Thimpu and Paro

From November 4th to November 8th, 2023

Day 1:

• Flew in on Drukair from Kathmandu, landed in Paro, the world's second most dangerous airport, picked up by the team at Amankora to start our journey to Thimphu.

• Stopped off at our first zhong along the side of the highway called Tachog Lhakhang, walked across the bridge, and learned a thing or two about prayer wheels and mini stupa statues.

• Stopped off at Tashichho Dzhong where there was a ceremony going on due to their National holiday of Descending Day of Lord Buddha. It has traditionally been the seat of the head of Bhutan's civil government. We went inside the temple, listened to the people as they sang, all in their traditional dress, and got to look through their historic artifacts that only get showcased at certain times of the year.

• Got to the hotel, were greeted with white silk scarves, and had an incredible lunch.

• Went off to explore more of Thimphu at the Chorten Memorial, an iconic landmark in the city. People were walking around it clockwise three times, community service groups were handing out food, and monks were chanting.

• Went to an archery court near Changlimithang Stadium where we watched men play archery, celebrate their wins, talk trash about their losses, and enjoy their time together with their community.

• Went back to the hotel to watch a cultural dance that was about 30 minutes long, featuring all historic and cultural Bhutanese songs sung for any number of reasons (a welcome dance, a dance of nomadic people, dance of heroes, and a farewell dance)

• Had an incredible dinner that night of chili & cheese, rice, and all the other traditional Bhutanese foods and spices. Apparently a member from the Royal family was also at dinner at our hotel this evening.

  Day 2:

• Breakfast: had a traditional Bhutanese breakfast called Zecha Gyem, which is basically the same thing they have for lunch or dinner except with eggs. Divine!

• Went to the Motithan Takin Preserve to see their prehistoric animal, the takin.

• Started a 2.5-mile hike to Wangditse Lhakhang, took us about 1:30 hours. Got to the buddhist temple, and we were the only ones. The monk gave us a blessing and told us that we would be back in 3-4 years with a son. This may have been our favorite visit/temple; a little off the beaten path and very beautiful inside.

• Later that day, we went to visit the big Buddha Dordenma Statue; no pictures allowed inside.

• Back to the hotel for lunch

• After lunch, went to the market where we got to see where they purchase all their food, spices, chili, cheese, rice, beans, corn, meat, animal skin, animal fat, garlic, honey, mushrooms, beetle nut & limestone paste. Just on the other side of the food market, there’s a commerce market where all other items can be found that more closely resemble the western world (sneakers, handbags, branded items - all most likely from India or China). Got to watch monks testing out their horns, another monk testing out his clarinet, saw the shops that sold all kinds of memorabilia for Buddhist worship for either in-home temples or public temples, walked through the Main Street in Thimphu, and saw the traffic officer that was directing traffic (there used to be a street light but nobody followed it). Bought a lottery ticket, didn’t win anything.

• Went back to the hotel to play archery and drink a nice local Bhutanese beer, learned also how to play a different dart game, Gyembo was Hailey’s archery partner, and they won the round against Max and Pema.

• Evening cocktails by the fire, evening dinner.

Day 3:

• Checked out of the hotel to head to Paro for the day.

• Upon leaving the hotel, had a monk available to give us a ceremonial blessing to wish us safe travels. Went to the post office to make custom stamps to use to mail postcards out to everyone.

• Went to a handmade paper-making factory called Jungshi.

• Went to a handmade dress/coat workshop, bought a jacket.

• Climbed to the top of Rinpung Dzong, a great big Zhong in Paro, saw a number of young child monks.

• Stopped off at a local's house to have lunch in her abode, had all the delicious Bhutanese food again, drank distilled rice liquor that had cordyceps in the bottom of the bottle.

• Stopped off at the Kyichu Lhakhang temple just a stone's throw from her house, a beautiful temple where a monk’s feet print is imprinted in the floor. Unable to take pictures, but we were able to put our feet in the spot that the monk made his thousands of prayers from.

• Back to the hotel in Paro for another round of archery (Max wanted revenge). Max and Pema beat Hailey and Gyembo.

• Dinner at the hotel; a local monk came to the hotel to write our names in Dzhongka - their language.

Day 4:

• Left our hotel at 6:30 am, took 30 minutes to get to our big day of a hike up to Tigers Nest! The hike to the top took about an hour and a half, and we ended up being the first ones in Tigers Nest that day. We were asked to check our phones in at the entrance so we weren’t able to take any pictures. (In total we were out for about 4 hours, and the total distance covered was 5.75 miles). It’s a must.

• Met with dogs along the way, had a lunch snack.

• Had lunch at a nearby Villa where we got foot massages, drank kiwi water, and took a load off from our hard work that morning.

• Went back to the hotel, showered and cleaned up, put on our traditional Bhutanese clothing, and set out for cocktails before dinner. A local came in to demonstrate making prayer flags; both Max and Hailey made their own versions. We ate our dinner all while watching the old man make the prayer flags; we ended up buying a dinner for the man, and he was going to take it with him to go.

• After dinner, we went for massages.

Day 5:

• Ate breakfast at the hotel, prepared to leave for the airport.

• Lit 100 candles at a temple in town, located just off the Paro highway

• Flew Drukair to Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Watch before you go:

• Little Buddha

• The Yak in the Classroom