Thailand, Bhutan & Nepal – 2012

Thailand, Bhutan & Nepal – 2012 Above are Bron and I just before starting a hike at about 13,000 ft altitude; those are the Himalaya Mountains in the backdrop, this was near the end of our Bhutan segment of this adventure.. Several years ago our friends Mark, Stacy & Kath began talking about visiting Bhutan. In 2010 they got serious. We wound up with a group of 14 friends who decided to join in the adventure. I helped Kath do the major planning for travel, lodging and tours and communicating with the group, but she did all of the ‘heavy lifting’. Following are some pictures trying to capture the highlights of our trip; we started out in Bangkok, Thailand for a few days, then on for 10 days touring around in Bhutan, and finished with five days in Kathmandu, Nepal!

We arrived in Bangkok at midnight, Friday, went to the hotel, had a couple of beers then bed. The next day we hopped on the local water-ferry going upstream along the river and headed for the main tourist attractions downtown; the Royal Palace and Wat Pho. Bangkok is still Bangkok after all these years, we were last here in 1996. The river is still the best way to travel and provides great sights such as these apartments. We stayed at the Royal Orchid Hotel Sheraton right on the river; highly recommended.

Here are the four of our ‘sub-group’; all 14 of us were in Bangkok, but on different schedules. We four traveled together and so stayed together here. We are enjoying the peaceful grounds of Wat Pho, home of the world’s largest Reclining Buddha. Wat Pho is also home to many Animist artifacts such as the little guy over Bron’s shoulder.

Here we are in the Royal Palace, home of perhaps the gaudiest display of Buddhist and related artifacts in the world; but it’s still fun even for our third or fourth visits.

More scenes from the Royal Palace. It’s simply overwhelming to wander through the splendor of this site and see all of the fantastical buildings, sculptures, castings, inlay work and paintings. We spent a goodly amount of time here and left reluctantly to visit a couple more of the main downtown cultural sites.

For our next stop, we crossed the river on a commuter ferry to visit and climb Wat Arun, the main temple complex of the old home of the Capitol. The climb up to the top is VERY steep, but the view as seen here is well worth the moments of terror. Our hotel is somewhere near that large tower barely visible in the mist across the river.

The next day, I talked our mini-group (Me, Bron, Kath & Debbie) into getting out of Bangkok and visit a much-older cultural site located at one of the ancient capitals, Ayutthaya, about 40km north. The tour agency of the hotel wanted $8,000 Baht/person, I called our airport taxi driver, who we had all liked, and who took all of us for $2,500 Baht total; and he was terrific.

These last two pictures are at the primary site for Ayutthaya, here are the four of us around on the ‘back-side’. As you can see, this is a very peaceful and quiet cultural site. We were among the very few foreigners here on this day. We never felt crowded or pressured, quite different from the downtown Bangkok sites. I remember this place fondly from earlier trips; it would be a great place to have a picnic on the open grounds under a tree somewhere. The main Stupa, behind us, was as you can see under what is probably ‘permanent maintenance’. They are doing a lovely job of keeping this site close to the original construction.

Ayutthaya consists of several different sites. Here, we are at the Wat Ratchaburana. A group of Temples, Stupas, figures, etc. set in a most peaceful area. Ayutthaya was built around 1450 as the then-capital of Thailand, and was destroyed in 1767 by the Burmese.

Here is my ‘most recent’ copy of perhaps the most famous picture for Ayutthaya. The Buddhist sculptures were all ‘beheaded’ during the Burmese destruction. This one was ‘hidden’ in the roots of this tree, and has become a symbol for Ayutthaya. This is located at Wat Maha That, across from the Royal Palace of Wat Ratchaburana.

More of Wat Maha That. This gives some sense of both the beauty and the scope of the sites here; and also shows the modernization of today’s Thailand with the cell tower conspicuously in the background just a bit across the main boulevard running in front of the two main sites of the Wats.

More of Wat Maha That. The old and crumbling Chedi in the right foreground here is the place where Bron and I climbed and took our lead-picture for our website in 1996. This picture clearly shows that there has been a lot more deterioration; and now there is no access allowed to climb any of the old buildings. A necessary step for preservation.

After leaving the historic cultural sites, our ‘taxi-driver guide’ took us to a totally-local ‘Knots Berry Farm’ style outdoor/floating market. Here we were the only foreigners joining families, especially with children who were all having a blast. Elephants are a girl’s best friend!

This was quite the cool place to visit. Elephants to ride or feed, lots of food and gift stalls selling their wares, various animals in ‘petting pens’ such as goats, just a totally cute ‘county-fair’ setting.

We had the taxi-driver drop us at the Bangkok Airport Sunday after our visit to Ayutthaya, where we stayed at the Airport Novatel so we could walk to the gate for Druk Air at 0530 Monday morning. Another recommended hotel! Here we met up with the full group of 14. All went smoothly and all 14 of us landed in Paro, Bhutan and met up with our tour-group ‘SkyKingdom’, our guides and our bus. Here are the 14 of us and our guides & driver from SkyKingdom. To the right is the Paro Bhutan International Airport, our bags are loaded atop the bus, and we are ready to start the most exciting part of this adventure. Much of the site descriptions and other text on the following slides was stolen directly from our guide, Karma’s, final itinerary.

As we started driving around Paro, then on to Thiemphu on the first day, I was immediately hit by the similarities to my youthful ventures in Baja California, Mexico. I later spoke with others in our group, and they too noticed the resemblance. It’s because, I’m convinced, the infrastructure is in a similar state and the same hand-labor intensive techniques are in use. Here are workers on the ‘highway’, using hand-tools, laying up local stone for support walls, ‘camping’ alongside their work. Same techniques and styles as I grew up with in Mexico….it was astounding until you thought about their relative positions in development, when it became obvious.

But on to more important things – Paro Kyichu Lhakhang (temple). It was one of two originally built in 659 AD by the great Himalayan emperor, Songtshen Gampo, who was a great patron of Buddhism and Buddhist literature. 108 temples were built to pin down a giant "demon" spread-eagled across the empire that was causing widespread suffering. Also, the "demon" held the precious statue of the emperor's Chinese bride, the princess Wencheng, in her grasp and would not let go. The 108 temples "built in a single day" subdued the demon, and the statue was released, and peace restored across the land. The visit to Kyichu Lhakhang started our trip and the temple inside was so beautiful and had such fabulous Buddhist artifacts that I was overwhelmed at the very start!

The Paro Kyichu Lhakhang is surrounded by Prayer Wheels (above) and some larger ones that are interconnected with ropes and pulleys so that devotees can keep them moving. Prayer wheels each contain reams of handwritten prayer scrolls wrapped around the wheel’s “soul tree”, which is a shaft that runs through its center, and spinning them casts the prayers into the world a thousand-fold times. The bell on the top of each prayer wheel rings once each time a turn is completed. In keeping with Buddhist belief, this “Bell of Mindfulness” reminds us to “return to the moment” each time it rings. These are on the walls of many Buddhist buildings, the inside walls of many courtyards; and in places along roads and almost anywhere else that people might want to pray. One walks around the Prayer Wheels, always clockwise, spinning each by hand.

At the same site, here is something that will be seen repeated throughout the Kingdom of Bhutan. There are architectural and other living ‘standards’ to help maintain their cultural heritage. Among them are standards for windows, so there are these lovely windows all over the country. Most have the same rectangular outline, set into the wall, with some sort of lintel over them. These were the first ones we were close to, so of course I had to take their picture. One of the more amazing things here is the use of hand-painted repetitive cultural/Buddhist designs on buildings; on windows, doors, walls, courtyards, fences, whatever. Wherever they have a place to show their devotion to the traditional styles.

Here is Paro Kyichu Lhakhang from the back; as you can see, this is a very small temple but with great cultural treasures inside and huge significance. Here you can see the Prayer wheels where they continue around to the opposite side of building. We saw several local people walking, always clockwise, spinning the wheels for their prayers. One of the treasures inside are several of the original iron links from the support chains forged by the revered bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo who built 108 bridges throughout Nepal and Bhutan. He is recorded as the first to engineer and build chain-link suspension bridges.

On this day, there was a public blessing by His Holiness the Je Khenpo, Head Abbot of all Bhutan, here at Paro Kyichu Lhakhang, so the local monks, prelates, and devout were gathered for the blessing ceremony, prayers, speeches and music. It was pretty warm, so most were crowded under the tents in the shade. Notice the dogs near the white flagpole in the middle; Bhutan has packs of dogs everywhere. They are friendly and well-fed, but there is a constant rabies warning for them. Also, though seemingly well-tended, they appear to live in an ‘area’ and not with a family. AND, they are quiet and sleeping all day, but then they bark all night long.

As we travelled along from Paro to the Capital, Thimphu beside the Paro Chhu River we would see some sections of the river ‘lined’ with barrier walls; I’m sure to keep them from flooding the nearby fields and houses when hit be larger than normal rains. I’d see these rivers and be lusting to grab a rod and float a fly and try to catch a trout or two. They imported trout many years ago, and you can fish for them on special guided tours; but the local population being devoutly Buddhist won’t fish because they won’t kill any animal. However, they would be pleased if you kill a fish or two and let them eat them. Seems strange to me, but then, that’s why we travel to be exposed to different cultures.

This is the The Taa Dzong Museum in Paro. "Taa Dzong" means "Great Watchtower". Built in the 1600s, it stands on a hill above the Paro Dzong. It is currently being renovated after the 2011 earthquake damaged parts of the building (you can see some of the renovation work in the picture). The building houses the National Museum of Bhutan.

Looking across Thimphu from our hotel room at the Khang Residency in the morning; some haze is there every morning, but it is really clear after it warms up a bit. Nearby and in view is the Changgangkha Lhakhang, or “Temple on the Knoll of Weeping Willows”, but my only pictures of it were occluded by the haze.

Looking the other way from the hotel. Thimphu is the capital and probably the most modern city in Bhutan. It is clean and orderly; other than the incessant night-time barking of all of the dogs, which lasts until daybreak.

Tashichhodzong (Fortress of the Glorious Faith), which houses the offices of the King and His Holiness the Je Khenpo as well as the meeting halls for Parliament. On our walk through the outer buildings, we passed the small building housing the “Internal Audit Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry”. On our flight from Bangkok, Mark was seated next to the Director of this Audit Department, and of course, Mark is Director of Audit and Security here in Boise. They actually had a lot to talk about professionally and a budding business relationship was born. An auspicious start to our venture! This Dzong, or fortress, was our first visit to this traditional administrative center for the regions of Bhutan.

We were here on a day when the government was performing a blessing of a new tapestry for Japan presided over by His Holiness the Je Khenpo, the four main Lopens or “Teachers” of Bhutan’s Central Monastic Body, and hundreds of red and saffron-robed monks. In attendance are high government officials, including the Culture Minister. The beautiful silk scroll, hand woven and embroidered, features the Buddha flanked by numerous Buddhist saints, mountains, moons, rivers, clouds and stars. The blessing ceremony took a couple of hours with music, chanting and recital of special texts by the Je Kenpo.

The crowds are forming up, and His Holiness the Je Khenpo is seated on the dais in yellow as the blessing begins. Music from drums, long and short horns, many bells and other instruments accompanied the blessing ceremony.

The Rock Painting of Guru Rimpoche on the way to Tango Monastery, in the hills north of the capital, Thimphu. Guru Rimpoche means "Precious Teacher." The original name of the Guru was Padmasambhava, "The One who Miraculously Emanated from the Lotus." Guru Rimpoche is credited with devising the Himalayan liturgical script, Choekey. Similar to the way Latin was used in Ancient Europe, Choekey was only used for scriptural writing and reading. The Guru was revered as a Second Buddha across the Himalayas.

This was our first ‘hike’, and it all seemed ‘vertical’’ to me. Up in the trees is the Tango University of Buddhist Studies. After a beautiful climb through an oak and pine forest on a weaving but well-tended path, we arrived at Tango, a Buddhist monastery built in the 12th century by the monk Gyalwa Lhanangpa. We had a chance to enjoy a private tea and lunch with the Lama who heads the University and trains the monks in the Buddhist Traditions of the Bhutan. This is a great example of the special opportunities we had with Karma joining us on this tour. This was, for me, quite the climb but I made it. When I got back down to leave, my legs were shaking.

This is a picture of Tango that I stole from the Internet; someone had taken the time and effort to walk across from the complex and take this picture showing the placement on the mountain and it just seemed like a great shot to include.

A picture looking down the valley from the Tango University, showing a bit of the trail and the height and pitch of the mountains. This was a super adventure, and the privilege of meeting the Lama and having a private tea and lunch with such a man was overwhelming. It is hard to communicate enough how key it was to have a person of Karma’s place and skills guiding us on this journey through exalted lands and cultural richness. Karma made events such as this possible and they would not be easily repeated without his prestige and incredible openness and charm.

Thimphu Tashichhodzong, the "Fortress of the Auspicious Faith", houses the offices of His Majesty the King of Bhutan and is the primary national building symbolically representing the sovereignty of Bhutan, it is functionally comparable to the US Capitol Building in America. This is a picture from above of the place where we witnessed the consecration of the tapestry for Japan (back a few slides). This puts the size and general magnitude of the complex in perspective. It also shows how the cities of Bhutan stretch along valley floors, utilizing the available building space.

Big Sister starts the evening with a dramatic demonstration of the art of distillation. On her traditional clay oven she brews the national drink, Ara, a clear but potent and fiery drink derived from rice. She takes a glowing splint from the oven and holds it over the top of the clay pot with the Ara she has just taken off the fire. The splint explodes in blue flame, causing her to smile satisfactorily, at which point she proudly invites everyone to sample the delicious drink. “This is so good, it would have made grandmother proud”. This group has really great energy!” Bhutanese people believe that people with bad psychic energy disturb hearth spirits, causing them to sour or spoil your Ara. Joining us this evening is Kama Wangdi, recipient of the king’s Druk Thuksey (“Heart Son” of the Dragon Kingdom) for his work as founder of the NGO Voluntary Artists Studio Thimphu (VAST), which provides opportunities for Bhutanese children to study art after school. We also meet former Planning Officer of Bhutan’s National Environment Commission (and Yale Graduate), Dr. Tashi Wangchuk, who is now running Thunder Motors. Dr. Tashi’s company builds and sells fully electric cars and bikes in Bhutan. He is currently working on a project with the country’s transportation ministry to retrofit all Bhutanese public buses with hybrid engines. Tashi’s wife is a teacher who has taught in schools both in Bhutan and the U.S. Here is Bron, checking out the cooking arrangements for our next house! This evening, we visited the home of a family friend of Karma, the former Colonel of the Royal Bhutan Police, Aue “Big Sister” Kezang. Colonel Kezang gave up her high profile career with the RBP when she realized that she would rather spend her time cooking and sharing the kind of lovingly prepared meals her grandmother fed her as a child. Today, she has researched and revived over 200 forgotten Bhutanese recipes. Last year she was interviewed by NDTV, India’s national station, by Al Jazeera, and by the French national television for her work celebrating Bhutanese cuisine. She teaches us several recipes for traditional Bhutanese food, which we devour with gusto.

Here is Karma, Pema (our driver, the best in the world), and “Big Sister”. In Bhutan, families go back many generations and many are closely tied through longstanding friendship, relationships and sometimes intermarriage. Karma’s “Big Sister” is really a daughter from one of the many old families with whom Karma’s family has been close for, perhaps, centuries. Here in Bhutan, they totally live in an extended community of family and friends all of whom are as close as any family can be…..something we could learn from them. A few remnants of our dumplings in foreground.

Karma with Debbie and Angela, enjoying this special evening of cooking, dining and camaraderie.

Part of the 108 auspicious stupas or chortens at the 10,200-foot-high Dochula Pass. Stupa is a Sanskrit word. In Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan, these are called chortens. Stupas are also reliquaries that house the remains of holy people and precious objects that people have donated to put the spiritual energy back in the ground where they are located. The Bhutanese people believe that what we take out of nature must somehow be replenished. By building stupas, or donating precious objects to be interred in one, Bhutanese people believe that such actions earn great spiritual merit by returning the power back to the land, by demonstrating one's ability to give up attachment to material possession and by leaving a religious object behind on the landscape to inspire others. Here is also where I got a taste of altitude sickness, and started taking the medicine.

As we drove along our way, Karma pointed out this home on a far ridge across the immediate drainage valley between ridges. He said this was the residence of one of the senior members of an important family; I don’t remember who. This was a long way across the valley, and is a totally huge set of buildings. I was interested, and was told on asking that there are only two approaches, a long and difficult road, or walking up the shorter but terribly steep path. I’d guess that the vertical from the valley below is 1,o00’ or more; and the walk is a common everyday experience for most of the people; even for the old and powerful families. Clearly, no one goes to and from in any great hurry. On the other hand, it was completely astounding that in this country of mountains, ridges, peaks and valleys, there was never a time when, in our bus, the guides were not in complete cell phone connectivity. Bhutan chose to completely pass on wired telephones and went directly to the most complete cell-phone installation I’ve ever seen, and in the most difficult terrain possible.

Another of the reminders of Mexico in the older days. To those of you who were down enjoying Baja or PV in the 60’s & 70’s, this has got to bring back memories. Most of the road work in Bhutan is actually done by skilled labor from India; especially the engineering, and where used, heavy-equipment operations. It is also obvious that a good percentage of the heavy construction trucking is done by Indians with their own trucks. Those who have traveled in India will also recognize these gaudily decorated trucks with many Hindu symbols, often painted bright and colorfully. Remember, all of these roads are barely over 1-lane, and none are 2-lane. These trucks careen along madly, but there are incredibly few accidents. There are clear etiquette rules for driving, the use of lights and horns, and everyone knows to go off onto the shoulder when passing.

As in many mountainous places, the Bhutanese have become masters of terrace farming, especially for rice, but also for all sorts of vegetables. This is looking down from the road where in the last picture you saw the truck. It’s drop-offs like this that lead, I’m sure, to the excellent road etiquette because the alternative is obviously not good. We did see one or two accidents, but nothing too serious. It was interesting in one case that there were no ‘tow-trucks’, people simply hand-braided ropes together and, as a team, used trucks and hauled the wreck up.

Still going along the same ‘Highway’, here you can see two typical homes, pretty nice ones, but notice there are walkways but no driveways. Many people utilize public transportation, which to us seemed pretty sketchy, but I think probably met most needs. Otherwise, there may have been a car parked somewhere on the down-hill side of the road that they used. There simply isn’t the road-infrastructure that we are use to, but then, in a mostly agrarian society such as this, walking, public transportation, and home-life fill most of your time so the car is more of a luxury item than we think of it here as a total necessity.

We stopped at Sopsokha, a small town overlooking a pleasing red-rice-growing valley in the center of which is a small hillock upon which is the ‘Temple of the Divine Madman’ or Chimme Lhakhang. Founded by Lama Drukpa Kunley, “The Divine Madman”. He was famous for his challenging Buddhist teachings and his personal actions in his attempts to clear peoples preconceptions. He was especially noted for his sexual escapades and to this day newlywed women come to his temple, built in 1499, to receive blessings and pick a name for their future babies. Here we walked down to the valley, through this tiny town, and on to the temple.

Here are Bron and I backed by some prayer flags, out in one of the red-rice fields along the path to the Divine Madman’s temple.

Later, following the broad sweep of the Puna Tsangchhu River we come to the impressive Great Dechen Punthang Dzong or "Palace of Great Bliss", commonly known as Punakha Dzong. Built in 1637, it houses the Hall of 100 Pillars with wall-to-wall murals depicting the life story of the Buddha from Birth to Enlightenment to Death. Also the winter home of the Bhutanese (national) Monastic Body. One enters the Dzong after crossing a covered bridge over the river.

From the courtyard, there are many examples of the beautiful traditional and cultural architectural wonders such as this doorway. We enter the majestic Hall of 100 Pillars. Here we take our time to learn about and admire the impressive wall-to-wall murals depicting the life of the Buddha from his Birth to his Enlightenment and Death. Standing above us are giant statues of the three “root treasures” of Bhutanese Drukpa Buddhism: the historical Buddha Sakhyamuni, the Shabdrung, Unifier of Bhutan, and Guru Padmasambhava, who spread Buddhism throughout the Himalayas.

The entrance to the Hall of 100 pillars (which actually contains 54 pillars) shows a sample of some of the traditional painting found inside on the walls; though in small detail by comparison. Situated on a stretch of land where two rivers – the Phochhu and the Mochhu converge, Punakha Dzong was the second Dzong to be built in Bhutan. The Dzong appears as a great anchored ship. Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel built it in 1631. It was named Punthang Dechen Phodrang Dzong or ‘the Palace of Great Bliss’

This is the 2nd vast courtyard of the Punakha Dzong. Here in the 2nd of three ‘courtyards’ or Docheys, lives the Sacred Bhodi tree shading the Chorten (stupa) for the Dzong. The Dzon is a truly impressive structure, measuring 180 meters long by 72 meters wide (590’ X 236’ almost 2 football fields end-to-end, and wider). This is a ‘must-see’ stop in Bhutan, and I understand in springtime it is covered with blooming jacaranda trees so it has a beautiful ‘lavender’ covering of the outside walls.

After our visit to the ‘Divine Madman’s Temple’, and to the Punakha Dzong, we stayed at the lovely Kichu Resort Wangduephodrang. This featured many small clusters of two and four-room cabins inside of a park-like grounds nestled up against this lovely river.

Bron as we head out for the next day’s adventure. Here you can see some of the grounds and the ‘four-plex’ rooms scattered about the setting.

A photo-op along the road-side in front of a lovely waterfall.

Thailand, Bhutan & Nepal – 2012