Author: odohertyelaine

Arriving back to Paro :

we headed straight for the Paro dzong, also called Rinpung dzong.:

From the dzong we got a view of the Ugyen Pelri Thang which is the queen mothers palace. The dzong also looks out on the airport so we watched a plane land. There were lots of interesting pictures on the walls. (Hilary O’Dwyer- Surprised Tiger shout out!)

I love the story of the four friends which appeared multiple times on the walls : The “Four Harmonious Friends” is one of the most universal and beloved tales in Bhutan. The image of a bird, rabbit, and monkey standing on each other’s shoulders on the back of a patient elephant portrays social and environmental harmony. Paintings of the “Four Harmonious Friends” appear in Bhutanese homes and other public buildings.

As the story goes, the bird finds a seed and plants it. Then, the rabbit waters it, and the monkey fertilizes it. Once the seed sprouts and begins to grow, the elephant protects it. After some time, the small plant grows into a big, beautiful tree full of healthy fruit. By working together and using their individual talents, the four friends are able to reach and enjoy the fruit.

Another night at our favourite Hotel Olathang- this time in a different type of cabin:

Our accommodation in the Haa valley was the Risum Resort run by the Haa ladies! Haa is quite remote so we were really out in the wilderness! The rooms were individual cabins and they were huge… if you fancied an ole shuffle in the bathroom this was the place! (Miriam O’Toole – Italy flashback!)

We started our Haa adventure at the white temple also called Lhakhang Karpo.

We had to wait for a monk to open the place up for us!

I spotted a photograph to the side of the main statue of a young child in full Lama gear sitting on a high throne.. he looked like little Buddha so I asked Kinlay who it was. He told us that this child was found to be the reincarnation of Tenzin Rabgay (founder of the Tigers Nest monastery) and that he’s now 25! Another thing for me to google and find out more info on!

Haa is small but it’s very picturesque so we had some time to check out the small village along with the cows roaming the main street.

The local kids were happy to say hello and smile for their photo!

A house on the Main Street:

More yak spotting from the bus:

Next we made our way upwards to over 3,800 metres to the Cheli La pass. It was a beautiful day so we got a great view of the Himalayas

The prayer flags all along was really amazing to see

Onward to the main attraction in this neck of the woods – The Kila Nunnery. The bus could only get us so far and then we got to hike a good portion up the mountain

The obligatory prayer wheels:

There were incredible views of the mountains and surrounding valley

Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan with just over 100,000 people of Bhutans 800,000 total population. Back on the crazy roads there was some excellent animal spotting : langur monkeys

More yak:

Then some other kind of monkeys:

When we arrived in Thimphu we headed for the memorial chorten which was busy with tourists, a bit of a first for us in Bhutan.

There were some great prayer wheels here and some great local characters

Next something the whole group were really looking forward to – Bhutans national animal – takin! The Royal Takin Preserve was the place to see them:

We also saw various different types of deer:

With Thimphu being the capital and takin on my mind, I hoped this might be an opportunity to find me a yak burger!! Sure enough after a bit of shopping around town and directions from our trusted guide we found the spot and I happily munched a yak burger with fries and local beer. I was in my element and it meant I could skip the buffet dinner that night and have a bit of quiet time at the really nice hotel we were staying in. I needed my strength for the next day.

The next morning bright eyed after a great sleep (which is rare for me) we set off in the bus up and up and up the mountain to Buddha point to view the fairly new giant Buddha :

After a spot of art and local handicrafts shopping we stopped by the local archery grounds and got to see a game in progress. It was very amusing to watch. The board the players are aiming for is miles away.. well 150 metres but that’s so far to shoot an arrow. It was so funny to watch them as the opposing team does a dance at the board before and after each shot

Next stop was the centenary farmers market which had all sorts of local produce

The national library was next. I do love a good library but it was a bit on the small side – seeing the Bhutanese scriptures in local language was interesting and the building was nice but it was no Trinity college!

The drive from Punakha to the Gangtey valley was a memorable one. The roads ran high over the valley and were very twisty. Our driver did a brilliant job though and he stopped for all sorts of photo opportunities – this was one of my favourite: yak, yak, yak

Our first stop was the Black necked crane visitor centre where we spotted some of these beautiful birds through telescopes but we would have a chance to see more on our nature valley walk tomorrow. We headed for our hotel called Dewachen (de wachen you and de wachen me!!) which was a really beautiful set of buildings built into the side of the mountain.

The next morning we did our Gangtey nature trail walk across the Phobjikha valley. It was an easy hike across some beautiful countryside and we saw lots of the black necked cranes.

Further on we came to a monastery and school for young monks. As we approached we could see that they were sitting in their robes on the grass outside praying.

There was a small shop where they sold incense which they made there at the monastery.

From there we climbed uphill and had the chance for a group photo among some amazing vertical prayer flags:

A couple more kilometres through some nice trees smelling the clear fresh air and we reached the Gangtey Goempa monastery.

It’s a large monastery with monks quarters around the edges. The main building is surrounded by prayer wheels which were dutifully swung.

That night we had a home stay dinner which involved a lesson in making momo’s. Our hosts were very welcoming and after some rice wine, beer and the most potent dessert I think I’ve ever had, we had a bit of a sing song.

Our guide and driver taught us a Bhutanese song and then we turned that into our very own hit called Guru Rinpoche! Now I haven’t mentioned him much so far and that’s probably because I haven’t gone into much detail about the inside of the monasteries we visited, mainly because you’re not allowed to take photos and it’s hard to remember all the details. That said, Guru Rinpoche is responsible for finding a lot of the monasteries visited across Bhutan and Tibet. He became somewhat of a hero of mine and we sang our Guru Rinpoche song multiple times throughout the trip.

After a hearty breakfast we had a meeting with a monk! This is apparently an exclusive offered by this tour and it was a great experience. Kenpo Phuntsho Tashi was just lovely. He was praying as we entered one by one and handed him a white scarf that he then placed around our necks. We sat in seats around him and he started by teaching us some basic meditation. He explained that there are seven postures to follow which include how to place your feet, hands and tongue. From there you concentrate on your breathing where you breath out for longer each time. He told us that as beginners you should only meditate for one minute a day but try do it 10 times a day and build it up gradually. He said there are so many distractions that if you tried to meditate for a long period of time you’d get bored or just fall asleep!! He was very lighthearted about the whole thing but talked about how important meditation is not only for yourself as an individual but also to help bring peace to the world around us. While meditating you should repeat “I am a lotus flower blossoming for the world” – I thought that was lovely.

He talked a bit about his background which was really interesting- he was sent to the monastery at only 8 years old and really didn’t find happiness himself til he was about 28. He studied hard and has written a lot about Buddhism and many of his books have been translated across the world. He also mentioned that he’s great friends with Richard Gere!!

After the photo shoot with Kenpo we loaded up the bus and were off to Punakha with a stop on the way to visit the Thimphu dzong.

It was at this dzong that I had the opportunity to use the monks toilet… I’m not sure who was more surprised when I walked out of the stall to see a couple of male monks in front of me – we each gave a little shriek and ran!!!

En route we stopped at the Dochula pass which is at 3,100metres. It was really cold up so high but there were beautiful views even though most of the time the mountains are covered in mist:

There are 108 memorial chortens or stupas that were built by the queen mother and we walked around them all:

We arrived to our hotel – Hotel Lobesa which was set in a stunning location.. again looking out on a valley.

The room was new and modern and the view amazing. We were delighted to have two nights here. View from the toilet:

That night we had a taste of the local night life as our guide took a few of us to Karaoke in a bar in the little town. It was hysterical and a great insight into the “party scene”!!! We had a few bottles of beer and yes of course I sang.. yes a few times.. mostly dueting with my fellow tour buddies and performing from our seats.. (no need to get up on stage here!). It was great fun and we gave the locals a giggle. There were English, Bollywood and local Bhutanese songs. For our grand finale we did the macarena which seemed like a good idea until we realised none of us knew how to sing all the words except “hey macarena”.. I moved swiftly away from the microphone and left our tour guide and one of the Canadian lads to sing while myself and another lad danced the moves (eh tried!!) on either side.. it was a total train wreck but very funny. We ended the night on stage dancing with some locals and even got a photo with them.

Next morning we headed off to explore Punakha. After stopping for a photo opportunity of the Punakha dzong which we’d come back and visit later:

We hiked across rice fields where local people were working and upward to the Khamsum Yueley Namgyal chorten (or stupa).

This stupa is full of statues of protectors and there were three different levels to climb up. The top was an open air level with great views of the valley:

I also got to to meet this cutie:

We met some cute kids on the way up who I shared a kit Kat with and there were beautiful poinsettia everywhere (first thought of Christmas)

After the hike we crossed a very long suspension bridge with lots of prayer flags. It’s apparently the longest in the country and was fairly shaky especially when a load of school kids were purposely rocking it:

When we’d driven through the town earlier we’d noticed a large prayer festival on in the local temple. One of the guys on the trip asked our guide Kinlay if it was possible to visit and sure enough without much hesitation it was added to our itinerary. The grounds were packed and there were hundreds of people including regular folks and monks praying and chanting. Kinlay told us that it was a 3 day festival to pray for world peace and they were going on all over the country. We were ushered in like VIPs and given seats in a tent right at the front of the action. After watching the monks praying there was a dance ceremony were boys wore the traditional masks and performed a ceremonial dance. It was fascinating to watch.

After we had been fascinated and entertained enough at the prayer festival we headed to the Punakha dzong. Considered the most beautiful in the country it is the second oldest dzong in Bhutan and used to be the seat of the government. It was beautifully decorated and there were lots of young monks praying.

You could have a prayer/blessing from the monks by giving a donation and telling them what year you were born in (I found out I’m the year of the rat) and they then gave you a small red string for around your neck. Later they ran out of the room they prayed in to throw something in a fire and then ran back in to pray some more. I had no idea what was going on but it was very interesting to watch!

The next morning before leaving the area we made a short hike through more rice fields and a small village with lots of shops to the Chime Lhakhang. This is the temple dedicated to Lama Drukpa Kunley or The Divine Madman!!!! The phalluses on sale in the shops and drawn on lots of houses gave us some clue as to what this guy was all about!!

According to the story, Lama Drukpa was a bit of a ladies man and ran riot with women wherever he went. He allegedly subdued a demoness with his “magic thunderbolt of wisdom” and remained infamous ever since. The phallus is supposed to ward off demons and so it’s very common to see it drawn on people’s houses and penis statues everywhere!!!

As arrivals go, arriving in Bhutan’s Paro airport is memorable. Did I mention we saw Everest AGAIN leaving Kathmandu…. anyway back to Paro – The plane gets very close to the hills as it’s coming in to land and you can hear sighs from the first timers like me! When you disembark you are greeted by one of the nicest looking airport buildings I’ve ever seen.

We flew Royal Bhutan Airlines also known as Druk Air and it was very nice.. even including a meal and glass of wine on the hour flight!! Immigration was easy and the officers were really pleasant – it was a sign of what to expect from the Bhutanese people. Check out this for a baggage reclaim:

Paro is located in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains. The air appeared clean and fresh and it felt like we were somewhere very remote. Our hotel was on the opposite side of the valley so we had to drive through town and upward to get to our hotel which overlooked the valley below. We got a good sense of the landscape from this first short journey.. no large billboards, advertising is strictly controlled; no skyscrapers or tower blocks, 5 stories is the limit allowed, all the buildings have to conform to the traditional architecture and absolutely no chains.. it was really refreshing to be somewhere so different to home and most cities across the world.

our hotel was fab – Hotel Olathang was built in 1974 for visitors coming to the coronation of the king. There is a replica of it in the national museum! It’s a dzong (fort/monastery) like building with chalet type guest rooms around the property. Our room was very cozy and wooden cabin like!

We didn’t have much time to explore on our first day as it gets dark early- by 5pm it’s already dark enough that you wouldn’t chance a walk down the hill – so we decided to explore the bar at the hotel instead! Nice bar, decent wifi to say hello to everyone at home, and a mouse running past every few minutes!! It was certainly authentic!

The following day, armed with my notes from comparing the “must see in Paro” to what was covered in our tour we set off to visit the national museum. The driver who picked us up from the airport (who we came to know as Tenzen – btw best driver ever!!) took us where we needed to go and also organised for us to have lunch in town when we were done.. all included in our tour – so nice. We had two others from our tour group join us so we were a nice small group.

The museum was small but housed in a very cool building with really interesting exhibits. It had a huge array of masks that are worn in various different festivals and for different dances and each one has a different meaning. It also had Buddha statues and artwork and then a whole section on the flora and fauna of Bhutan and the wild animals they have. It was a great introduction to the country.

Next we headed to the “town temple”. There was a prayer festival going on so lots of people making offerings to the Buddha statue and sitting praying together. We spotted a wooden staircase and were wondering if we could go up there when five or so young ladies (students) headed in that direction so we followed them. The stairs led to a room, fairly sparse with a monk in full robes sitting on the floor cross legged. The girls sat around him and then he motioned to us to join them and actually asked us all where we were from and shook our hands. In hindsight I think he thought we were part of that group (who had clearly organised this session) so we just went along with it and joined in. It turned out to be a wonderful hour listening to this very learned monk tell us about some of the key wisdoms of Buddhist teaching. There was an opportunity to ask questions and each of the girls prefaced their questions with “in my research”… hmmm clearly they were learning about Buddhism. When the lady on our tour with us asked a question he asked her “and what is your research” to which she replied “oh I have no research” … he didn’t mind at all but it was funny to us as we’d clearly sneaked into a private meeting!! We had a giggle about it later and talked to the girls who were mostly American and were happy that we’d joined in. It was quite a memorable first morning in Bhutan!

I also swung my first Bhutan prayer wheel at this local temple : Druk Choeding

Our welcome meeting was held later in the evening where we got to meet our tour group – 13 of us in total including Canadian (French speaking and the regular kind!!), American and of course one Irish! With a bit of free time on our hands I decided to check out the spa and had the most wonderful banana facial!!!

Dinner and a few drinks at our little bar, a quick goodbye to our yak and we ready for take-off the next day..

“Do you want to see a living goddess?” our guide asked us as he took us around the palaces of Durbar square. I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about but I was fascinated to find out. It was our first day exploring Kathmandu and it was Saturday, apparently the one day a week that the royal Kumari gives an audience! We stood in a small courtyard and after about 5 minutes a little 3 year old girl peeped out from the middle window above!

Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos but we were told how lucky we were to see her! As soon as I got back in the world of wifi I googled this craziness and found out that it’s been going on for centuries. A child is picked from a particular family and must meet certain physical criteria to be eligible. To be chosen is considered to be a great honour (although it does seem less so nowadays). The child is taken away from her family and lives in the palace and only comes outside for certain religious festivals. She remains Kumari until puberty or if she has some kind of injury earlier where she loses a lot of blood she, this can also result her “term of office” as such coming to an end.

The next at at the Patan museum shop I found a couple of books on the subject so whipped them up. This was a good read about how this girl went back to normal life after being Kumari.

As I read more I found out that the little 3 year old we saw is the royal Kumari but there are others around the country!! In fact there is another in our very own neighbourhood Patan (or Lalitpur) so on our day exploring our neighbourhood we find the Kumari che which is the Kumari palace.. it was a little less fancy than the royal one

We didn’t find our til later that we could have rang a bell and got to see her but once we had this info we knew it was gonna happen. On our last day in Nepal we headed over there… I put my shawl on (bought it specially as My top didn’t cover my shoulders!!) and we rang the bell. A man came out and motioned for us to come inside. He told us to take our shoes off while he went ahead up a set of small, steep wooden stairs. He called us up and there was this young girl sitting in front of us with a very miserable look on her face. He motioned for me to kneel in front of her and she put a blob of flowers and paint on me – this is called a tikka and it was her blessing!

We didn’t find our til later that we could have rang a bell and got to see her but once we had this info we knew it was gonna happen. On our last day in Nepal we headed over there… I put my shawl on (bought it specially as My top didn’t cover my shoulders!!) and we rang the bell. A man came out and motioned for us to come inside. He told us to take our shoes off while he went ahead up a set of small, steep wooden stairs. He called us up and there was this young girl sitting in front of us with a very miserable look on her face. He motioned for me to kneel in front of her and she put a blob of flowers and paint on me – this is called a tikka and it was her blessing!

It was the oddest thing but I must admit I enjoyed meeting the Kumari!

• Nepalese people love popcorn – you may even get it before your meal in a restaurant
• They rarely give you a straight answer… going around the houses is an understatement
• When you order a dish with chicken, it tends to be always on the bone
• There clearly cannot be an NCT in operation as most cars are in a heap! We got the same driver three times in a row – he was about 25 stone and he was driving a Suzuki and we were barely able to fit in the back.. the doorman had a right laugh the third time he turned up!!
• They want to make you happy and say yes to everything
• Anything goes on the road… drive on whichever side, down the middle, overtake on blind bends etc!
• Milk tea in Nepal does not mean you take a drop of milk in your black tea – it’s a concoction of half tea half hot milk – don’t do it!!!!
• All meals are served on cold plates.. arghhh (my Da would have a fit!)
• There are separate queues at airport security for men and women!

Arriving back to Kathmandu from Tibet felt like coming back home for a few days. We were greeted like the whole place knew us (which at that point I think they did!) and got a lovely room with a view of the mountains (through a dirty window.. it didn’t look that manky!!)

We were delighted to be back and within an hour our bathroom resembled a Chinese laundry – some washing had to be done! On a separate note I was feeling a lot better.. starving the illness seemed to have worked and although I missed an opportunity for a yak burger in Tibet I was feeling normal.. in fact I was ready for a glass of wine!

After a relaxing evening we had a busy couple of days ahead of us to get through the last key sites to see before leaving Nepal. First on the list Sawayambhunath known as the monkey temple:

As soon as we arrived it was obvious where the nickname came from – the place was mobbed by monkeys.. they’re everywhere – running around your feet, jumping from statues to stupas and swinging from trees and prayer flags. The temple itself is up on a hill so,lots of steps to climb but there was a great view of prayer flags and plenty of prayer wheels for us to swing and statues of Buddha, Vishnu, Garuda etc to see.

Next a quick photo stop at some newly built Buddha statues in a park at the bottom of the hill. This wasn’t officially on our tour but I’d spotted a postcard of it and asked where it was…. never wanting to displease the guide told the driver to pull in and I had a chance to take a look. There were no tourists here but lots of locals coming to pray. A young boy waved to me and offered to take a picture.. happy days!

Next on the list the Bodhnath (or Boudha) Stupa – the biggest stupa in Asia. It’s really impressive to see the eyes gazing out and with the sun shining bright it was dazzling. You always walk clockwise around a stupa and ring the prayer wheels in a clockwise motion so off we went. This area was uncluttered (unlikely the monkey temple) so it was nice to walk around in the open space.

After a really nice lunch overlooking the Bodhnath stupa we headed for the last temple of the day – Pashupatinath. This is the Hindu temple where they have cremations on the side of the river Bagmati. (It allegedly runs into the Ganges). This was the most expensive temple to visit at approx $20 and most of it we could not enter as it’s for Hindus only. We did catch a glimpse of a giant gold bull through the entry way to one of the temples in the compound. Oddly enough there was no problem for us to visit the cremation gatts. There are cremations going on 24/7 and you can see them very easily as they take place outdoors. It was a very somber affair watching human bodies (initially only covered by a shroud) get covered with grass or rice stalks and set on fire. We watched a cremation from start to finish and honestly weren’t the better of witnessing it….. a drink was needed on return to the hotel.

That night we ended up having our best meal in Nepal at a restaurant we found on TripAdvisor called Rosemary Kitchen and Coffeeshop. It was in Thamel so that meant walking around small busy streets full of shops trying to find it but once we did we were delighted. The restaurant itself was cosy and well lit with a great menu and decent wine. We were happy out!

Next morning we had a 4.45am pick up with an hour drive up the mountains on another very bumpy road to get to Nagarkot for sunrise. It was worth it for the beautiful views of the Himalayas though… seeing the sun bounce of the top of the peaks as it rose was gorgeous.

After the sunrise we hiked through some small villages to what is one of the oldest temples in Nepal – Changu Narayan. With a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist shrines it is famous for its ancient carvings. It had a lot of damage in the earthquake but you could see a lot of restoration already done and more ongoing.

Next it was on to Bhaktapur and our third Durbar square. This one is apparently the oldest of all the three squares. It had a really nice feel to it walking around the little streets. It was reasonably quiet and calm to walk around, not crazy and chaotic as Kathmandu and although they were hit pretty bad by the earthquake it wasn’t half as dusty and dirty. There is still a lot of restoring and rebuilding being done.. the evidence of which was all around. The highlight was the 5 tier stupa in the centre of the square.

On our last day in Nepal there were a couple of things nagging me… firstly I realised after visiting Bodhnath stupa we hadn’t seen the large prayer wheel. Apparently it’s the biggest in Kathmandu (if not one of the biggest in the country) and to add insult to injury it’s on the front cover of the Lonely Planet guide that we had been carrying around our whole trip!! So after a quick chat with our “anything to make you happy” guide Ujewel he put me in a taxi to go go back in and see the prayer wheel. It was well worth it … Lokendra, our original guide that day, was waiting for me out front and brought me to see the prayer wheel. He took the photo mimicking the book cover and we were done!

The 2nd thing on my mind was the Patan Kumari.. apparently she saw visitors every day and she was in our neighbourhood so I really wanted to see her. So we set off to have a final lunch and spot of fair trade shopping and onwards to the Kumari house. I got my tika (blessing) and was happy out.. another job done and I was happy to say goodbye to Nepal!

• They have great lemon ginger tea that helps the tummy recover from altitude sickness
• Crisps and packets of sweets are bursting with air and are hard to open!
• Watch your toiletries after landing at the high altitude.. they may explode!
• Don’t be surprised to see hotel staff lined up at various stages in the day reciting what seemed to be some sort of pledge of allegiance or to see supermarket staff at opening time lined up outside for the national anthem
• Social media sites do not work well in China – whatsapp and Facebook took 3 days to update and I was never able to search on google although yahoo worked.. strange!
• All toilets are squaters (except in the hotels)
• Security seemed oddly strict and yet lax at the same time! Leaving Lhasa I was allowed bring my bottle of water but got a full-on pat down (I mean every bit of me was felt) going through the security check!!
• You’ll see a fair bit of this: