Bhutan: My Biggest Asian Adventure ... so far ;-)

Booking an international trip usually entails a few crucial things. First, you figure out where it is want to go, then you figure out the best way to get there. Airplane tickets are purchased online, if the country requires a visa, a visa is arranged, hotels are chosen and booked ahead… you’re basically almost there.

When I was planning my March Bhutan trip, I imagined things would be a bit tricky, but certainly not as difficult as it actually turned out to be. The start of my Bhutanese adventure? Simply organizing everything.

The Logistics:

Before you could even think about booking a flight into Bhutan’s one international airport, you needed to get a visa. In order to get a visa, you needed to contact a travel agent. You couldn't use any regular travel agent though, you needed to find a Bhutanese government pre-approved travel agent to do the visa, flight & hotel arrangements. Once you found this government approved travel agent, the agent then had to approve you to actually visit the country. Once this giant runaround was OK’d and the tickets, visa, hotels, services and foreigner “Presence Tax” were all added in (yes, non-Bhutanese are taxed for just being inside the country)… then came the payment. Credit Card? I wish it was that easy!

Paying for my trip to Bhutan felt like I was buying contraband on the black market. I had to make a down payment, which was to be wire transferred from my bank to another international bank, who then received the money with a message to bounce it off to another international bank, who apparently had Bhutanese government connections. Naturally, when I initiated this, my bank put up the big Red Flag and stopped the transaction IMMEDIATELY… which I then had to call to legitimatize, and hope that it all actually worked out.

For the rest of the payment? “Oh just bring clean, crisp US Dollars when you arrive into the country and you can pay us in cash.” Of course. Welcome to Bhutan.

With the logistics all squared away, I was finally ready to get into the country. Bhutan (not surprisingly) doesn’t have multiple flight options per day from Singapore, so my best bet was to fly out of Bangkok, which at least offers a daily flight. After having a few day’s adventure in Bangkok, I was ready for my journey to Bhutan.

Arriving in Bhutan:

Flying Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines (the only carrier that flies into Bhutan, with a modest fleet size of three!), I headed from bustling BKK (population: 6.4 million) to Paro, Bhutan (population: 40,000-50,000 depending on who you ask). After a serious dive through the clouds and mountains to make our landing in the small Paro Valley possible (with the mountains quite close to the wingtips of the plane), we touched down. I was finally in Bhutan!

When I stepped off the plane, there were a number of tour guides waiting for their customers. As I scanned the row of smiling, friendly faces and their name placards, there was only one that was missing: mine. Thinking maybe he was late, there was some confusion in timing or some other honest mistake, I decided to wait. As I looked around the Arrivals area, I noticed a sign for free SIM Cards. Using my travel savvy, I figured I’d get a SIM, call my travel agent and clear it all up- no problem.
All of a sudden, I was approached by a man in the traditional Bhutanese dress (the nation’s uniform, which practically every man and woman wears). He asked what the problem was, told me he was a tour guide, and that he could take care of everything for me. Naturally, my skeptical "Big City" instincts were screaming, “yea I’ve heard that line before…” and I politely declined. 

After I bought the SIM, I realized it wasn’t going to fit into my iPhone without being clipped to size. As I’m standing there wondering what to do, the man approaches me again, this time asking me where I’m staying. When I relectuctantly respond "The Tiger's Nest Resort" , he responded “Oh! Someone is waiting over here for you!” As I walk over to the airport employee, they told me that my guide’s car broke down, and the company has arranged for me to go with this (pointing) tour guide instead. Who is he pointing to? The man who’s been with me the whole time. I laughed to myself at the irony and shady-nature of the whole situation, and decided to just go for it.

As it turns out (in a country that weighs its value by Gross National Happiness instead of Gross National Product), the guy was unbelievably friendly. He not only helped me get my SIM card situation fixed, he actually put his name and ID down as my guarantor to the cell phone company!  In addition, he also turned out to be an amazing guide for the rest of the day!!

Over my first day in Bhutan, my new guide brought me around town to show me all the sites. Though the town itself wasn’t very big (despite being the country’s 'international hub'), it was still interesting and extremely picturesque. We visited the stunning Rinpung Dzong Fortress, tried some delicious Bhutanese food, and he told me quite a bit about life in Bhutan.

Rinpung Dzong Fortress 

Bhutan Fun Facts:

-Almost all men and women follow a national dress code: Men wear what’s called a Gho and women, a Kira… occupations that require a uniform are exempt (note the police officer in the traffic photo below)

-Because there are so few people, cars and almost no congestion in Bhutan, there are NO traffic lights in the entire country!!

-Thanks to their Gross National Happiness, Bhutan is Asia’s “happiest” country, and the 9^th happiest in the world!

Tiger's Nest Resort Hotel- Situated at the foot of the Tiger's Nest Mountain!

After a day of touring and a BIG second day about to come, I was ready to call it a night. I headed to my Tiger’s Nest Resort Hotel (a great stay in Paro with an amazing view of the monastery), settled in and got ready for some shut eye… This is of course after my tour guide personally called me to make sure I was comfortable and pleased with the day’s tour… so nice!

Day Two in Bhutan: Hiking the Tiger’s Nest Monastery. From the 6-mile grueling uphill hike and the mystical, still-functioning monastery to the slippery decline back down… check out the separate post all about my Tiger's Nest Journey Here.

After my rewarding hike to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery, I still had some time to explore Bhutan. Matched up with the guide I was first expecting, we headed for the largest city of Bhutan, Thimphu. With almost 100,000 people, an actual town square and more than two main streets, this was as urban as it gets. Still no traffic lights, but there was one intersection!!

As Close to a Traffic Light as it gets in Bhutan!

One of the most stunning aspects of Thimphu was the giant bronze Buddha statue. Over 55 meters tall, this towering Buddha is (intentionally) visible from every single part of town.

Thimphu's Giant Shakyamuni Buddha Statue

Also home to a really cool main street, the Tashichho Dzong Fortress, and of course an impressive array of monasteries, visiting Thimphu was a great way to top off my trip.

Tashichho Fortress

Thimphu's Not So Busy Town Square

Despite the organizational hassles, the comical “taxes” and the general travel hiccups, visiting Bhutan was one of my favorite trips to date. From its incredibly authentic culture, total religious reverence and ultra-friendly/helpful locals, it’s absolutely a unique place to visit. The towns and scenery were extremely beautiful, the food and culture was remarkable and the Tiger’s Nest Monastery is just one of those life experiences that you shouldn't miss!

Bhutan Highlights:

Buddhist Prayer Wheels

Found all over the country, these prayer wheels were especially prevalent on the hike up to the Tiger's Nest. Covered in Buddhist mantras, every time you spin these wheels it brings good karma upon yourself and everyone around you. So naturally, I spun every consecutive one and made sure to do it in the "proper" clockwise direction!

Prayer Flags: During the Tiger's Nest hike the only sound you could hear was a small stream of water running nearby and the flap of these Prayer Flags in the wind. In fact, the prayer flags were all over town.  A really cool experience. Every time these flags blow, they are supposed to spread the messages of peace and good karma that are inscribed on them. 

A Typical Bhutanese Lunch Spread

The food in Bhutan was awesome, sort of a mixture between Indian and Chinese cuisine. The funniest thing about eating in Bhutan was the lack of menus; I simply sat down in every restaurant.  The waiter would promptly notice I was a foreigner, turned on the charm and just brought out whatever dishes they were cooking at the time (Always rice, plus Indian subji's, Chinese noodles, curries, etc.) 

The General "City" Atmosphere

The Atmosphere in Bhutan was unlike anywhere else that I've experienced. With such a small population that was isolated from the rest of the world for most of its modern existence, the whole country is quite literally 'in a world of its own'.  

The Tiger's Nest Monastery

 ... and of course, the main attraction of it all, the Taktsang Palphug Monastery (Tiger's Nest Monastery)- one of the most memorable places I have visited in the world!

Cheers,
== T.J.==

Climbing to the Tiger's Nest

My favorite day in Bhutan was the day I hiked up to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery, which the locals call the Taktsang Monastery.  This actual, working monastery is precariously perched on the side of a sheer mountain cliff!

According to legend, in the 8th century, the Guru Rinpoche flew to this location from Tibet on the back of a Tigress and meditated in a cave on the cliff for 3 years, 3 months, 3 days and 3 hours.  After this meditation, he emerged in eight incarnated forms and the site has been a holy place ever since.

I first saw a photo of this place in a travel magazine a couple of years ago.  It seemed so exotic and so far off, that I definitely considered it a bucket list item. 

After arriving in Bhutan, I waited a full day to acclimate to the altitude.  The Paro valley is at ~ 7300 FT MSL, which is almost half a mile higher than Denver!  The actual monastery is built into a cliff @ ~ 10,200 FT.  From my hotel, which was the Tiger's Nest Resort, I could even see it in the distance!

On the morning of the trek, I was eager to get an early start.  However, the views form the hotel veranda did not look promising!

My guide was less concerned and promised that it was still there in the clouds;-)

The real adventure started when we reached the parking lot at the base.  Since the monastery was hiding in the clouds, I really couldn't see it.  But I saw vendors selling Bhutanese crafts and horses waiting to give tourists rides up to the monastery.  The horses are actually only able to take tourists 2/3 of the way up.  That was not an option for me.  Since I wanted the full experience, I was determined to hike the whole way on foot.  Besides, the only people I saw on horses where elderly and I felt guilty opting for a horse when everyone else that looked even reasonably fit was making the climb on foot!

The first part of the trek went through forests and got steeper as you went along. Along the way, I saw some incredible views of the Paro Valley.  Unfortunately, the Tiger's Nest remained hidden in the clouds ahead.

After almost an hour I came to the first stop.  There is a cafe where my guide told me we would get amazing views of the Tiger's Nest.  Unfortunately, the clouds still did not cooperate.  It was improving … But not enough to see the monastery yet.  Instead, it became a place to cool off and warm up.  Cool off because I was hot and sweaty.  Warm up because as soon as I stopped sweating, I noticed it was rather chilly at that altitude!

After getting recharged with some tea, the steep climb continued.  There were prayer flags in every direction and numerous prayer wheels.  Naturally, I had to stop and spin every one and pray for the clouds to clear.

Then came the official "viewpoint".  By this time, my good karma from the prayer wheels finally started working and I was able to view the monastery!

As you can see, I needed another break!

After the viewpoint, I had to climb down ~ 750 steps along one side of the cliff and then cross a wooden bridge to another cliff.  From the bridge there was a fantastic view of a waterfall, which you can see below:

At this point, I was feeling downright giddy (except for the fact that my legs were screaming and felt like rubber bands).
Tandin, who was my guide, then reminded me that I wasn't done yet!

There were still 850 steps left to climb up before the entrance!!

When I was finally at the entrance, I was disappointed to learn that no photos are allowed.  In fact, they confiscate all of your cameras/phones/recording devices.  You can't even sneak in an iPhone because after you check in your stuff, a security guard actually frisks you!!

So I can't really show you the view from the top.  But trust me when I say it was SPECTACULAR!

The spirituality of the monastery is really quite overwhelming.  It is not hard to see why this is such a special place for the Bhutanese people.

After I finished gawking at the various rooms in the monastery and of course the views, it was time to head back down.

Going down sounds simple… But it really wasn't.  While it was less strenuous, it was far trickier because of the loose dirt and slippery rocks along the way.

I stopped again at the same cafe on the way down and this time the clouds had totally cleared so I was able to see the complete cliff view, which you can see below:

By the time I reached the parking lot, I was so ready to sit down!

Overall, it was one of the best hikes I have ever had!  The spirituality of the whole place, plus the amazing architecture was truly worth the effort to see!!

Now I can check one more thing of the bucket list!!!

Working from Bangkok

Technically I was working remotely in Bangkok. But working remote is often a great opportunity to do some traveling. So I worked during the week and and sketched up a rough itinerary for the weekend.  Since it was not my first time in Bangkok, I pretty much knew what to expect… motorbike taxis, drinking coffee from plastic bags, Volkswagen vans converted into electrified mobile bars (you know, your usual city stuff).

Because I was staying in Bangkok for longer than a weekend, I decided to go a bit more local. Instead of settling into the usual hotel scene, I took a friend’s advice and looked into getting an apartment for my stay. For way less than the typical hotel, I rented a condo, that had a gym, security guards, ultra-fast wifi and great views of downtown Bangkok.  Definitely the way to go and I now also recommend it to others.

Since I was trying to be more of a local on this trip, I decided to take my tours of Bangkok a bit off the beaten track. With three main destinations in mind, I hired a professional local (AKA my Tour Guide, Nettie) and we headed outside of Bangkok’s main tourist bubble. 

Bangkok's Train Market:

I had read about the famous Mae Klong Train Market somewhere in my travel studies, and ever since I’ve wanted to visit. More so the idea of it than the destination itself, this is one of those places that you have to visit to really appreciate the attraction.

Asian markets themselves are inherently interesting places to visit. Wild, buzzing stalls, outrageous colors and even more outrageous things for sale (fish heads, cow’s tails, worms and frog’s and all sorts of other unique stuff)- the experience is always memorable. But this Thai market is exceptionally interesting, as it shares its market-space with a daily-running passenger train.

Vendors spread their produce and goods across what they call their market space. Customers come in, peruse the different items on display, and make their purchases for the day. Life goes on as normal/hectic as it would in any market space, until the whistle sounds… that’s the three-minute warning.

Three minutes to break down, three minutes to move, three minutes of perfectly organized chaos. Retracting awnings, pulling tables out of the way, collecting all the items for sale… and exactly three minutes later, a freight train rolls over what was just a fruit stall.

How's that for a close call !!

The market people claim the territory as their own, and the train tracks say it belongs to the railway. But instead of battling over the space, the two somehow peacefully coexist. The only people that cannot get over the two industries coexisting are the tourists (of course). Camera wielding foreigners run alongside, behind and sometimes in front of the moving train, trying desperately to capture that un-capture-able experience of the Train Market.  You can see for yourself in the video below:

Equally as amazing as the three-minute breakdown is the 30-second recreation of the market space. As soon as that final car is passed, the tables pop up, awnings snap open and the sales go on as usual. Thailand, always amazing.

The Floating Market:

Continuing on with our Bangkok adventures, Nettie brought me to another local market, this time on top of water instead of train tracks. The famous "Damnoen Saduak Floating Market" in Ratchaburi province, is exactly what it sounds like; Vendors pushing products from their wooden boats, cruising along the river making sales as usual. The strangest thing about this market (minus the fact that they’re selling from boats) was what the vendors were offering. Some were selling the regular fruits, vegetables and daily essentials, but other boats were preparing gourmet Thai dishes, roasting ducks on board, selling coconuts and even local beers- pretty much anything/everything you could imagine. It’s not every day you can buy a beer and plate of Pad Thai from a floating boat vendor (at ridiculously cheap prices no less!).

The Tiger Temple:

Our final destination of the day perfectly topped off my extraordinary Bangkok experience: The Tiger Temple. With a trip to Bhutan’s Tiger’s Nest Monastery coming up next week, I only thought it appropriate to visit Bangkok’s Tiger Temple first.

Like most people, I’ve never experienced a tiger first-hand, outside of a zoo. Though I have been on big game safaris in Africa, there were certainly no tigers present. At this temple, however, there were massive 400-500 pound tigers not only outside of cages, but roaming the grounds freely… with no restraints!! The only restrained tiger I saw was a cub, but that was for obvious yet-to-be trained reasons.

So there I was, walking through this Buddhist monastery, sharing the temple grounds with full-grown tigers. The monks had these majestic creatures so well trained and tranquil that you could actually touch them at different points of the day. The tigers were on a pretty set schedule, mealtime & nap time, followed by playtime and roaming time, so it was clear when the best time to interact with the animals was.  As you can see below,  it probably would NOT be a good idea for a tourist to get in the middle of playtime!!!

Interacting with the tigers was one of those experiences that was so outlandish, it almost felt surreal. Adding in the fact that it was mixed with Buddhist monks in an actual Buddhist monastery- it was like something out of a movie. My tour guide Nettie did an amazing job showing me around all these crazy Bangkok sites, and I can honestly say I got the unique, off-the-beaten track experience that I was hoping for. Trains and Markets, Tigers and Monks: I think 'peaceful coexistence' was the theme for this trip!

You can tell how I felt the first time I petted a tiger.

This sign was found all over the temple grounds. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was to remind the monks or teach the tigers!

Just another day for this monk and his friend!