Nee's Journeys

The Bhutan Series - Day 4 - Thimpu I was completely rested and ready to go and this was going to be a busy day so thank goodness I finally got a full's night's sleep. Below is the list of the day's activities: - Thimpu Festival - Tankin - Paper Factory - Weekend Vegetable Market - Dinner and drinks with Sonam Our first stop was the Thimpu Drupchen at the Thimpu dzong. During the Drupchen, the deities are prayed to and dances are performed only by monks in costume. The drupchen occurs before the tscechu I believe for about a week out of which there are 4 days which the public can see some of the dances. During the other days dances are performed inside the monestary. The tsechu occurs a few days after the drupchen and dances are performed by monks as well as by lay people. Since the drupchen is very religious cameras were not allowed into the dzong. Before the dancing started I got the opportunity to meet with a monk, Gimptu (I may be spelling it wrong). I asked him lots of ...

The Bhutan Series - Day 3 - Arrival in Bhutan The alarm clock went off at 1 AM...yes 1 AM...and I took my 3rd shower in 24 hours I was looking forward to some cooler weather. The tour company made a point of stressing check in 2 hours before the flight so I was at BKK bright and early at 2 AM. I was sweaty and sleep deprived but somehow managed to get myself and my gear checked in. Of course a storm had broken out so our 4 AM flight was delayed about an hour. The happy portion of this part of my traverse was that I was sitting in first class a result of changing my arrival date. We had a stopover in Calcutta before flying into Bhutan but prior to that I finally got my chance to see EVEREST. I think the plane tipped to its left side as soon as the first person spotted Everest. It was a really clear beautiful day so we could see Everest and the surrounding big 'uns very well. I was totally stoked my trip was made by just seeing that. Yes I admit I have a slight Everest obsession whic...

The Bhutan Series - 9/30 - 10/19/2008 - Days 1 & 2 Day 1 - San Francisco to Bangkok Brutal, painful, killer, sleepless - sounds fun huh? I started out at SFO and flew into Hong Kong. I was sitting by a very friendly Chinese man but I was longing for an empty row so I moved and attempted to sleep (unsuccessfully). Once in Hong Kong I headed straight for a ramen restaurant. I ate on the plane but when in Hong Kong one must have some noodles. The layover was about 4 hours so it was plenty of time to slurp down the good stuff. Of all things there were some people who had flown in from the Midwest and were on my Bangkok flight from HK who were going straight from Bangkok to Bhutan (crazy). I finally rolled into BKK at 12:30 and stumbled into bed 20 travel hours later. Unfortunately I couldn't sleep that night...ugh. Day 2 - Bangkok I didn't sleep the night before and I couldn't sleep in. I had arranged for a tour guide to show me the highlights of Bangkok. My guide Chawanwit...