The ruins of Drukgyel Dzong in Bhutan

A crumbling stairway at Machu Picchu, Peru.

The ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru are also immensely appealing to me. It was unfortunately more crowded there than at Drukgyel Dzong. It is the kind of place where I wish I could be there all alone, just to sit and contemplate.

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While we were in Bhutan earlier this fall, our guide told us about being involved in the filming of an episode of photographer Art Wolfe‘s series, Travels to the Edge. Of course, Stephen wanted to hear all about this, and was full of questions like what kind and how much gear Art Wolfe carried. He also asked our guide, Pema, if he appeared on camera, which he did.

As soon as we got home, we ordered a copy of the DVD with that episode. It is hard to be terribly objective about this particular episode, as we just returned from a fantastic trip to Bhutan and because our guide is featured so prominently in the show. But Art Wolfe’s on-camera personality is very likable and his enthusiasm for the subject matter is infectious. He seems to have a lot of respect for the culture, and he is often clearly in awe of his surroundings. For such a well-traveled and successful photographer, he does not come off as at all jaded.

One of the things I liked about the show was that he talks a little bit about taking is photos and they show some of his still shots. Although it is more of a travel show than a photography show, I’d like to see him talk a little more about the photography – and perhaps he does on other episodes. This disc also includes a documentary on making the show, and listening to Art Wolfe and his crew talk about making the show was really interesting. There is a bit of a conflict between the crew getting the material they need for the show and Art Wolfe taking his photographs.

The emphasis is definitely on culture and nature, rather than photography, and for a half hour show viewers get a pretty good glimpse into Bhutan. It did seem that the people were extremely tolerant of having cameras in their faces, and for that reason, both the live action film and still images are fantastic. Some of the footage that they got in the monasteries was amazing. Unfortunately, we arrived in Phobjika Valley a little early to see the black neck cranes, so we enjoyed seeing the shots they got of the cranes. I also especially enjoyed the archery scenes, which had a lot of humor.

What made this episode even more appealing to us is that Art Wolfe’s guide, Pema Sonam, was also our guide in Bhutan. When we travel with a guide, we are with that person constantly for two or three weeks, and then just as suddenly as they appeared in our lives they are gone. It’s kind of a sad aspect of travel for me, because we have always had such terrific guides that we genuinely liked. So it was really kind of strange to watch this episode and see someone that we spent so much time with – it is kind of like having a flashback of our trip.

I still have two more episodes to watch on this disc, and I would love to see more. For me, it is a little tough because the show airs on PBS (check your local listings) and we don’t have any tv reception. I checked Netflix and they don’t carry the series. I had to order directly from Art Wolfe’s online store, and while the price of each disc is reasonable at $17.95, they charged me a whopping $9 for shipping. This seems a little excessive for a package that weighs less than a pound. I looked on Amazon, but they don’t sell it directly – Art Wolfe’s shop sells it through Amazon, so I imagine the postage is the same. So if Netflix decides to carry it, then I will watch more episodes. If like most normal people, you have television reception, then it is definitely worth checking it out on PBS. If you are into travel photography, it is even better.

We didn’t do a lot of research when we selected Village Tours & Treks to arrange our trip to Bhutan. The May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine listed them in their 50 Tours of a Lifetime article. Despite, the lack of research, our decision to book our trip to Bhutan through Village Tours and Treks could not have turned out better. Our guide and driver were fantastic, the company was organized and responsive, and our trip was absolutely amazing.

After reading the article in National Geographic Traveler, I immediately contacted VT&T about arranging a tour. I heard back very quickly from the woman who represents them in the United States. She was extremely helpful in deciding on an itinerary and making suggestions. I told her what our main interests were (photography, animals, short hikes, archaeology), and she came up with a schedule incorporating these things. It was very quick and easy and she was great to work with.

The most complicated part was transferring the money for the tour to Bhutan’s Department of Tourism (which is necessary no matter which tour company you select). The woman at my bank didn’t seem one hundred percent sure what she was so I had a couple nail biting days where I wasn’t completely sure that the money actually went through. Once I had confirmation that the money went through, VT&T bought our Bangkok to Bhutan plane tickets and applied for our visas. We had to make our own arrangements to get to Bangkok. We selected Bangkok because it was necessary to stay overnight and Americans do not need to obtain a visa in advance before visiting Thailand.

Stephen, Kara, Pema and Ugyen on the hike to the Tiger's Nest.

Our driver, Ugyen, was pretty quiet, which is a necessity for concentrating on narrow, winding roads. He turned out to be a really nice guy too. I was pleased when he ended up hiking to the Tiger’s Nest with us near the end of our trip, so we got to talk to him a little bit more. Most importantly, he was an excellent driver in sometimes poor road conditions. He also won extra points with me for spotting monkeys on our drive back from Phobjikha Valley. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have gotten to see a whole family of monkeys leaping through the trees.

UPDATE AUGUST 8, 2011: There have been some changes in management at Village Tours & Treks, and while I am sure it is still a fine company, I’d really like to recommend the company owned by our wonderful guide, Bhutan Creative Tours. Bhutan Creative Tours has been around since 2005, and there is no doubt in my mind they will do everything they can to make sure you have an amazing tour of Bhutan.

Bhutan Creative Tours
P.O.Box 1317, Norden lam,
Changangkha, Thimphu, Bhutan
Fixline +975-2-327604
eMails : bhtcreativetours@druknet.bt
bct@druknet.bt
info@bhutancreativetour.com
http://www.bhutancreativetour.com

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Boarding area of the Paro airport, Paro, Bhutan

We took our time getting ready for breakfast and went to the dining room at 8:00 am. The couple we met from London came in shortly after us and we had a lovely chat with them. They are very well traveled so we had a great time talking about all the places we have visited. They said they had an excellent time in Galapagos and didn’t have any problem with seasickness, which gave me great hope that I can manage it. That is my dream trip, but Stephen insists we take a trip specifically for photographers and those are all on boats for the whole trip.

Pema and Ugyen picked us up for lunch at 1:00 pm and we went to a great little restaurant. We arrived at the airport way early, but that turned out to be fine because they have free internet access and we can finally get online again. I saw that a friend posted on Facebook that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize and I thought it was a joke. I pulled up CNN and found out that it was true. I about fell out of my chair, but it was a really nice surprise.

We just watched our plane land and I expect we’ll be boarding in a half hour or so. I know it’s our plane because Druk Air only has two planes and the other one took off for Nepal about an hour ago.

Our trip to Bhutan was wonderful, but it is always nice to go home. I’m logging off for now, but I will have more details and photos when I get home (and get some sleep). We’re in for some long plane rides. Hope the movies are good.

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Taktshang Goemba (Tiger's Nest) monastery contains seven temples, Paro Valley, Bhutan

At 8 am we went to the lobby and Pema and Ugyen showed up shortly. We decided to attempt the hike. We had to hike to the car down the flooded road. A lot of the water was gone, but it was a bit of a muddy mess. When we got down to the car, the portion of the road that we still had to drive actually looked worse. The problem was that with all the water, it was difficult to see where the rocks were. It was a little iffy, but we managed to make it down to the main road. The riverbanks were overflowing and there was water everywhere.

Taktshang Goemba hidden amongst the clouds, Paro Valley, Bhutan

I know everyone was a bit worried because I couldn’t do the Cheri Monastery hike the week before, but I knew it was because of the food poisoning. Being a bit out of shape, having a bad back, and bad knees slows me down, but it doesn’t stop me. It took us just over an hour to reach the first stopping point, the teahouse. We stopped and had a cup of tea and biscuits. There is supposed to be a spectacular view of Taktsang Monastery (Tiger’s Nest) from the teahouse, but everything was mostly misted over.

Stephen, Kara, Pema and Ugyen on the hike to Tiger's Nest.

After that, we went into Paro to do a little bit of gift shopping. It only took about a half hour and then we headed back out to the hotel to relax before dinner. We were quite happy to be staying in a hotel tonight instead of a farmhouse so we were able to shower. At dinner, Pema received a fax for a revised schedule for Druk Air Flights on the following day. Because they added some extra flights to make up for the days they couldn’t fly, our 10:15 am flight had been delayed to 4:50 pm, with a stop in Calcutta. Instead of reaching Bangkok at about 4 pm, we will get there at 10:05 pm. Our plane leaving Bangkok for Tokyo leaves at 7:00 am the next morning, so we will just have enough time to sleep by the time we get through immigration and to the hotel. We’ll just have to do our relaxing in Paro, sans internet. I would feel better if we had a little more time before our flight to Bangkok in case there are any more delays. At least we decided we could wait to pack until the morning.

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Crumbling wall at Drukgyel Dzong, Paro, Bhutan

Next, we went to Kyichu Lhakhang, which is one of the oldest temples in Bhutan. It is believed to have been built in 659, as part of a series of 108 temples built to pin down a demoness. This is one of two such temples in Bhutan. The remainder are in Tibet. There was a ceremony going on today, and we were able to receive a blessing.

Entrance to Kyichu Lhakhang, Paro, Bhutan

The rain started falling harder, and we headed to lunch. I rarely seem to catch the name of the restaurants that we eat at, but this one was pretty good. They served rice noodles with vegetables. They put chili sauce on it, but it was so tasty, I had to eat it.

Next, we visited the National Museum. I hate to say that this was the most disappointing site we visited on the trip. They have a wonderful collection, but it is poorly lighted and the signage isn’t always as detailed as I would like. There are also many opportunities to bump your head on low beams. Although I think it is important to keep the traditional Bhutanese architecture there, I think the collection could be displayed to much greater advantage. My absolute favorite museum in the world is the National Museum of Korea. I’d love to see Bhutan do something similarly spectacular with their collection. My guess is that they likely have a huge number of artifacts that they do not have the room to display.

Central tower in Rinpung Dzong, Paro, Bhutan

It was only about 3:00 pm when we left the dzong, but we decided against any shopping this afternoon. I just wanted to check into our hotel and try to warm up and take off my wet clothes. We are staying at the Tandiling Resort, which is a fairly new hotel. For the first time in Bhutan, we have a king bed in our room, so we finally get to sleep in the same bed. The room is very nice, if a bit chillier than expected due to the pouring rain.

Flooding caused by heavy rains, Paro, Bhutan

We also heard that the Druk Air planes were unable to take off or land today due to the rain. I sure hope that the day after tomorrow will be nice again so that we can get to Bangkok. We are staying overnight in Bangkok, because the flight from Paro would arrive too late to make the flight to Narita in Tokyo. I don’t know how accommodating United will be if we can’t make our flights. Most airlines, including United, are not known for trying to make things easier for their customers. We used air miles, so we are even lower on United’s compassion list.

After dinner, we found out that Pema and Ugyen had gotten stuck down the road, which had flooded, so they couldn’t make it to us for dinner. They stayed in town.

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The 108 chorten are located at Dochu La pass which connects Thimphu and Punakha.

Next we stopped at the Takin Reserve and hiked around. The takins turned out to be kind of hard to spot, although we saw a couple. Legend has it that the Divine Madman, Drukpa Kunley, created the takin by placing the head of a goat onto the body of a cow. To me, it looked a little bit more like a buffalo. There were also some deer in the reserve. Our driver, Ugyen, got one of the deer to come over to the fence to feed him some grass.

People crowded on Norzin Lam street buying and selling merchandise, Thimphu, Bhutan

After lunch, we walked around a little market selling traditional handicrafts. I was tempted by a couple things, because I need to get Christmas presents, but most places don’t take Visa and I didn’t have enough cash in either Ngultrum or US dollars. We left empty handed. I will have to do my shopping in Paro.

Town of Paro, Bhutan

We went on and arrived at the farmhouse where we would be staying on the outskirts of Paro. It was really interesting, although I was a little worried about getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night. You have to go down a very steep, almost ladder-like set of stairs, then through several doorways. The bathroom requires you to climb up to very big concrete steps to reach the squat toilet. I am going to do my best not to need the bathroom until the morning.

General shop in Paro, Bhutan

Before dinner, we were in the sitting room outside our bedroom, and the family’s little cat came and made himself at home on my lap. I am a dog person, but this guy was pretty sweet. Before dinner, the farmer’s wife shooed the cat away and then we went and served ourselves. They served rice, pork and potatoes, ema datsi (chilies with cheese) and potatoes with cheese.

We went right to bed after dinner. We shut and latched the bedroom door, but Stephen woke up in the middle of the night and found the cat curled up with him. We couldn’t figure out how it got in until the morning. There was a gap in the wall between the bedroom and the sitting room and the kitty easily could have squeezed through it. He knew he found a couple of softies and took advantage!

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Beautiful Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan

We left at 8:30 am to hike the Gangte Nature Trail up to the Gangte Goemba (temple). It was beautiful hike, most of which was flat, except for climbing up to the temple itself. Because they had been offering blessings at the temple the previous day, the surrounding area was a bit of a mess, with trash all over the place.

The hike took just over four hours, undoubtedly slowed by Stephen’s picture taking. It rained a bit when Stephen stopped to take a panorama of the vallery, but it didn’t last long. It was a beautiful hike. I seemed to be just about back to 100 percent, so I didn’t have any trouble with it.

Young girl with grandmother at Gante Goemba, Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan

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Terraced rice paddies and farmhouses, Punakha, Bhutan

Much of the hike was through rice paddies, which I unexpectedly thought were beautiful. We got to see the rice being harvested. When we got to the temple, I rested a bit while Stephen took pictures. Then we headed inside. At each of the temples we visited, if you made a small donation, they would pour some holy water in your hand to drink. It might have been more like oil – I’m not sure. It has special herbal ingredients in it. Usually after the holy water, you are done. But at this temple, they also bless you. The monk handling the holy water and the blessing was about eight years old I would guess. When you are blessed, you bow so that you may be touched on the head with the holy objects. In this case, the holy objects were an archer’s bow and a large wooden phallus. It was kind of disconcerting to see this little kid approaching with this phallus, but that is just an American cultural difference. It is a honor to receive a blessing, and I treated it as such.

Pema said that kids usually enter the monastery between the ages of five and seven. It used to be compulsory for families to send at least one son, but that is no longer the case. Now it is the family’s choice and most choose not to send a child to join the monastic body. Pema calls the youngest monks the “mini monks” which I loved. It is hard to imagine having a family and being sent to be raised as monk nearly your entire life. They seem so young to be living the monastic life.

Wangdue Dzong and Punak Tsang Chhu River, Bhutan.

After visiting the dzong, we ate lunch, then had a chance to wander around the town a bit. I was looking for a baseball cap for my brother because I bring him a cap from every place we visit, but all the caps for sale in the town had logos like Reebok and Adiddas. When looking in one store, the daughter of the owner wanted to talk to us and ask us questions. Her English was quite good, and she was obviously very bright. I’d guess she was about eight or nine years old. She was fascinated by my watch because it has two faces. I told her “one for home and one for here”. Honestly, it is the most wonderful watch for travel. As we walked back down toward the car, two Indian guys walked up to us and very much wanted to speak with us in English. They were holding hands, which is not unusual in Bhutan, although I don’t know about India. These gentlemen were Hindu. We chatted a bit about where we were from and they wanted to know what sights we would be visiting. Interestingly, one of them asked us if this was the first time we had visited India. India has been a strong partner to Bhutan, but I found it very interesting that he either misspoke or considers Bhutan as part of India. Bhutan is very much an independent country.

Young Buddhist monks, Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan

We took a quick walk down to the Crane Information Center, but we found that the Black-Necked Cranes had not yet returned to Phobjikha for the winter.

At dinner, we met three French ladies and sat with them for dinner. I could really tell I hadn’t had a French class in 14 years. I caught a little of what they were saying, but one of them spoke English, so she translated for everyone. We had a great conversation, and some tasty tofu curry, then headed to our room. With our stove, water bottles and blankets, we actually got a little too warm. The pillows were not great (Stephen’s was hard as rock and mine was flat), so it was hard to sleep, but we did manage to get a pretty good night’s sleep.

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Sculpture of goddess in a pavilion at Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten, Punakha Valley, Bhutan

After a bit of a rest, we were invited inside the temple. We climbed all the way to the roof and were rewarded with a wonderful 360 degree view of the area. When went back down, Stephen took lots of pictures of the puppies – they were so cute. Then we hike back down, which was a little rough due to slippery spots, but I remained more or less upright for the remainder of the hike.

Main tower and exterior walls of Punakha Dzong, Punakha, Bhutan

Young man taking aim with a compound bow during an archery competition, Punakha, Bhutan

I haven’t been talking too much about our meals here, because there just isn’t that much variance. After dinner, we watched a bit of Gladiator on tv and conked out.

Check out more of Stephen’s pictures of Bhutan.