Bhutan. Kingdom in the Clouds

We started our adventure in Bhutan by flying from Bangkok to Paro, Bhutan.  The Paro Valley is at 7300 feet high and is the home to emerald rice patties and quaint little farming villages.  As we had a later afternoon flight we made our way directly to the Zhiwa Ling Hotel which is one of National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the World collection. Where we enjoyed a welcome reception and a wonderful Bhutanese dinner.  It gave us a chance to meet some of our fellow travellers and get to know our guides and hear about the up coming trip.  On our drive to the hotel one thing that really stood out to me was that almost everyone was dressed in the national dress which for a man is a gho and a female a kira.  Even the children are dressed this way and apparently it is is the way of the people in this country.

The next morning we packed up and headed off to our first Buddhist temple in Bhutan.  After visiting here and spinning the prayer wheels we visited the Ta Dzong which translates to watch fortress and was built in the 17th century to protect the nearby Rinpung Dzong from invasions by Tibet and Nepal.  This remarkable structure was built from stone and wood without any nails.  While here we received a special blessing from the monks to wish us a safe journey.  The Dzong sits high on the hill above the river and after a lovely walk down to the river we boarded our vehicles for the drive to Punakha..  the drive took us up over a high pass where there are a collection of stupa to commemorate those lost in a civil war where we had lunch before descending down into the Punakha valley which at 4000 feet is one of the lowest elevations in Bhutan. We checked into the Green Resort which would be our base for the next two nights.

We started of the next morning with a very invigorating hike to Khamsum Yuelley Namgyel Chorten, a spectacularly situated temple with incredible views of the valley below.  The hike started with a walk across an old suspension bridge and meandered through some rice fields before turning into a steep climb.  The inside of the temple is incredible. There are four stories and the images and paintings contained within are absolute works of art.  They all tell the Buddhist story and our guides did their best to explain some of it to us.  The views from the top of the temple were breathtaking and made for some wonderful photos. After the hike down we went to the Punakha Dzong which was built in 1637 and stands at the confluence of the Pho and the Mo rivers. It serves as the winter base for the head clergy of Bhutan and was the site of the Royal Wedding in 2011.  The architecture was magnificent and it’s history fascinating.  We returned to the hotel ready to relax at the bar and listen to our guides relate some more fascinating stories about Bhutan.

Bhutan’s last king when he took power at the age of 17 at the sudden death of his father was asked what the gross national product of Bhutan was he quickly responded that was not important to his country, that they were more interested in the gross national happiness and that is what they have measured ever since

This is the hotel we first stayed in. The architecture was incredible.

The main lobby

Portrait of the King but the most remarkable thing is the quote under the picture

Buddhist temple in Paro

Eric and Bill turning the prayer wheels

Giant prayer wheels in the courtyard 

Courtyard of the Dzong 

Beautiful artwork that is hundreds of years old

Peppers drying on the roof for winter storage

The Dzong sits up on the hill looking down on the valley 

Original old bridges cross the river

Up in the mist amongst the stupas at the top of the pass

The collection of commemorative stupas at the top of the pass

A monkey we passed along the way. Easy to guess his sex.

Emerald green terraced rice patties

Unique way to support a power line

The Green Hotel where we spent our next two nights

A flowering banana plant complete with fruit

View from our room with the mountains in the clouds

Dzong at the confluence of the Pho and Mo rivers in the morning light

Our great National Geographic guides

The suspension bridge at the start of our hike

And Eric leads the way



Wonderful walk through the rice fields before the uphill begins

The climb was well worth it

The views were magnificent with the river snaking through the valley 

Farm houses and rice patties in every direction 

All of these wonderful views backed by picturesque mountains 

Eric enjoying the day

A monk partaking in his morning rituals

The temple is way on the top of the hill so one can appreciate our climb in the heat and humidity 

Back at the Dzong for a visit inside

Inside this temple lie the remains of Ngawang Namgyal who died in the 1600s.  He was known as the unifier of Bhutan and lived at this Dzong. They managed to keep his death secret for 54 years and to this day they serve three meals a day to his mummified remains.

Alls sorts of different masks adorn the temple

The doorways and windows are works of art

Hard to believe the workmanship of hundreds of years ago that has survived so well

The Bhuddist wheel of life

Almost every corner was decorated

It all looks so peaceful

These are the monks quarters and are today where the highest masters of the church reside


Steps leading into the temple

Bangkok, Chinatown

We started our last day in Bangkok by visiting the Traimit Witthayaram Temple which house the solid gold Buddha image.  This Buddha is 5.5 tons of solid gold and is worth over 250 million dollars. Cast in the 13th or 14th century when the Bermese invaded Siam the people covered the Buddha with stucco and glass to disquise it and it remained that way for hundreds of years.  It was in an unimportant temple until 1955 when it was being moved and the stucco got chipped revealing the gold beneath that its value was recognized and it was moved to its new home.  It is beautiful to see and it is something to imagine what it must have been like for those who thought they broke the image only to discover that it was made of pure gold.

We then went on a tour of China town.  There was a vegetarian festival going on and there were dozens of merchants selling delicious smelling foods along the roadway.  These booths are set up for 10 days every year and draw large crowds.  Wandering the streets of China town and experiencing all the different sights and smells was a lot of fun.  We stopped at a couple of stalls and Nok bought us samples to try.  The jack fruit was particularly delicious.  After a delightful lunch in a local restaurant we went to visit the Golden Mount Temple.  Climbing 300 plus stairs around the temple we arrived at the top and were rewarded with panoramic views of Bangkok.  It was a wonderful way to complete our short visit here before heading to the airport hotel to get ready for our adventure to Bhutan.

The solid gold Buddha 

Eric receiving a blessing from a monk

Nok getting us some jack fruit to try. Notice the size of the fruit on the bottom of the cart

These energetic men are pounding out a delicious Chinese sweet that we enjoyed hot from the wok

Huge pots of vegetarian food for sale along the roadway

Stores with not an inch of wasted space 

Bags of soup for sale for a quick and tasty lunch

The choices were endless

This young chap was carrying bags of dried fish stomachs which are used in soups and such. They were for sale everywhere so are obviously very popular but I am not going to rush to find some.

The images in the Chinese Temples were quite different than the Buddhist ones we had been seeing

Not exactly the type of spa most of us like to go to but many were having facial treatments on the sidewalk 

Replica of the temple we climbed to get great views of the city

Temple complex directly below with the city panning out behind. The smog was much worse on this visit than when we were here two years ago.

Worshippers hang bells on this figure which stands in front of the stupa on top of the temple

As seen in this photo canals run through Bangkok and the homes and buildings are built right up to the edges of it. It does provide another way of getting around in this very busy city.