mushroom tempura, baked pasta, chicken coleslaw, grilled pork belly, palak paneer (I had 2 bowls of this) spicy cheesy potatoes, broccoli.

    Everyone enjoyed the meal and the final gathering. Ash asked all to share their favorite part of the trip so there was a lot of fun discussion.

    And that officially ends the Bhutan portion of this trip. We have a 9:40 flight to Delhi tomorrow through Wednesday so more fun to come. Stay tuned!

  • Day 7: Haa to Paro, with a spectacular hike on the way

    Day 7: Haa to Paro, with a spectacular hike on the way

    We were up around 4:30am. It was a bit rainy plus we were sort of gated into the complex and weren’t sure we could get out. We used both as an excuse to be lazy and skip our walk.

    Breakfast was at 7:30. The star of the lineup was oats that were surprisingly good.

    We were on the road by 8:30.

    We got to our destination a little after 10am. Kila Gompa Nunnery is the oldest in Bhutan, built in the 9th century as a meditation site. About 70 nuns live here now in self-imposed isolation.

    It is built into cliffs facing the Paro Valley, it is fondly called “the 2nd Tiger’s Nest” which is where we are going tomorrow.

    My vertigo kicked in on the drive up to it. The last mile or so was a gravel road. I was on the side of what looked like a straight drop down and felt like we were dangerously close. At this point I’d trust our driver, Phurpa, anywhere so had to remind myself I was being irrational and just close my eyes. But the views were stunning.

    The trek to the nunnery started easy enough on the same gravel road. That’s it in the circle with Ash and Ari on the right.

    The road turned into an at- times frightening narrow path which hugged the cliffs. That small red circle off center is Ash and Ari. I fell behind taking photos and walking slow.

    The destination zoomed from that same point.

    Looking back. See what I mean? Gorgeous.

    At some point I caught up to them as they were resting and passed them. Did I mention it was steep, too? Looking back at Ash and Ari on the left with the valley view on the right.

    Melanie got this of me at some point.

    Another courtesy of Melanie. Almost there.

    A dog to greet us at the humble entrance.

    Me looking back from the entrance, Ash and Ari on the right.

    Melanie and Phurpa passed Ash who took this.

    More steps inside. These looked like they were chiseled out of the mountain.

    All of us but Ash went into the temple where the nuns were chanting. He didn’t want to take his shoes off – did I mention it was pretty cold, too?

    An adorable kitty greeted us at the temple entrance then scampered in.

    I was first to leave the temple to discover Dorji, Lawrence, and Nathan had joined us. They did a more difficult hike to get here which was steep, rocky, muddy so slippery. Even 14 year old Nathan said it was rough. I thanked him for validating our decision to skip it. The nuns brought us hot milked tea and cookies which hit the spot.

    The town of Paro where we were headed next.

    This was on the way down. At some points the path was only about 18 inches wide. My vertigo gets worse the older I get and this was a real test. But I was glad I did it.

    The fortress we would be going to after lunch, taken from the road.

    Lunch was at Mountain Cafe in town.

    I had butter chicken masala with roti (the bread). Ash had a paneer dish which looked similar. We both enjoyed our choices.

    We walked around after lunch for ice cream and various shopping.

    An ice cream shop called Brioche.

    Ash had toasted hazelnut and salted caramel on top; mine was burnt honey and coconut.

    Next was the fortress we had seen from a distance on our way into town.

    This was built in 1644. As the others we visited it is both administrative and monastery.

    Beautiful view of Paro Valley from there.

    Circled on the left is the airport. It’s the only commercial airport in the country. Only 2 airlines operate from it, both Bhutanese.

    The temple courtyard. We passed on going inside. We were pretty done.

    Resort Thim-Dorji Para Riverfront.

    Huge comfortable lobby.

    It has been difficult to communicate we would prefer one bed but we were too tired to fight it.

    At least there is lots of natural light.

    We had made it to our room about 4:15. We layed down to rest but neither of us were able to nap. I got up about 5pm to get me this far. We head out for dinner at 6:30.

    ————

    We went downstairs for dinner in the hotel restaurant.

    The gang’s all here.

    It was a pretty nice buffet.

    I started with tomato soup.

    I did pasta because I was tired of rice! But it wasn’t great. Should have known. Mixed vegetable Marsala, chole which is a spicy chickpea dish that was wonderful, and daal.

    A very light caramel custard. It wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting which is a good thing.

    Tomorrow we leave at 5:20am. No, that’s not a typo. We are hiking to Tiger’s Nest which is “the” thing to do in Bhutan. Dorji wants us to get an early start to beat the crowds. She anticipates it will take us 6 hours round trip.

    Yikes.

    Come back tomorrow to see what it’s all about and how we do.

  • Day 6: Thimphu to Haa

    Day 6: Thimphu to Haa

    This entry is for Friday, May 29.

    Ash slept 8 hours, my sleep wasn’t nearly as good. But we were up by 3:30am, out for a walk by a little after 5am.

    The sun was just coming up and had a nice effect on the clouds.

    This is a chinaberry tree. Full of blooms that look like jasmine except they are lavender in color and smell like lilacs.

    We did the same path as Sunday, along the river.

    This was the bridge we saw from the park the last time but didn’t feel like exiting the park and walking more to walk on it. So made up for that this morning.

    These are prayer flags – you can see the writing on them below – and they are everywhere. It’s a lovely tradition. Bhutanese believe that as the wind flutters the flags they release sacred mantras and prayers into the air, spreading compassion, peace, and good fortune to all beings.

    The colors represent fundamental elements of nature:

    • Blue – sky and space
    • White – air and wind
    • Red – fire
    • Green – water
    • Yellow – earth

    There are different kinds and sizes but that’s enough for now.

    Looking back from the bridge. Remember the rose garden from Sunday?

    Some homes and a football (soccer) field on the other side.

    This is across the street from our hotel. I thought it was a nice mix of modern elements with the mirrored glass along with the traditional Bhutanese style.

    Breakfast was mostly standard fare but they had poori chole. It’s legumes that tasted like I would make at home because the flavors are the same – a rich spicy broth made from tomato, onion, garlic, cumin. Eaten with poori – the bread type item that’s more like a tortilla. It was great.

    We left around 9am and stopped at a weaving center about 30 minutes into the drive.

    It was fascinating watching these women work.

    And more interesting seeing the variety of results. Some of these literally take years to complete.

    We bought a few things including our pillow case which is sticking out of the bag. We try to get one every trip and our couch is covered with them.

    We drove for over 3 hours this morning and saw miles and miles of this. Sweet villages nestled in gorgeous valleys. I took these when we stopped for a toilet break.

    We stopped for lunch around 12:30pm.

    Family style lunch again although this one was vegetarian and by far the best of the lunches we have had. Of note were the fried potato rounds about 8:00 and fried tofu about 1:00. The green beans were really good, too.

    We got to our hotel a little after 1pm. It was raining when we arrived so I didn’t get a photo of the front.

    Nice room. We asked for another chair….

    …and they quickly accommodated.

    Interesting bathroom. Notice the shower is just there. Took me a minute to realize it.

    Pretty courtyard looking out our front door.

    We weren’t supposed to come here until after a visit to a monastery but we all whined a bit after lunch and they switched things up. Everyone was ready for a break after the long drive. They aren’t relaxing because the roads are so windy.

    We meet up again in about 20 minutes at 3pm.

    ———

    It’s approaching 6pm. Ash stayed in to rest, he’s been fighting headaches for a few days now.

    This is the outer building of where we are staying.

    Our room is in a building behind and to the left of that. We are the open window in the middle.

    It was a fairly quick outing visiting 2 temples – known as White and Black. There’s a whole bird mythology behind the names that I will leave out. They are important because they were the first built in Bhutan, in the 7th Century by Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo. We went to the White first.

    Above and below were to the right and left of the entrance.

    This is the temple from the 7th century. The buildings on the left and right were built much later, and contain monks quarters and a hostel.

    The details in the architecture started way back then.

    It was actually closed so we couldn’t go in.

    It was about a half mile hike to the Black temple.

    This one was much simpler in design itself but also stood alone in the woods without the entry courtyard and other buildings. This was the whole entrance once you came out of the woods. So it was open and the monk we met inside pretty much lives here.

    I’d mentioned the taller flags earlier and noticed some examples as I was leaving the temple.

    More beautiful scenery on the hike back to the van. This is pretty much what we saw for our entire drive up.

    We did a couple of other stops – for coffee and dessert although I didn’t get anything. And then a couple of markets in town but then it started raining so we came back. I was back about 4:40 and laid down a bit. Dinner will be in about an hour.

    ——-

    Green tea to start with a vegetable soup that was nice and buttery.

    Other than the yellow daal there on the left (a kind of bean or lentil soup), this is pretty much the same meal we’ve had for lunch and dinner since we got here.

    There was a dessert they called cheesecake which absolutely wasn’t. We decided it was more like a very thick iced cookie. And from that perspective it was pretty good.

    It’s about 8:15pm and Ash is already in bed. I will be following soon.

    We are here just for tonight. Tomorrow we head to Paro – where we landed last Saturday – and are there for 2 nights. Then that’s the end of this tour, after which we spend 3 nights in Delhi.

  • Day 5: Back to Thimphu; Buddha Point; Takins, the national animal of Bhutan

    Day 5: Back to Thimphu; Buddha Point; Takins, the national animal of Bhutan

    We were up about 4:30am. Had coffee in the room and left for our walk around 5:45.

    Above: the gate to the property, ABC Lodge. Below: we were immediately greeted by a cow.

    Ash gained a friend early on.

    And then there were two. They stayed with us for most of the walk.

    The dogs are in the grass. The clouds add a wonderful atmosphere. But that’s what happens at 10k feet. Can’t even call them “low.”

    These photos don’t really do it justice. I’ll stop now.

    We went back to the room a little after 7 to wash our shoes which had gotten very muddy. Then breakfast, and on the road by 8:30am.

    On our way out I snapped a photo of this house under construction to remind me to say this: when we passed it yesterday there were probably 20-30 guys there helping. Dorji explained it’s a community thing – a cultural tradition of shared labor which turns into a spiritual celebration of unity and heritage. It was actually lovely to see.

    We stopped here for coffee etc around 10am.

    It had a typical Asian toilet. Funny that I haven’t had to use them yet. Everything I’ve encountered has been a Western toilet so far. In this version, there’s no flushing as you’re used to. Instead you fill that bucket of water from the pipe and wash it down.

    We stopped for lunch around 11:30.

    The ever present photo of the royal family.

    Another gorgeous view.

    Another family style meal.

    Dorji, our guide, and her badge below. Remember I said yesterday you can’t get a visa without having a guide. Guides go through a rigorous 9 month training program to get the Cultural certification which is indicated. The Trekking portion is like another 3 years and includes first aid training and a lot more.

    I managed to get a photo of a monkey on the side of the road from a moving vehicle.

    We stopped again at Dochula Pass for a restroom break. It looked different this time since it wasn’t covered in clouds.

    We made it back to Thimphu a little after 2pm. We went directly to Buddha Point. You may recall from our morning walk on the first day, we saw a huge Buddha in the hills. We figured it would be in the tour at some point. This was it.

    First sighting after Phurpa dropped us off.

    The entrance was beautiful. The colorful fabric is up because this is a holy week celebration.

    He is pretty impressive. 169 feet high. Notice how small the people are. Construction started in 2005 and was completed in 2015 at a cost of $100 million.

    Ash was attempting to touch the tip but couldn’t quite reach it. 

    There’s maybe 4 acres of tents set up, packed with monks, nuns, and devotees. This week is an annual event where the whole country prays for world peace. At this important spiritual site in the capital, they go from 7am-5pm for 7 days.

    Ash got his tip.

    A huge staircase from the bottom of the hill.

    Breathtaking views left and right.

    You can sort of see the people under the tents.

    The base is surrounded by many of these statues.

    There’s also a temple inside which houses 125,000 smaller Buddhas. And of course lots of beautiful art. And of course photos not allowed.

    From there we made it to our last stop around 3:30pm: the Royal Takin Preserve.

    A takin is an animal in the bovine family which appears to have the body of a cow and the head of a goat. Do you remember the Divine Madman from Sunday? The guy who thought the phallus should be worshipped? In Bhutanese mythology, takins were created by him. He was asked to prove his powers by performing a miracle. He asked that a feast be prepared roasting a cow and a goat. When all that was left were the carcasses, he attached the head of the goat to the skeleton body of the cow and brought it to life.

    Takin.

    Baby takin.

    There were about 30 of them in a variety of ages.

    We made it back to The Capital Hotel where we stayed Saturday night by 4pm. When we were here last, Ash and I had ordered new rings for our annual handfasting tradition where we recommit to each other for a year and a day. We have added a tradition of our own which is new rings every year from a different city. So far they have been from Paris, Johannesburg, Lima, and Puerta Vallarta. And now from Thimphu.

    We dropped our bags in our room and walked to the jeweler’s about 10 minutes away, only to find it locked up. We asked the shop next door to call him and Ash talked to him in Hindi. Short version: he was out and would bring them to the hotel around 6pm.

    We had planned on getting haircuts and there was a barber across the street. Ta da! We both got haircuts. Ash got a shave and I got a decent massage focused on head, neck and shoulders. Total cost including tip: $7.29.

    Dorji treated us to DFC – Druk (dragon) Fried Chicken so we could sample it. It was pretty good!

    Ash and Ari ordered a bunch of Indian food. Since I ate most of the chicken, I just got Bhutan’s version of saag which is my favorite Indian dish. It’s creamy spinach with cheese. The Indian version is chunks of paneer. This was a creamy white cheese. I may have even liked it better.

    And he brought our rings! The actual day is tomorrow but we figured close enough. Total cost 4000nu. Or $41.68.

    What a day. It’s barely 7:30pm and Ash is already snoring. Glad we weren’t driving because riding is tiring enough. All of Bhutan is in the Himalayas so all the roads are winding and up and down. Many of them not in great shape. Here’s how bumpy the ride was: my phone registered 7.61 miles in steps. We actually walked maybe 5 at the very most. The rest is the bumpy ride.

    We are here for just one night again. I can never remember the name of the town that’s next on the list. Baa or something like that. Come back tomorrow to find out.

  • Day 4: More of Gangtey Valley; lunch in a local home; an incredible dinner out

    Day 4: More of Gangtey Valley; lunch in a local home; an incredible dinner out

    This entry is for Wednesday, May 27.

    We were up about 4am, sleeping uninterrupted for about 6 hours. After the 3 hour nap we had the afternoon prior I was thrilled with that.

    We had coffee in the room then went out for a walk.

    This is our building at the hotel. We have the second floor unit.

    First selfie of the day

    This is a makeshift bridge over a stream we followed for a while. This is just outside the grounds of the hotel. I say makeshift in this case because the old one washed away and the new one is under construction just to the right of the photo. Our driver, Polpo, helped build this. Other bridges look just like this although I suspect they are just the regular bridge.

    Ash called this “rush hour.” The cows were just starting to do their wandering for the day. It was about 5:30am. They are truly free range, but have a home they return to on their own.

    The circled item on the hill is the monastery we will go to after breakfast. As in prior entries, I’ve deleted more photos than I will use here. After a while it probably all starts to look alike. But the valley here is gorgeous, especially here with the low clouds and all the green. The cows are certainly different. And the stream below is crystal clear.

    More cows sitting on the right. This was on our way back, they weren’t there earlier. We walked about 2 miles.

    Both of us serve on different nonprofit boards, each whose meetings are on Tuesday evenings when they happen. With the 13 hour time difference it worked out that we could attend them easily – mine at 7am and Ash’s at 7:30. We only have WiFi in the dining room which doesn’t normally open until 7:30, but they opened at 6:45 for us.

    Breakfast after was a cheese omelette and pancakes, and some fried rice after that.

    After breakfast we went up to the monastery. I had been wondering earlier if we could see our hotel from there, and it was the first thing they showed us without asking. That’s us in the red circle.

    This was one is simply called Gangtey Monastery, and was built in 1613. While I had been thinking earlier that maybe it was odd we were seeing so many, it occurred to me to me I couldn’t count the number of churches I’ve visited Europe. It’s no different from that, and each time we learn a little more about Buddhism.

    I’ve become obsessed with the textures in the architecture.

    We had choices for what to do next. Some of the group did a hike downhill through a forest. Given how slippery our walk had been this morning, we opted out. The rest of us were driven to where that hike would end, and did some hiking towards them. It started with a wooden walkway over marshland, above.

    It was a bit windy which made the 50 degrees it was feel a lot colder.

    We came up over a rise and saw this guy sitting there basket weaving, content as could be with his view of the valley. He smiled and waved at us. I did the same and asked if I could take his photo, making the motion with my phone. Most we have encountered speak English but not the folks in the remote areas. He made the international sign for asking for money – rubbing his thumb back and forth over first two fingers. I agreed and gave him 100nu which is about $1. He seemed happy with that.

    Soon we saw the hikers coming out of these woods.

    By that time we had walked quite a ways ourselves – the red circle is our van. We all headed back.

    We would be having lunch at someone’s house, and Dorji stopped at a little grocery store to pick up a few things for the family.

    I continued my obsession with the architecture. This was what we would call a multi use building: retail in the first floor, residential above. Yet even this simple building had the same detailed style as everything else. Below is a closeup of above.

    All of this is of course mandated to preserve tradition and maintain a certain look. I guess like HOAs back home! Here’s a little 50 page document on the guidelines: http://admin.theiguides.org/Media/Documents/TRADITIONAL-ARCHITECTURE1.pdf

    In local Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as “Land of the Thunder Dragon.” Within Bhutanese Buddhism, the dragon is a profoundly sacred symbol of enlightenment, strength, and protection. So you see them everywhere, even on houses.

    Lunch was at a Homestay residence, which is sort of like their Airbnb. The focus is on immersion into Bhutanese culture and daily life.

    This was where we had lunch. That’s Polpo, our driver, standing in the center. Everyone in the tourism industry is required to wear traditional clothing. And you can’t visit Bhutan without having a guide – it’s a requirement to get a visa – so you seem them everywhere. Tourism is their 2nd biggest industry.

    We started with hot tea and these snacks that were like fried dough.

    Lunch was very similar to every meal we’ve had so far! But tasty and satisfying.

    This little guy was so happy to see us. And maybe a little sad to see us go.

    After we went back to the hotel. We took 2 hour naps. I came back to the dining room to work on the blog up until this point. We are going out for dinner so not sure how late we will be out.

    While I was working on this, everyone else was making momos, or dumplings.

    We had the momos with some tea. And soy sauce of course. Pretty good!

    ———

    Dinner was at the restaurant at the local Six Senses hotel, a luxury chain in this part of the world. It was raining and they met us outside with umbrellas. It was a healthy climb up to the lodge.

    With a beautiful view.

    And an amazing dining room.

    I started with a mocktail that was actually a hot tea which I wasn’t expecting. But it was nice. Ash got a virgin mojito which was excellent.

    For starters I had carrot and ginger soup. Ash had roasted potatoes. Both great but that Parmesan garlic aioli under the potatoes was Ah-mazing.

    I moved to an iced tea which was practically a limeade. And I mean that in the best way.

    We were told that we could order tasting or appetizer sizes of any dish we wanted. So we each ordered 5 things because it was a terrific menu and we were struggling to decide. But the chef was generous. We ended up taking a lot of it back to our guide who didn’t join us.

    Ash had a flatbread pizza and way off to the left a carrot dish.

    This was mine from bottom left clockwise: roasted broccoli with mushrooms, spicy chicken stew, yak stew (yak is a sort of bovine), red rice, potato salad with spinach and a perfect soft boiled egg.

    I was afraid the yak might be gamey, but it was probably my favorite. Beef is the closest comparison. But the chicken and potato salad were great as well.

    I was so busy with my food I wasn’t paying of attention to Ash’s. This was his salmon dish. He also had a chicken dish which he said was super tender. But his favorite was the flatbread – a very crispy crust and a soft layer on top.

    I was considering a coffee drink but didn’t want the caffeine. When I realized they had hot chocolate that was a reasonable substitute!

    For dessert I had a roasted pineapple dish. It was good but not great. Ash had an orange dish with coconut ice cream and a spicy crumble underneath. He really liked it.

    And that was our day! I’m glad the restaurant had WiFi so I don’t have to worry about finishing this when we get back. Tomorrow we head back to Thimphu.

  • Day 3: Gangtey Valley

    Day 3: Gangtey Valley

    Note: if you are an email subscriber and the site wasn’t up when you clicked yesterday, try it now if you missed the Day 2 post.

    Today was mostly a travel day. It was raining in the morning so we skipped our walk. It was a good reason to be lazy on what has been a very full trip already.

    A last look at this beautiful valley

    Breakfast was 7am and we were packed and on the road by 9am.

    We visited another fort, this was built just a year later than the last one in 1638. Wangdrue Phodrang Dzong was built by the same leader who built the last one, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal.

    Namgyal, aka “the bearded one,” is the historic figure we have heard the most about with good reason. He was a Tibetan Buddhist who unified various warring fiefdoms in the 1630s to create the current Bhutan. He created a distinct Bhutanese cultural identity separate from the Tibetan culture from which it was derived. He also created the dual system of government where control is shared between spiritual and administrative leaders. This of course still exists today and explains why the fortresses include admin offices and a monastery.

    Above: Ash taking the photo below. I knew exactly what he was doing!

    The first courtyard was huge. I asked Ash to get it in for scale. This is the admin side. Top center of above there is a face in a window.

    The face of course is The Bearded One.

    Same courtyard just looking back.

    The monk’s courtyard was smaller, above and below.

    We spent 15-20 minutes attending a chanting session of the monks in a chapel. It was interesting and relaxing. Dorji has done a great job explaining all things Buddhist. She translated a discussion we had with an unsuspecting monk we encountered in this courtyard on the way out.

    Dorji in front of the temple in this fortress. I’m really sad photos aren’t allowed but understand. With the door open you can get the slightest glimpse inside.

    I’ve studied Buddhism here and there over the years and have always had a deep respect and appreciation for its inclusive approach to kindness, compassion, detachment, without all the dogma. So it’s been interesting to learn there are some rules, but they are more geared toward upholding traditions than what’s going to send you to heaven or hell.

    It’s also been super refreshing to see the partnership between spiritual life and government where the objectives are focused on improving life for all. Imagine that.

    A close up of some of the detail in the architecture that is everywhere. I wish you could feel this!

    We were there about 90 minutes. Then it was about an hour’s drive to lunch in the mountains. Very windy and bumpy roads all day today.

    We passed lots of cows. And monkeys, but I couldn’t get a good shot of them.

    Lunch was this very remote place in the mountains.

    I had a dish we would call pork belly, with rice and cabbage.

    Ash had a paneer dish.

    Gorgeous mountain and valley views all day.

    It wouldn’t be a NatGeo tour without a conservation lesson. Today’s was a visit to the Black Necked Crane Education Center.

    The Gatney Valley where we are staying 2 nights is the home of migrating cranes from Tibet from October to March. The entire community gets involved in conservation work of this endangered species. They’ve even moved all of their electricity underground so cranes won’t get caught in electrical towers.

    Which may be a good time to mention two other interesting facts: Bhutan’s top industry is hydroelectric power. They are the only country in the world that has a negative carbon footprint.

    Back to the cranes. These two live here full time. They can’t fly anymore. One had a wing rupture and was found on the valley floor. The other was attacked by stray dogs after colliding with a power line. (Before they moved underground apparently.)

    The valley behind the crane center.

    From there it was a pretty short drive to our lodge. This place is interesting in a juxtaposing sort of way. It is by far the most remote we have been. This is barely a village. But also by far the nicest accommodation we’ve had yet.

    It’s huge.

    This bathroom is almost as big as the other rooms we had.

    We even have a balcony.

    Looking out from the balcony.

    We were exhausted and quickly fell into long naps, sleeping almost 3 hours. I’m sure I will regret that later.

    Dinner was at 7.

    Dinner was good, a simple variation of other meals we’ve had.

    Dessert was a fruit cocktail in cream.

    And that’s it for the day. We don’t have WiFi in the room so we have stayed in the dining room to write this.

    Since we didn’t do much today I used the space to write more about some of the history we’ve learned. I do that more to help me remember but hope you enjoyed it as well.