September 18, 2011
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Bhutan 5 July 2011 (Day 1+Day 2)
Day 1
Location: Hong Kong to Bangkok (flight)
There is no direct flight from Hong Kong to Bhutan, so we had to transit at Bangkok.
Lydia and I took CX flight to Bangkok and stayed overnight before we jumped on the very early flight from Bangkok to Paro.Poor Lydia landed Hong Kong from Milan in the morning and caught the flight in the afternoon to Bangkok. She slept at the hotel right away until the next day. I had a wonderful Thai massage. We were quite worried about our flight to Paro as it was not confirmed until the last minute from our travel agent.
Day 2
Location: Bangkok to Paro (flight), Paro to Thimphu
We woke up at 4am to take our flight from Bangkok to Paro. There is only one carrier in Bhutan, that is Druk air. Druk means dragon in Bhutanese and Bhutan is land of Dragon.
On the way to Paro, we saw one of the holy mountain in Bhutan. It was so beautiful to view from the sky.
Look! Those are not cloud, those are mountain!
The first photo I took in Bhutan. The lovely cloud in the clear blue blue sky.
We landed at the Paro International airport which no air bridge is needed. Everyone just walk on the ground from the aircraft to the immigration.
Yeah! We are finally here. Unbelievable!
The most respected person in Bhutan- the kings. Bhutan is like Thailand. They put the royal family and king in a very high position, but they are not actually ruling the country.
We were picked up by Chimi (our guide) and Jagu (our driver). They welcome us with the Khata and information about Bhutan.
First sightseeing point is a temple which was built by a Saint. Hundreds years ago, how could he build the bridge? Of coz, it was by his super natural power. He built it by his hands as a way of meditation.
Then we drove from Paro to Thimphu- the captial of Bhutan.
Lunch
I took a dish with “white sauce”, but it turned out to be super spicy. Every meal in Bhutan was a buffet with very very similar dishes. haha!
As a capital, Thimphu is a very peaceful town. Yuen Long is 10 times more crowded and busier than Thimphu. People drives slowly and still wearing their traditional costume.
There is no traffic light in Bhutan. This is the only one traffic control in the country. Amazing!!!
Memorial Chorten
We then went to the Memorial Chorten. It is the “the most visible religious landmark in Bhutan”.
People kept praying around the Chorten in clockwise flow. It reminded me of Tibet.
The Buddha Dordenma
There was a big Buddha on top of the mountain. Not a very impressive statue, but we could have a nice view of Thimphu from it.
We found that all dogs in Bhutan are sleeping in daytime and barking at night.
Folk Heritage Museum
We then went to a museum to see how people live in Bhutan. It showed a tradition houses with different function on different floors.
These hand-made darts are very popular in Bhutan. They have very serious competition on the darts.
I tried to throw it on the wooden board just in front of me, but failed. haha!
This little cute cat naturally became my model.
When a cat met a dog…………
The national library of Bhutan got the BIGGEST book in the world. It is basically a huge picture book.
There was a central plaza with a clock tower in Thimphu. We got some time to shop around the town and I bought some earrings (again) and a traditional Bhutanese guitar to Jimmy. It was made in the shape of dragon, my god!!
Tashichoedzong
Chimi (our guide) brought us to the Tashichoedzong. It is where the government of Bhutan located. Visitors are allowed to get in only after their office hour.
It is an impressive Dzong with very tradition architecture of Bhutan. Dzong combined function of administration and religion. All men need to put an additional scarf around them and women need to put the scarf on their shoulder when they entered the Dzong as a respect.
Chimi is having a white scarf because he is a citizen only. Government officials have a red one instead.
There are wall paintings inside the temple to tell stories of Saints and Buddha.
I love Lydia’s smile in this photo.
This is a famous story in Bhutan. It talks about how do all these animals cooperate to grow the tree.
I enjoy the silence when I was sitting on the floor of the Dzong. The mountain around the Dzong was so beautiful and I still could not believe that I was in Bhutan already.
It was a relaxing day and a good start of our Bhutan trip.
