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.

Location: Thimphu to Punakha

I woke up early as usual. Once I got out of my room, I saw this dog sleeping on the chair. It must be very comfortable for it.

I had a morning walk by myself as Lydia was still sleeping. The air was super fresh.

After having our breakfast, we went to visit the national animal of Bhutan- Takin.
Takin is believed to be a mixture of cow and sheep. Bhutanese believed that it was made by their Saint- Divine madman.

There were some small household around the park. Chimi was talking to one of the family, so Lydia and I had fun with the baby.

 

On the way down, we could see Tashichoedzong from the top of mountain.

Post Office

We spent a lot of time in the post office because it provided the service of making your personalized stamp. We could choose photos from our SD card and import it to their computer to print our stamps. I have never seen something like that before. We were both very excited about it.

Folks who got my postcards should have seen my pretty face on the stamps, right?

This is a typical store on the road selling fruit and dry food.

108 Stupas

On the way from Thimphu to Punakha, we visited the very famous 108 Stupas. The Stupas were covered in mist and it carries a different kind of beauty.
I imagined that Sing was dancing between those Stupas and it would be a wonderful video to shoot.

Daytime, dogs are always sleeping!

Chimi Lhakhang

When we got to Punakha, we visited Chimi Lhakhang. It is the temple of Divide Madman on the hilltop. We passed a very beautiful farmland before we got to the temple. Bhutan is always that green. Lovely!

Time to talk about "Divide Madman":
He was from Tibet and he was known for his crazy methods of enlightening other beings, mostly women, which earned him the title "The Saint of 5,000 Women". Women would seek his blessing in the form of sex. However, the female consort had/has an important (albeit secret) role in many monasteries in the East. Thangka paintings illustrate sexual positions and some of the rituals that must accompany the actions.

By the way, he is my favorite saint in Bhutan!!!

As Divine Madman always use his sexual ability to fight the devil. The signs of penis are shown as the power of Divine madman.

 

One of my favorite photos in this trip!

Can you see the cat?

We passed some local household and we met some kids dancing and singing.

Lydia joined them for the dance.

What a bin!

This is the leaf of the Scared fig. Siddhartha Gautama is said to have been sitting underneath a Bo-Tree when he was enlightened (Bodhi), or "awakened" (Buddha).

When we walked downhill from the temple, we saw the same group of kids. They were singing and dancing at the grassland again. At first, I thought they were just there playing by themselves, but it turned out like a performance. I was feeling quite uncomfortable because I do not hope that tourists changed their pure heart and Bhutanese life. Are they expecting something from us after the performance? or it was just an coincident? When Chimi gave them some small notes for "snack", I was feeling quite bad.

Is there still innocent and purity in the world?

How beautiful of the terrace!!!!!!

I was very excited to write my postcards and put on my personalized stamps at night in the hotel. Wonderful!!

Location: Punakha to Paro

We wake up with this beautiful scenery outside our window. What a life!!!!

I found this plant very very cute. It looks like a balloon. I wonder what it is. Can anyone tell me?

We were having breakfast in front of this view. Chimi tried to count how many houses are there in Punakha. It should be around 70 and Phnakha used to be the capital of Bhutan.

After breakfast, Chimi and Jagu drove us to the town.
This Nepalese Stupa has a pair of eyes, so special!

Punakha Dzong

Then we came to the most beautiful Dzong in Bhutan- Punakha Dzong.
It was a super impressive Dzong with awesome architecture and atmosphere. The Dzong is located at the confluence of the Pho Chhu (father) and Mo Chhu (mother) rivers in the Punakha–Wangdue valley.

To me, the most impressive part of this Dzong is its quietness. I cannot believe that as a top class sightseeing sight, I could hardly see tourists inside. Except me and Lydia, we only met an American couple visiting the Dzong. So, I could really enjoy every bit of the Dzong, I could take time to take my photos and appreciate the art and paintings on the wall.
It is hard to explain the atmosphere of the Dzong. The closest word I can pick is PEACEFUL. I had this feeling in Tibet before, but it was destroyed by the Chinese tour group. In Bhutan, I felt very calm.

This is the main entrance of the Dzong, three staircases are for different classes of people to enter.

Look at the guitar that he is holding? this is the one I bought for Jimmy!

I said these balls look like bombs, they said they are Pearl.

We left the Dzong and walked toward the longest cantilever bridge in Bhutan.

When it was too hot, they folded their tradition dress this way.

We had a lot of fun passing this bridge just because of the green, the wind and the sound of valley.
Believe me, you can never feel this if you are not there.

When we got to the other side of the bridge, we had a beer at a small house.

Lydia was a bit drunk on the way back from the small house. Lydia and Chimi were singing together and Lydia felt that it was "大地在我腳下“ (the world is under my feet). She started to speak English to me the whole way and being super hyper! Non-stop talking and laughing. Hahahahahahahahha!

When we were at the car, Chimi always tried to wash the fruit for us to eat. Thank you Chimi!

We had lunch at the foothill of Chimi Lhakhang (Divide Madman temple). The view we were facing was like a poster. A very very green poster indeed. Wonderful to eat in front of this view and enjoy the breeze from the farm.

I did not want to leave the restaurant after lunch, it was too good to be true.

Today ended quite early as we had a long drive from Punakha to Paro. However, Lydia and I both enjoyed the day very much.
We had seen a super beautiful Dzong, Lydia got her hyper treat at the bridge and we had our lunch in front of the beautiful farmland.

We were very satisfied.

Location: Paro to Haa Valley- back to Paro

It was my happiest day in Bhutan.

We were so lucky to be there for the first Haa Valley summer festival. We had no expectation on the festival as it was the very first one and our guide had no idea about it.

It took us around 3 hours to go to Haa Valley and we needed to climb over a very high mountain in between. The scenery was excellent.

Haa Valley summer festival is the best festival ever. It was so exotic, so local, so special and I had so much fun!!!!!
The activity never stop and I enjoy every one of them. The simplest game is always the best game. The tug of war was the highlight of the day. We formed a team of tourists (so hard to find even 10 tourists there) and we were against the local women. Playing tug of war under the sun in Bhutan with the locals was just too exciting. I cannot tell you how was it unless you were there to experience it with us.

Being a tourist in the festival = VIP. We were highly respected for no reason. The very important government officials were showing us around the counter of the local things. We did not need to queue up for anything. We could rest under the cover with the government officials, walked with them at the opening ceremony and chewed their Doma.

A lot more details to tell, let's talk about it with the photos.

This is what I saw once I opened my room door in the morning!

On the way to Haa Valley, we passed the airport of Paro and saw a plane taking off in the valley. Look at the runway and the plane.

I like the dark cloud as the frame.

This is how it was when I was looking for my wild toilet, so beautiful!

We got on top of a very high mountain and saw Haa Valley in the middle of the green green range.

This tour guide looked like a Gongfu master in those novels!
Lydia was showing me about 白眉道人，crazy girl!

Finally, we got to the festival. People were standing around the stage for the performance with their traditional costume.

Suddenly, our guide asked us to stand aside as the government officials were coming for the opening ceremony.

However, right before they walked in, they invited all the tourists to start the festival with them.

The officials were telling us about the custom and tradition of Bhutan with all different counters. We were so shocked.

These cloths were all antique and hand-made. What a pity I never have enough money to buy all i wanted.

Their traditional shoes look so cool but it is impossible to wear this in Hong Kong.
The lady was making some raw noodles and Lydia loved all the local food there.

She was so in love with the food that she decided to skip our lunch.

This is their sex education!?!

Local kids are having fun while waiting for the bikers return!

Please look at the musical instrument that he was holding. It was exactly like what I bought for Jimmy.

As Lydia decided to skip her lunch because she was so into the festival, Jagu and Chimi went to have picnic with me at the river side. 

See how sweet they were! They were preparing food for me while I was sitting along the river.

This cow was getting really close to me when I was eating. Luckily, it only ate grass.

We were back to the venue and there were a lot of activities going on.

This thing is very very loud and I heard that it is very hard to play!!!!

This is one of their very important national game. When Lydia and I saw the distance between the player and the goal, we thought it was impossible to hit.
However, this guy made it, not only once, but few times. MY GOD!! Look how did it happen!!!!

Look at the dot at the lower right corner, it was flying!
AND IT HIT THE GOAL!!!

Once their teammate hit the goal, they will come in front of it and start singing and dancing.

This tent is water proof but with a lot of holes. How would it be possible?

This is their tradition dance for important event. I am sure there is a legend of Buddhist story behind, but I forgot (Sorry Chimi). 

We both enjoy the festival in different ways!

The bike race was a part of the festival. Bikers returned to the venue after the race.

These tourists were so serious about the festival, they even dressed in the costume.

Now, it comes to the best activity in the festival- TUG OF WAR!!
I was so surprised that tourists were asked to form a team. See how hard we tried!!!!!! The atmosphere was awesome when they all shout: 1,2,pull! 1,2, pull!

They were playing against another group of locals!!! It was so exciting!!!

This is my favorite photo in Bhutan!!

What a decoration.........

Haa Valley got some really beautiful mountains. When I looked at these 2 mountains, I felt that they are something special, so I asked Chimi about it. He said these mountains represent different quality of a person. They really have their own name for it. Wao! see? I can tell......

On the way back, bye bye Haa Valley!

My beloved TERRACE!! Everywhere in Bhutan.......

Location: Paro- Tiger Nest- Paro

Tiger Nest temple is probably the most popular touristic destination in Bhutan. It is definitely very attractive with its dramatic look and the legend behind.

 

Legend of Tiger Nest:

Guru (Saint) knows that there was an evil at the Cliff. His Tibetan wife turned to be a tiger to protect him in the cave while he was doing his meditation to fight the evil. The Villagers always see a tiger outside the cave on the Cliff, so they called it: Tiger Nest.

It was a rainy morning when we started hiking on the trail. The mountain was covered with mist and carried another kind of beauty. The road was muddy and wet. It was quite hard to walk on. Thank you Chimi and Jugu taking care of us on the road. It was not a very long hike but we needed to climb some stairs.

We passed a forest with the thin green vegetation hanging on the trees. Chimi said it could only grow in very clean environment.

We arrived at Tiger Nest in the afternoon. The temple was absolutely stunning. It was quite foggy when we first arrived, but it slowly got clearer after a while. The sun was shining on the temple and it looked totally different. Lydia and I both like the look of it with mist though. It looked even more mysterious.

 

The dramatic location of the temple surely leads a question- how was it built?

Of course, the standard answer in Bhutan was always: by supernatural power.

Photo taking was not allowed inside the temple. The temple was interesting with its setting. We needed to climb up and down for different houses as it was following the shape of the Cliff to build. The monks were studying in the temple and visitors were wandering around.

 

We slowly walked down the mountain and got to a location in the mid-way for lunch. As the sun was shining on our way back, we enjoyed some wonderful scenery. When we got to our lunch place, we realized that we were going to eat with the view of Tiger Nest temple at the opposite side of the mountain.

This is the Koma that Chimi was always chewing.

After the lunch, we continued our trip down the hill. At one point, I was standing in the forest with the sound of river. Suddenly the wind came and white flowers were falling from the tree like snow. It was an unforgettable moment and I found it so peaceful to stay there.

I also love the grassland at the end. A white horse was eating grasses under the mountain range. Bhutan is always that green, that natural, that lovely.

 

Lydia and I just love these stuff so much, but we were lack of $$.

Chimi and Jugu found that the wheel of our car was broken, so it took them a while to fix it before we left.

We then visited a farmhouse and I had my first experience of pulling the milk out from cows. It was a very strange feeling but I found it exciting. The best of all was that I could drink the milk right away. It was the freshest milk ever.

We walked around the “city” a bit. I saw how people lived in such a simple way with basic entertainment and work.

At night, Dechen had farewell dinner with us and even showed us the “night life” in Bhutan. He brought us to a club with ladies dancing on the stage. The ladies were dancing by customer’s order, but they could dance how they like. So, they were just standing on the stage and “move” (I really cannot say that they were dancing). Unbelievable!!!!! Hahahahahaha!

 

We were drinking and sharing our view of relationship and things like that. Dechen told us about how Bhutanese thought about relationship. It was very inspiring. Haha!

Location: Paro-BKK-HKG

It is the time to say goodbye and I turned quite sick at the end because of my serious fleabites.

 

On the way to the airport, we passed a shooting match field. So, we stood and watched the game for a while.

A sad goodbye to the green green Bhutan, Chimi and Jugu. we flew from Paro to Bangkok and luckily got on the flight from BKK-HKG. I started to have fever in-flight and my fleabites were getting worse and worse. 

The funny part is that Lydia and I met Jamie and her boyfriend Mingson at Bangkok airport and we found that we are all common friends. What a small world.

When I got to the HK airport, I went straight to the clinic. Thank you Lydia for accompanying me.

 

So, finally I had sick leave for a week and fell very sick with the fleabites. Now, I am still dealing with the scars. Poor me! However, it is a part of traveling, isnt it?

我又搬家了！帶走的除了30箱雜物和傢具外，就是和甘的回憶了。

當然，還帶走了可愛的Natasha。可憐她以後就要跟我相依為命了！哈哈！

我想說的是，世上除了文文和Ringo外，應該沒有人能幫助我在三個小時內Unpack 30箱雜物並放好。你們實在是Amazing friends!

答應要          自然捲

答應自己學會燙衣服
答應自己學會煮咖啡
答應自己一個人看電影
哭著笑著睡著了

答應自己學會坐公車
答應自己一個人吃晚餐
打包行李 要去旅行
呼吸一點新鮮空氣

這樣的日子 有多久了
影印一樣 反覆不停的複製著
這樣的日子 還要多久
像在沙漠上面奔跑 沒有盡頭

答應要一個人生活 有沒有把握
不會淚流
答應要一個人走 有沒有把握
無論多久 心還是熱的

今天不站出來                  明天站不出來

真的是因緣際會，讓我成為了這本書其中一位作者。在書中分享了我在YYCIS當義工的一些感受，但最開心的是聽到同事們的分享。

其實香港真的什麼類型的義工都有得做，而且做義工是無分“勁不勁”的。

當然，程度也不在Uniform上............

定向 愛

 

這個做到YYCISers快死的籌款活動終於完滿結束。於我而言，第一次搞這樣大型的籌款活動的我們完全是超額完成，空前成功。雖然活動當日有些小意外，讓賽事有點延誤，但意外其實也是活動必然發生的事，我覺得大家也隨機應變得很好。

 

這次的籌款活動是和Y2Y合辦的野外定向比賽。 Y2Y負責比賽的technical部分，我們負責行政部分。

 

而我就負責比賽中心外的攤位，包括3個遊戲攤位和4個賣物攤位。這次可謂出盡了我的人情牌，找了很多朋友來當義工和義賣他們的手作品。雖然賣物的成績（market不對）不太好，但我覺得這個經驗很好。遊戲攤位和Mini-Car的抽獎成績非常好，真是太興奮。但就辛苦了一班義工，應付一輪又一輪來玩遊戲的人們。他們有一些還幫我搬東西，忙足成日，真是超感謝！

 

準備過程的辛苦和當天的累相信只有YYCISers才能明白，但我覺得社友們的感情突飛猛進，而且投入感強了很多，這是很好的回報吧！我還因此找到了我的西班牙語老師，哈哈哈！

 

謝謝YYCISers的話在做給大家的感謝卡已經寫過了。

我希望在這裡謝謝來幫我的朋友們呢！

Game Booth: Jimmy, Rachael, Kam, Harley, Man Man, Ringo

Sell Booth: Ching Yu, Caroline, April, Astrid

Photography: Peter

 

最後要謝謝天公造美，讓我在戶外的攤位能順利運作。