October 28 - Elephant Tented Camp

Thailand.    

We arrived in Chiangrai yesterday and drove to the elephant reserve where we are staying for three nights. We had an elephant training this morning in how to properly mount and dismount an elephant and then how to give proper instructions in order to ride the elephant into the jungle.  We ended up at a shallow lake and my elephant preferred to drink from the hose while Beth's elephant drank from the lake and then proceeded to drench her repeatedly with the water from his trunk.  It was hilarious.

We are sharing our Bhutan and Thailand adventures with you and hope that you enjoy them   Text and photos by jane and blog compilation by Beth. 

Beth's Observations

All of the other postings were written by Jane who kept great notes and has a terrific head for details!  Please read her excellent blog first and in this I have added a few other observations.

Bhutan is cautiously opening up to tourism and the king and government work hard to protect the distinct culture of the country.  A majority are practicing Bhuddists and there is a tremendous atmosphere of welcome, of acceptance, and of well-being.  The Gross National Happiness referred to repeatedly in our travels is enviable and owes a great deal to Buddhism.  Indeed, the Bhutanese are unbelievably quick to smile and wave hello, and are also quick to laugh.

We observed all people working long days.  The children often have very long walks to school so we would see them walking home in groups at the end of the day - always talking and laughing in small groups.  We were there to witness harvesting of the rice and the buckwheat as well as the threshing.  This is for the most part done manually and, as far as we were able to tell, men and women pulled equal weight in the fields.  The most difficult manual labour looked to be in building the roads.  Indians are hired to build and widen the roads, and again the hard labour is equally borne by men and women, often with infants on their backs and toddlers watching from the side of the road. 

Bhutanese are provided with universal education until approximately age 16 and they learn English in school.  They also have access to health care.  The government has banned cigarette smoking in all public places and imposed a 100% tax on tobacco purchases.  One of our guides said a big threat to life expectancy is alcoholism (which was not in evidence to us) and the government will next impose a 100% tax on alcohol purchases.

One striking feature of the country is the prayer flags.  They are placed where there is wind, so they are highly visible in the hills and on bridges.  

Because of the minimum daily required expenditure of the tourists and the time of year, almost all visitors were older and retired.  This helps to preserve the culture a bit, but with the increasing popularity of television and internet our guide confirmed that the culture is changing rapidly.

I have travelled with Jane for a number of years now, and she is very gifted at transcending language barriers to get the best out of people we meet.  The Bhutanese have met their match in her finding someone who loves to laugh, and, as usual, she gathered a crowd of admirers for her good humor and her outstanding athleticism.

October 26 - Leaving Bhutan

Today is our final day in Bhutan and we head to Bangkok this afternoon. We hiked along the rice paddy fields today and watched as the farmers harvested large crops of red rice. Potatoes will be planted next. We hiked to a bridge and then headed back to the hotel. 

Final notes:  Bhutan is an absolutely breathtaking country.  The Bhutanese people care greatly for their country and for each other. 

Nature is greatly protected as the people believe that spirits and even deities exist inside of all of nature. The mountains are believed to house spirits which must be respected and so no mountaineering or rock climbing is permitted. The Bhutanese government is determined not to allow Bhutan  to turn into a Nepal -overrun with back backers and highly polluted. 

One last thing- Bhutanese men and women are required to wear a sort of uniform every day while they are at work, out in public or at the temple. Men wear a gho and women wear a Kira. The children attending school also wear the gho /Kira. The traditional dress of Bhutan is one of the most visible and distinct aspects of the country. 

Men wear a gho which is a long robe similar to the Tibetan chuba. The Bhutanese hoist the gho to knee length and hold it in place with a woven cloth belt called a kera. The kera is wound tightly around the waist and the large pouch formed above it is traditionally used to carry a bowl, money and cell phone. 

Women wear a long floor-length dress called a Kira.  This is a rectangular piece of brightly colored cloth that wraps around the body and over a Tibetan style silk blouse a wonju. A short open jacket called a toego is worn over the blouse.  The whole ensemble is beautiful and Bhutanese women look very elegant. 

October 25 - Tiger's Nest Again!

Today we returned to Tigers Nest to climb it again. I hiked it in our record time doing the whole climb up and down in 2.5 hours. We stopped for water and some photos but otherwise we moved quickly and steadily.  It was so much fun and glad that I did it a second time.

From Beth:

Again, I climbed half way and then waited for Jane and Sangay to complete the hike.  2-1/2 hours is a remarkable time - other guides were quite stunned when Sangay told them that Jane and he were already returning from the top.

October 24 -beautiful Chumphu hike

Today we went on an incredible hike with our guide and our  driver. We hiked for seven hours along and above the Chumphu River. We hiked to the stupa (site where religious relics are housed) and ate lunch. Then I continued on a very steep hike to the monastery perched in the mountains. We stopped at the monastery where the guides made an offering and then we continued hiking up to a beautiful lake and many waterfalls. This climb was the most difficult in terms of height while ascending and descending. The guide kept telling me to not look down while I was climbing and I didn't. The path was so narrow and I felt like there was no room for me to make mistakes so I just looked ahead. Of course, I loved the adventure. When it was over!!

October 23 -from Bumthang back to Paro

Today we were scheduled to fly on Druk Air from Bumthang to Paro.  By doing so a 13  1/2 hour car ride took 30 minutes. Our flight was delayed because the incoming plane carried one of the reincarnated lamas. He blessed many of the passengers waiting to board our flight and I felt his positive karma would make our flight over the Himalayas easy. We checked into our fourth and final Aman and after lunch walked along the road admiring the rice paddy fields. We visited the Drukgyal Dzong and enjoyed great views of Mount Chomolhari.  I then took a private yoga class with an instructor from Oakland. Small world but it felt great.

October 22 - Bumthang hiking

In the morning,  I visited the Pelseling Goemba which is a monastery located very high up on the mountain. The trek was all uphill through a mix of forest and meadows but sharing candies and treats with the very young monks up top was a wonderful experience.

In the afternoon, we visited Janbay lhakang. It is believed to have been built in the year 659 by the Tibetan king Songsten Garripo on the same day as Kyichu lhakhang in Paro in order to subdue a Tibetan demoness.

It is here that Guru Rinpoche conducted his first sermon on tantric Buddhism for his host king Shindhu Roja the local ruler. Every year in October, the temple hosts a spectacular festival, the Jambay lhakhang drip. Two of the main attractions are the fire dance and the treasure dance or naked dance along with fertility blessings for the women. We attended the ceremony on the closing day and listened to the lamas lead the people.  

From Beth:

I took the day off while Jane did the hike with our guide, Sangay.  Instead I tried my hand once again at archery.  The range was right beside a monastery on the property, and there were a number of monks who took great interest in my instructor, Thomtom.  As we were shooting from one end a bushel of crab apples rained down on his head, follows by gales of laughter from the young monks who had been tasked with clearing them from the monastery roof.  

Jane returned from her hike and I could see that her guide had had to move much more quickly to keep up with this tourist than he was used to doing!

October 21 - Lancy Goemba hike Bumthang

We went to bed early knowing that we had a very long hike the next day.  We selected our picnic lunch from the hotel menu and were informed that an Aman guide would join us as well since he was very familiar with area trekking. Our guide Sangay was very concerned about grizzly bears in the forested area. The Aman guide Singay did not seem very concerned but we did have a large hunting knife to protect us in case of trouble. In Bhutan, no living creature is ever killed as it goes against Buddhist teachings.  Beef, poultry and fish are all consumed but the killing is done by Indians living in the country or imported from elsewhere. I am not sure what Sangay was planning to do if we came across a bear since he had no intention of hurting it.  Hmmmm.

We put on our gators, hiking boots and took our hiking poles to hit the muddy trail.  We did run in to some natives who were collecting herbs found at higher altitudes for medicinal purposes. Marijuana does grow freely all over but I was told that the Bhutanese do not smoke it.  Rather hard to believe.  We did not see any bears and so the day was a safe success.

This challenging 7 hour hike offered less in terms of views but more the feel of a pilgrimage.  The trail climbs from an elevation of 9,190 ft up to the pass above Tharpaling at about 11,820 ft. After climbing through the forest, you then reach the pass and can continue downwards from one sacred site- Lancy Goemba - to the next including Choejedrake -one of the four holy cliffs.

Choejedrake is said to look like a stack of books and also like a hanging  monastic robe. It is believed to hold 22 kinds of hidden treasures with a door at the foot as the entrance for persons to the hidden land.

October 19 - Monk's Village

I took a beautiful hike up to a monk' s village and monastery. The hike up was about three hours long and I did manage to avoid stepping on a black mysterious snake which slithered away under my feet. Once we completed the hike, we headed to the next Aman hotel in Punakha. It took us approximately 21/2 to 3 hours to get there because the roads in Bhutan are quite primitive

Cars are driven on the opposite side of the road and there are no stoplights in the entire country. The occasional stop sign is routinely ignored.   Our driver Kumar was/is a very competent driver. At 22 years of age, he worked in the tourism industry driving tourists all over while the guide was in charge of touring and instruction.  

The roadways which Kumar had to navigate are usually two lanes and there are very few straight roads in Bhutan. The roads are very curvy and full of hairpin turns. What makes driving even more of a challenge are the massive boulders which are strewn all over the roads as a result of the slides caused by the heavy rain due to the Indian cyclone. We passed many enormous boulders lying in the road and I was grateful that none of them landed on our Toyota SUV.

We arrived at our second Aman hotel which was made up of only eight rooms. The dinner and service were exceptional and then we got ready for the nine hour drive the following day to Bumthang

October 18 - Monks' University

We woke up to a huge downpour of rain and were quite relieved that our camping days were over before they started. We bade our 10 trekking mates farewell and met with our new guide and driver. We went back to Thimphu, checked into the first of four Amankora hotels we would be staying at and ate a delicious lunch (nothing like an Aman hotel after you have committed yourself to heated rooms and a dry bed ).  

After, we climbed to a Buddhist university. Monks live and learn there full time. We entered the temple and observed the Buddha surrounded by bodhisattvas and all of the food and money offerings. The university is built into the mountain side and is such a calm and tranquil place.

October 17 - Tiger's Nest

Today we drove to the Takstang Monastery which is also known as the Tiger's Nest   The hike followed a steep switchback trail through the forest. On the way up we stopped at a tea house for tea and a biscuit and then continued on to the Tiger's Nest which is located at the end of seven hundred stairs.

The Tiger's Nest is one of Bhutan's most revered monuments. It literally hangs off the face of a cliff 2952 feet above the valley floor. The legend states that Guru Rimpoche flew from Singye Dzong to the present day Takstang on a mythical tigress and meditated in the cave before bringing Buddhism to Bhutan.  The Takstang Goemba is built around this cave.

The climb was quite steep and very crowded with tourists and with ponies who were carrying both human passengers and supplies.

As my cold/cough continued to worsen one of the women in our group, an ER doctor from Breckinridge, advised that I reconsider the camping in the high altitude portion of our trip. She put me on antibiotics and said that day treks would be fine but camping in the snow/rain and cold was not a good idea.  My sister and I spent much time discussing this and opted for day treks, flush toilets, warm beds and electricity.

From Beth:

The reality is that I was not probably not in any shape to complete the trek.  The other people on the trek were very experienced and fit hikers and for many of them, a minimum pace was desirable - a pace which a couple of us did not meet.  The destinations for all the hikes were well worth seeing - magical views and bustling, isolated temples.

October 16 - Touring Thimpu

We had a big touring day of both Thimphu and Paro, the two largest cities in Bhutan.  We started by driving up steep roads to visit an enormous golden statue of Buddha which has been under construction for years. Buddha looks out over the entire valley. The construction project has been financed by the government of Bhutan and also by the governments of the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Korea as a gift.

We then drove to the traditional medicine hospital which only treats patients using natural herbs and holistic therapies.  It sits adjacent to the westernized hospital which treats in a more "contemporary" way. Doctors from both hospitals consult with each other over the best manner of treatment for each patient. Healthcare like education is provided freely to all Bhutanese citizens.

Next we went to the school of arts and crafts which is a competitive institute where students come to learn the traditional crafts of sculpture, drawing,weaving, silver making and many other arts. Their works are then sold and they also create a great deal of artwork for the temples and other government buildings.

In the afternoon , we drove to Paro for lunch and then visited the National Museum and the Paro Dzong which houses both monks and the area government offices. Afterwards, we checked in to the Zhiwa Ling hotel complete with white robes and wifi.

From Beth:

While we were in Thimpu the national archery competition was on.  Archery is the national sport.  Our guide, Namgay, plays on a team and had just been eliminated the day before we arrived.  He took us to see the competition and explained the tradition of drinking alcohol during the competition and hurling good-natured insults at the other team.  Every point was celebrated with dancing and song, making it all a bit rowdy and chaotic, and great fun to watch!

October 15 - Rainy Touring

We woke up to rain which meant snow at the higher elevations. I continued coughing and wheezing. We drove to the north end of Dodina and hiked up a steep climb to the Cheri Monastery or goemba which means monastery. It is perched on the hillside and is home to many monks. It was built in 1620 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namayal and today serves as the main meditation center of the country.  We toured the center and were given time to do some of our own meditating.

We then went to  lunch at a restaurant named Edelweiss and ate a traditional Bhutanese lunch which consists of locally grown red rice, potatoes, noodles, shredded beef, chilies mixed with cheese

and tea.  We then went to a textile museum and were amazed by the work that we saw. Many of the pieces created looked like they had been embroidered with such detail when in fact they had been created through weaving only. Each garment whether a scarf or dress can take up to one year to create.

After we left the museum, we visited a "mini-zoo" which housed the national animal which is called a takin. It looks like a combination of cow and goat and the animals were grazing the entire time that we visited.

October 14 - Arrival in Bhutan

Our Bhutan pilgrimage.

Our adventure began in Bangkok Thailand where we spent a couple of days touring while waiting for our trip to Bhutan to begin.

Monday October 14, 2013

We were scheduled to fly on drukairways which is the national airline of Bhutan. We were forewarned that the flights tend to be oversold since there are so few of them. Our flight was scheduled to depart from Bangkok to Paro Bhutan at 6:45 am but we arrived at the airport at 4:00 am to be sure to obtain seats. While waiting in line we met another couple from Detroit Michigan who were doing the same Chomalhari trek as us. He was an avid mountain climber and she was an all around athlete. They had recently hiked Kilimanjaro.

Once on board the flight, we met other group members and quickly learned that we were surrounded by ultra marathoners, serious hikers who had covered the entire planet and very serious athletes. The clincher was that they -all ten of them- were in their 50s, 60s and 70 s.  My sister and I were some of the youngest in the group. I quickly decided that we were too young to hang out with these super fit older folks.

Upon arrival in Paro, we were greeted by our leader Namgay who has led hikes for the past 17 years.  We learned that Bhutan is a very popular destination for older tourists because of the cost of visiting the country. To avoid turning into Nepal which is dirty and overcrowded with backpackers,  the Bhutanese government requires that each tourist spend $250 per day while visiting. All tourists are required to tour with a personal guide and driver.  Between that and food and hotel it is not difficult to meet the $250 requirement.

Bhutan is known for its natural beauty.  The trekking is incredible in the Himalayas. However, what is most important to the government and to the people is the country's gross national happiness. This is measured by looking at the level of happiness of the citizens based on health, quality of education, family life, cultural heritage, good governance, ecological diversity and individual well being.

The Bhutanese people believe that economic prosperity as measured by the GNP is far less important than the overall happiness of the people as measured by the GNH.   Economic growth is seen not as an end but rather as a means of achieving more important ends. It appears that Bhutan is off the scale when measured by GNH.

The concept of GNH was introduced by the fourth druk gyal His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck in the early 1980s and has been considered revolutionary by the global leaders around the world.

So after we claimed our luggage and obtained our visas, we all took a van to the capital city of Thimphu which is the largest city with a population of 100,000.  It began to pour down rain while we were driving and it did not stop for three days. The rain was caused by the cyclone that struck adjoining country India resulting in many deaths there. The rain meant that there was huge snowfall in the mountains where we would soon be trekking and camping. I arrived with a serious cold and the rain/snow made me concerned.

After eating lunch at our hotel, we all got in the van to tour. We went to the Tashicho Dzong which houses the royal government. We also toured a Buddhist temple and began our instruction about the practice of Buddhism in Bhutan. Every country has such varied practices and we saw big differences having just arrived from Bangkok.

We learned that monks are often selected by their family members to serve as a means of bringing good virtue to the family. Many boys are sent to live at the monasteries at very young ages and will decide at 18 years old if they are prepared to make a permanent commitment. That commitment includes among many things celibacy, no use of modern technology( other than cell phones which every monk seems to own)