Travels With Maria

Saturday Today, we started out with a quick walk around a rural weekend market. Much smaller than the market we saw last Sunday in Thimpu, much less organized, and more interesting. Then we continued with a hike that included a 500 foot elevation gain to (wait for it...) a monastery! It was sprinkling when we set out, then humid, probably about 70 degrees. When we got to the top, we were treated to a panoramic view of the river valley and the surrounding mountains. The sky cleared and the air dried out for the walk down to the river.   Back on the river, we piled into a rubber raft…

This morning, we left Phobjikha and drove 3-1/2 hours  to Punakha. As we climbed out of the Phobjikha valley, we encountered a yak herder. It was a woman who, as we walked down the hillside, was herding the yaks by throwing stones and yelling. We walked down to her little tent which was made out of blue tarps and yak hair fabric.   She and her husband, who was off on the other side of a tall hill fetching drinking water, are part time nomads. Her mother and her kids live in a permanent home, while the middle generation herds the yaks. She milked a mother yak, who had a…

This morning we visited a Buddhist monastery. Tibetan Buddhism is pretty complicated and bureaucratic, with lots of hierarchy and rules that likely originated in ancient Tibetan society rather than Buddha's teachings.  The main building is very impressive, several stories tall, lots of hand-carved and brightly painted woodwork. The monks live in little rooms surrounding the main structure. Tenzin stopped two 10 year old novices and chatted with them and we asked them questions. One lives in Thimpu and visits his family when they get time off. The other was pretty much abandoned by his messed up family.  https://youtu.be/emy4i3FvQ3I Then we went inside, climbed two steep ladder/staircases, and got to see…

Okay, so all Bhutanese food does not suck.   Tonight, we, along with fellow travelers Anna from Chicago and Angela from California, were picked up at the hotel by Jigme, a middle aged fellow wearing the Bhutanese garb of a bathrobe tied at the waist, black knee socks and western dress shoes. He drove us 20 minutes or so to their house at the edge of town where we meet his wife Soam and their 18 year old daughter Noam.    They welcomed us and we sat down in the living room to appetizers of toasted red rice, fried lentils and regular old potato chips.   Soam is a housewife…

After we landed in Bhutan Sunday, Tenzin and Gembo, the driver, took us on a winding drive through two river valleys to Thimpu, Bhutan's capital. Bhutan has about 800,000 people, over 100,000 live in Thimpu. The city is growing like crazy, with lots of construction. All buildings have to be in traditional style on the outside, but they look like any other construction site on the inside. Although today, Maria pointed out one that was still mostly a skeleton, but had its roofline decorated in the Tibetan/Bhutanese style.   After we got here, Tenzin took us on a walk around the neighborhood. At 7000 feet, the air is fresh and…

Today, we visited government buildings, the most worthless thing to see on any tour. The British were bad, but left all this nice stuff. There were some colorful birds on the lawns. Then we stopped in a park where Gandhi was cremated. New Delhi is surprisingly clean and organized. Traffic moves fairly smoothly, if a bit crazily. The smokey, animal manure smell of the past is gone. All public transport vehicles are powered by natural gas or electricity, including the tuktuks. There are hardly any beggars. The new (10 years old) metro system is clean and fast, although the fare paying system, in the typical Indian manner, is overly complex.…

Wednesday morning, we were up at 4:15 to get ready for a 5:15 taxi (that's a long time to get ready, you say? We need to stretch and shake out the joints and muscles in addition to having breakfast and tea). Of course, the taxi did not show up on time. We had the security guard call the driver and guide him through the final turns to our obscure location and we were off. The train station was only 20 minutes away, 10 to get to the intersection in front of the station and another 10 to get through the crush of cars, trucks, bicycles, motos, tuktuks, handcarts all trying…