October Holiday with a big adventure to Bhutan. Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia located at the eastern end of the Himalayas. It is bordered to the north by China (Tibet) and to the south, east and west by India. It shares with Nepal the world’s greatest concentration of mountains and a living Buddhist heritage.
Our Concordia students arrived home from interim trips Thursday night. Emersyn was very late, but that is another story. I threw everything in the wash to repack Emersyn’s bag. Since Eleri is a 5th grader and this is her first interim trip, she returned on Wednesday night giving me an extra night to get her washing done.
Day One – Friday, September 26: Travel
School was a half day to 11:30am. The students enjoy this half day to talk about their adventures and share stories. Emersyn was adamittment that she didn’t miss this half day. The girls came home from school with stories to share, but packing needed to be completed.
We arrived with time for a quick stop in the NEW lounge at Shanghai before our 5:25pm departure. We are flying Thai Airlines which is a star alliance with United – bonus for us. We are sharing the adventure with the Brennans – Judy, Dan, Danielle (10th grade) and Erin (8th grade). The Brennans are a fun family and we are thrilled to share the adventure with them. Judy and I were on the Ladies trip to Tibet adventure together.
We arrived in Bangkok at 9pm and found our transportation to our local hotel near the airport. The airport is way out of town in Bangkok AND Bangkok has more traffic than Shanghai. The airport hotels were expensive so I had found us a cheap, quaint hotel near the airport. It was a cute place with a fun pool. Eleri went for a quick dip before bed. Our rooms were basic, but clean. We wouldn’t be sleeping long as we were heading back to the airport at 4:30am. Our flight to Paro, Bhutan departes at 6:50am. Paro is the only international airport in Bhutan.
Day Two – Saturday, September 27: To the Kingdom
Jim and I were awaken by the safe battery beeping from low battery around 2am. We had plenty of time to get ready, just not plenty of sleep. This is our teen waking her up at 4am!
After we found our Drukair lines and check-in, we went to find some breakfast. It was 6:00am and we were having lunch food. The girls had an Auntie Annie’s pretzel, Jim had Burger King and I had a chicken sandwich from a deli…all was good. On the flight, everyone slept based on our lack of sleep. In addition, our kids are tried from their interim trips.
We arrived in Paro at 11:00am. We have moved our clocks back two hours – one hour at Bangkok and another hour in Paro. Paro airport is peaceful in the valley.
The airport building is a traditional Bhutan style.
After customs, we picked up some Australian wine for $8 in Duty Free, very cheap from our Shanghai standards. We found our guide, KP, and our transportation for the next seven days.
We enjoyed the beautiful countryside as we left the airport.
The airport strip is to be the longest, straightest road in Bhutan.
Our first stop was lunch downtown Paro…the one street of Paro.
All the new buildings in Bhutan must be done in traditional style. It makes for a beautiful, uniform landscape.
Lunch was slow and relaxing. A buffet of various dishes with red rice. Bhutan is known for the chilies. Chilies are drying on all the roofs.
We took a look at a few shops in Parao before going to the temple. We wanted to get an idea of WHAT we THINK we need from Bhutan to represent our trip. Then, we were off to our first temple.
Kyichu Lhakhang is one of the oldest and most beautiful temples in Bhutan built by Tibetan King Songtesen Gempo during the 7th century. It was built to subdue the Demons and to spread the Buddhist Dharma in the region.
The girls gave the prayers wheels a spin for good health and good future.
A couple faces of Bhutan at the temple.
We left the temple to drive to the National Museum. The National Museum was originally built as Watch Tower. Since 1967, it has served as the National Museum of the country and holding fascinating collection of art, artifacts, thangkha paintings and Bhutan’s exquisite postage stamps.
No photos in the National Museum, just photos outside.
The Watch Tower was damaged in an earthquake in 2010 so entrance is no longer allowed.
After we left the Museum, we had a road trip to Thimphu. On the road to Thimphu…the kids were out. On our 1.5 hour drive, we didn’t hear a peep from the back of the bus. The kids decided to name our bus, Gus the Bus.
The road from Paro to Thimphu followed the river.
Upon arriving in Thimphu, we checked into our local hotel. Basic and clean will be the standard for this trip. We have four rooms with the parents and kids in different rooms. We are on the 4th floor and the girls are on the 2nd floor. I usually pack based on the needs and I forgot that we would be in two different rooms most of Bhutan. Just a few stair runs to keep in shape!
The adults walked around town while the kids jumped on the internet before dinner.
The Lyons needed cash. Jim tried the Bank of Bhutan, BOB, but BOB doesn’t like Jim. The bank of DAN, was covering the Lyons until we found a bank that liked us.
I also had to take a photo of the 8 Eleven.
We had a nice, long dinner buffet at the hotel. Food was fine, but nothing great. The kids went up stairs to the internet while the adults enjoyed our wine.
Day Three – Sunday, September 28: The Capital City, Thimphu
Thimphu is relatively small having a population of approximately 45, 000 people and the streets are wide and tree lined. It is the modern capital of Bhutan.
We have a 9am start, but by the time we left the hotel it was 10:00am. We enjoyed watching the archery across the street. The men were shooting the target from about 150 meters. Amazing how far and how accurate they were able to shoot. We have noticed sports are a big part of life here. Yesterday, we stopped to watch a men’s volleyball tournament. Our hotel is across the street from a stadium and we are on the back side.
The forecast for the day was cooler with 70% chance of rain. We all put on warmer clothes and grabbed our rain jackets. By 10:00am, the sun was shinning and we were all hot.
Our first stop today was a stupa in Thimpu.
The girls had fun pulling the large prayer wheels.
We walked with the “centrifugal force of the pilgrims” like we did in Lhasa as recommended by the Lonely Planet tour book.
Faces of the people at the Stupa on this sunny morning.
After the girls terrorised the pigeons, we left.
Gus the bus drove us up to the Big Buddha – nothing is more than 10 minutes away in this town. It has been under construction for the last two years. It is the largest Buddha in Bhutan. We weren’t allowed to go up the stairs, but we took photos from below.
We had to add some fun photos.
The view overlooking the valley was beautiful. The view is beautiful everywhere in Bhutan.
I took a photo of this truck at the Buddha. We have seen many of them on the roads. KP said the trucks are painted to keep the evil spirits away.
Back to Gus the Bus to take us to our next stop. How cute are our girls! Danielle and Erin are fun as they have a very comical side to their personalities.
We stopped at a textile making factory. We didn’t buy anything as none of the textiles were jumping out. In addition, because they are hand woven, the textiles are expensive.
On to the homemade paper factory. It was interesting to see the process of making the homemade paper.
At the end of the tour in the gift shop, Emersyn wanted a couple journals for her to journal. The homemade paper wasn’t cheap, but pretty. It is hard to say no to her writing. We also picked up a couple of paper lanterns…not sure where they will get hung.
Lunch at Cousin’s Kitchen…nothing to write about! However, next to the restaurant was a good shop with lots of Bhutan treasures. Of course, everything we liked had the bigger price tags. We managed to find some good finds and would come back to buy later.
After lunch it began to rain, but we were not going to let a little rain slow us down…even if it was more than a little rain. We went to the zoo to see the national animal, a Tokin. Tokins are in Bhutan and Tibet. It is a odd looking animal. Since it was raining hard, we made the zoo stop a quick one.
Last stop on the tour today was the weekend market. On one side of the river is the market for vegetables, fruit, dried fish and spices. The vegetables looked delicious. The fruit was a bit sad looking, but we did get apples and pomegranate.
Eleri wanted a sugar cane to chew on while we shopped. Photos of the girls chewing on the canes.
By the time the girls finished, their hands were a sticky mess. There was no water in the bathrooms…Eleri found the pole dripping with rain water to solve the problem.
We crossed the covered bridge over the river to the craft side of the market.
The food market is inside a building so we stayed dry. The craft market had tin roofs over most of the market. We did not buy anything, but looked for over an hour. Danielle purchased a pencil case for about $3.
We finished around 5pm at the market. The kids went to their hallway to get on the internet and we decided to walk around and shop in the rain. We all had rain coats and we needed to make some decisions on our purchases…mainly a mask from Bhutan.
We finished shopping in time to get back to the hotel for dinner at 7pm. Tonight, dinner was family style and much better than buffet. The hotel made our table a special dish of chili and cheese (a dish of Bhutan) because Emersyn was visiting with the owner of the hotel. The hotel also made a cauliflower curry for our table. We also enjoyed the main dishes of beef, salad, fried chicken (with the bones) and rice, of course. The kids head upstairs once they were done eating and we enjoyed our wine and company.
Day Four – Monday, September 29: Thimpu Durbchen & Tshechu Festival
Thimphu Tshechu is one of the largest festivals in Bhutan, it is held at the courtyard of the Trashichho Dzong. The festival was first started by Desi Tenzin Rabgay, the 4th temporal ruler of Bhutan. He introduced the Tshechu to celebrate the birth of Guru Rimpochhoe on 10th -12th Day of Bhutanese calendar. Thousands of people turn up for four days dances and prayer, colourful and well choreographed mask dances are performed during this Tshechu.
Our 9am meet to go to the Dzong for the festival.
The local people had on traditional dress with sashes. KP had white for the common person. A blue sash was for parliament, green for judges, king and spiritual leaders wore yellow and orange for minsters. No hats allowed, long sleeves and long pants are required in the Dzongs. Our guide, KP, and our driver were in their festival traditional wear.
The girls with the Dzong behind them.
We started the day with the usually overcast that clears at 10am. By the time we reached the Dzong, the sun was in full force. The entrance to the Dzong.
The crowds were also in full force. Getting to a sport to watch the dancing we all felt like we were back in China. We managed to go against the flow to the other side…it was not easy.
The festival stated about 10:30am. It was interesting to watch, but we didn’t have the best view so our girls were ready to go with the sun and the heat. Jim managed to score a spot on stairs…by talking to the guard.
The many faces and masks at the festival.
On the way out, we went by the stand with the monks.
Once we were out of the Dzong, we looked back into the courtyard and the people of Bhutan watching the festival.
As we walked to the the bus, we saw two little monks playing in the field.
Everyone did leave the Dzong a bit red! Dan’s head was the most red since he had to leave his hat in the bus.
A quick run to the top of the hill to see the Dzong and Parliament from above.
A nice long lunch of local food. A longer lunch as my soles of my hiking boots had come unglued. KP took my shoes to the local cobbler. He glued and sewed them for 200 Bhutanese ($3). We had lunch near the ONE and ONLY traffic “light” in town so we could get a good photo in the day.
After lunch, we stopped at the popper stand to get the girls a snack. We had seen many school girls buying these the first day. The rain came out as we were buying our poppers.
When KP asked it we wanted to go back to the festival, a big “Nooo” came from the back of the bus. We decided to go for a one hour hike. The rain stopped soon after we began our hike.
Prayers flags were at the beginning of the hike.
A beautiful view with the prayer flags looking back on the valley.
The rubbish bins along the trail were fun to find and read.
The hike was to the top where a temple was located. The temple has been pulled down to be rebuilt. It was beautiful as we were above the Dzong.
The prayer wheel at the top.
Back down to Gus the Bus.
We dropped the kids back at the hotel with the baby sitter, the internet. Our kids were all hanging in the hall way as the best connection was near the box. I thought about getting a photo when my camera battery was dead…so no photo.
We went shopping as it was crunch time to make our purchase. We all wanted a mask as it is part of Bhutan. They can be a little scary looking, but a must have. We purchased the mask, a trumpet used by the monks for ceremonies and a prayer press for the flags. Judy and Dan went big with a tibetan door, a large copper pot and a large prayer press. By the time we finished negotiate, it was 8:30pm. We went back to the hotel to grab dinner before the dinning room closed at 9pm. We told the kids to go to dinner without us and they enjoyed a kid only dinner earlier while we enjoyed an adult only dinner.
Day Five – Tuesday, September 30: Travel over the Mountain Pass
We HAD to be on the road at 10:15am and no later. The road over the mountain pass, Duchula Pass, is under construction. It is only open at certain times for passing. We piled back on Gus the Bus at 8:45. A quick run to a shop for a mask for the Brennans and MuShu the dragon for the Lyons. To the Post office for our special stamps…and back on Gus by 10:10am. We drove to the queue to wait for the road to open.
Many times along the way, we would have to wait. Many parts of the road were a muddy messes…and we had no rain today. At one stop on the road, the girls went to use nature’s toilet. When they came back, they were on top of Gus!
At Duchula Pass (3000m), views of the chorten, mani wall, and prayer flags which decorate the highest point on the road can be seen. If skies are clear, the following peaks can be seen from this pass (left to right): Masagang (7, 158m), Tsendagang (6, 960m), Terigang (7, 060m), Jejegangphugang (7, 158m), Kangphugang (7, 170m), Zongphugang (7, 060m), a table mountain that dominates the isolated region of Lunana – finally Gangkar puensum, the highest peak in Bhutan at 7, 497m.
We were hoping to get a view of the mountains at the top of Duchula Pass – the half way point, but we had clouds and no mountains.
But, these two make the view beautiful!
It took us 4 hours to cross the mountain. The average time is about 3 hours. We pulled into lunch with all the other tourist. Lunches feel like the Chinese tour lunch…nothing to write about. This village seems to have a focus of the penis. The penis is put on buildings and in homes for protection and fertility.
Since it took us longer to cross the pass, we chose to do the Dzong and not the temple as we did not have time for both.
Punakha Dzong is the most beautiful Dzong in Bhutan, built strategically at the junction of Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers in 1637 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal to serve as the religious and administrative centre of the region, Punakha Dzong has played an important role in Bhutan’s history. Damaged by four catastrophic fires and an earthquake, the Dzong has now been fully restored.
Punakha was once the capital city which is why the Dzong is so decorated. However, the Capital was moved to Thimphu since Punakha is so isolated with the Mountains.
We took photos from down river to get a full view of the Punakha Dzong.
At the next photo stop for the Dzong, the children refused to get out of the bus! One too many photos!
At the Dzong, we crossed the covered bridge to go over the river.
The entrance to the Punakha Dzong.
Murals and prayer wheels were throughout the Dzong.
This mural represented team work for the four animals to get the fruit.
The Dzong had a large courtyard in the center.
Within the Dzong, there were many different temple/prayer rooms. Many of them had steep steps.
Many beautiful carved artwork within the buildings.
The last photo of the girls on the bridge as we were leaving.
Next stop was the suspension bridge.
Prayer flags on the bridge. The prayer flags were on both sides, but with the wind, the flags on the downwind side were ripped to sheds.
Our silly girls having fun.
On the other side of the bridge, there was a shack selling beers and fried chili peppers. Judy was watching and waiting for us from her post.
Fried peppers for the tasting.
Beer served in apple juice glasses.
A final run back across the bridge and to our hotel as it was after 6pm by the time we arrived for our welcome tea. Dinner at 7pm, our usually meeting time. We are staying out of town up in the hills. Dinner buffet was a bit odd…tofu, fried fish, noodles, cabbage and chili cheese. The kids broke the rule and had electronics at the dinner table. The only internet was in the main common space and not the rooms. They sat with us on their ipads/computers while we enjoyed our wine.
Day Six – Wednesday, October 1:Rafting, Mountain pass and The Zone
Our hotel had beautiful grounds, but we didn’t see it with our late arrival.
Up early for our 8am departure for our adventure rafting trip. Our group was in Gus and ready at 8:22am. On the one lane dirt road to the start point, we came to a truck with a flat tire. He was just finishing when we arrived – so our 22 minute late start was good karma to not be frustrated as we waited for the man to change his tire on the one lane road.
We drove about 40 minutes along the one-lane dirt road to the start point. It was beautiful countryside.
They had dry shirts, helmets and life vest for our crew.
We decided Eleri would be in the middle and not paddle since she was small. The river was beautiful, fresh and clean. The rapids were a 3+, but very manageable.
Everyone did get wet and everyone had fun.
We pulled out at 11:00am. We decided we would change quickly to make the first pass opening at noon. The next time opening was at 3pm. We could drive back to Thimphu for a late lunch. We had checked out The Zone in town which served hamburgers, yak burgers, pizza and fries. We were all needing a break from the tourist buffet lunches/dinner. The kids had made peanut butter sandwiches at breakfast. We arrived at the queue to wait 20 minutes. Of course, the girls were on top of Gus the Bus waiting for the pass to open.
The road was just as crowded, but less muddy than yesterday. It is going to take them years to widen this road!
When we hit the top of the mountain pass, it had been 2 hours so we were making better time than yesterday. It was 2pm and one hour to Thimphu for yak burgers and a meal that was not a buffet. We used the toilet and took some photos of the beautiful day.
We climbed back on Gus the Bus for the last leg into town. After 20 minutes, we were stopped by the road block. Apparently, the road control people were on the September schedule. We just missed it, maybe by 5 minutes.
The queue grew long and fast as we waited.
The pole is the road block!
Our bus looked like a Chinese laundry with our clothes drying from the river rafting.
We had to wait until 4:30pm to pass. We are going to be VERY hungry when we arrive at the Zone with no lunch. Our kids climbed on the top of Gus…a nice place to wait. Danielle was even doing homework by reading her book. Eleri took her Kumons up to the top of Gus. Beautiful blue skies to make for a nice place to do homework.
The boys hiked backed up the hill to find the roadside stall. They had local spicy beans and the LAST two beers on this side of the mountain.
We finally left at 4:30pm to arrived in Thimphu at 5pm – a quick 25 minute drive once the road pole went up. We enjoyed the yak burgers and fries. The girls had milk shakes they said tasted like real milk shakes made with real ice cream.
We had a few quick purchases to make. I wanted a book on Bhutan and the kids wanted ice cream from Willy’s. The one scoop was very large so I shared chocolate peppermint with Emerysn. We also need a bottle of wine. We discovered there was a Duty Free shop in town, but it was closed. We picked up a couple bottles of local wine to give a go.
It was 7pm when we were back on the road to Paro. The drive to Paro is about one and half hour. We arrived around 8:30pm to check in and get settle for the night. We have 4 rooms in all our hotels. At this hotel, the girls were in another building so I traded our double for a twin so we could be across from the girls in our own building. It worked out best as Erin was sick in the night and she was able to get her Mom.
Day Seven – Thursday, October 2:Tiger’s Nest
Todays adventure is a hike to the Tiger’s Nest. We left early at 7:30am…this is not on our teenagers sleep schedule. We had planned earlier, but Erin was sick in the night and it took time to get her settled before leaving her home alone. Luckily, she is old enough to stay home alone as the Tiger’s Nest is a highlight of Bhutan.
Paro Taktsang Dzong (also known as Tiger’s Nest), a prominent Himalayan Buddhist sacred site and temple complex, located in the cliffside of the upper Paro valley, in Bhutan. A temple complex was first built in 1692, around the Taktsang Senge Samdup cave where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours in the 8th century. Padmasambhava is credited with introducing Buddhism to Bhutan.
According to the legend related to this Taktsang which literally means “Tiger’s lair”, it is believed that Padmasambhava flew to this location from Tibet on the back of a tigress from Khenpajong.
When we arrived at 8am, the fog was cloaking the Tiger’s Nest.
We started our climb which began up immediately. Eleri had taken a walking stick from the hotel. At some points, we would walk together with her walking stick. She was a trooper climbing to the Nest.
Once we were higher, we could see the Tiger’s Nest.
Horses can be hired to take you up to the Tiger’s Nest on the trail – one way. It is too steep for the horses to bring people back down.
Prayer flags and prayer wheels along the path.
We stopped at the cafe at the mid-way point on the trail for tea and coffee. The fog was beginning to lift and we had a nice view of the Nest.
After our tea and biscuit break, onwards and upwards.
As we climbed up, we could get a nice view and photos of the Tiger’s Nest.
As we neared the Nest, we had to go down steps and then back up to cross over to the other mountain peak.
On this path at the cross-over point, a large water fall, which drops by 60 metres (200ft) into a sacred pool, is forded over by a bridge.
As we approached the steps to the Dzong, the steps were extra large/long steps for Eleri. It took us 3 hours to climb to 10, 000ft.
At the Dzong, we checked our bags and cameras – no photos. It was an interesting temple build in the side of the mountain. The original temple burned in 1998. It took 4 years to rebuild it. We spent an hour walking around the Dzong to the various alters. We took the holy water from a Monk. You take a drink of the water from the palm of your hand and wipe the remaining water on your head. The water had saffron and lemongrass. This holy water is for long lasting life.
After an hour, it was time to go down – it was noon. It took us 1.5 hours to walk down to the bottom. We chose to skip the cafe at the mid-way point and go for lunch in town. We had family style lunch at 2pm as the buffet time was over.
After lunch, we went back to get Erin and go shopping at the one street of Paro.
Paro prices were higher than Thimphu. We walked the town, but every shop seem to have about the same. The Brennans were looking for a trumpet like mine. Our only purchase was a small prayer bell. At 6pm, the Brennans were closing the deal on a very cool container that holds the Dzong banners.
We shopped too long in town so we only saw the Paro Dzong from the outside with lights.
Rinpung Dzong, a fortress-monastery overlooking the Paro valley, has a long history. A monastery was first built on the site by Padma Sambhava at the beginning of the tenth century, but it wasn’t until 1644 that Ngawang Namgyal built a larger monastery on the old foundations, and for centuries this imposing five storey building served as an effective defence against numerous invasion attempts by the Tibetans.
Built with stones instead of clay, the Dzong was named Rinpung, meaning “heaps of jewels” but Rinpung and all its treasures were destroyed by the fire in 1907. Only one thangka, known as Thongdel, was saved. The Paro Dzong was rebuilt by the Penlop Dawa Penjor after the fire. Housed within its walls is a collection of sacred masks and costumes.
We decided on a home stay for dinner. KP took us to a farm outside of town. The house was big as they had 4 bedrooms for guests. Since other people were eating in the main room, we were escorted into the alter room. The alter room is for special guest and monks. We had our dinner in the alter room. We did not take any photos as photos should not be taken in the alter room.
Back to the hotel around 9pm to begin the repack for our flight to Bangkok. We haven’t bought much…a mask, a trumpet, a prayer flag press and a few small items. We repacked to be in the two small pink suitcases for our Bangkok needs.
Day Eight – Friday, October 3:Back to Bangkok
Our flight back to Bangkok left at 11:00am. We did the stopover for 30 minutes after a 25 minutes in the air. We arrived in Bangkok at 4pm. Out of the airport at 5:00pm on a FRIDAY in Bangkok traffic!! We grabbed a taxi to our hotel to drop bags and begin a different adventure. Our time in Bangkok is short since we have been here many times.
Emersyn had a fever on the plane. She was feeling better so we met the Brennans for dinner. They were staying in a different hotel close to the Sheraton where we always stay. By the time time we walked the 10 blocks to dinner, Emersyn was done and feeling terrible. We ate quickly to go back to the room.
Day Nine – Saturday, October 4: Weekend Market
We have a night flight back to Shanghai. Our family prefers to travel at night to have a day to rest before going back to school. The plan was to leave our bags behind the desk to begin our one day in Bangkok. However, Emersyn felt terrible when she woke up so we needed a different plan. The hotel gave us a late check out until 5:00pm. We left Emersyn in the room to sleep while we traveled to the weekend market. We had Emersyn’s shopping list – Thai pants.
Once we arrived at the market, the Lyon Family had a small list of wants. The Brennans Family had not been to the market so their list was longer. We found the Thai pants for all four girls which took time, of course. Next, I wanted my salad bowl Jim would not buy last time because the man would not bargain…to only find it cost 3 times more other places!! We stopped for lunch which was good and slow.
By the time lunch was finished, I wasn’t feeling the best. We left the Brennans as they went to find some silver treasures. We needed to be back and out of the hotel by 5:00pm for out checkout. Emersyn had slept all afternoon, but she was still feeling down. We checked out of the hotel to find dinner at the mall close by as no one was up for a long walk. After dinner, we had foot massage to pass the time until we departed to the airport for our midnight flight.
Another amazing adventure shared with our family and friends. We are so blessed to see this part of the world while we are living in Shanghai. The times traveling together as a family will always be special.