Giveaway: Fine Art Print of the Winner’s Choice from Bay Images

October 12, 2009

To introduce more people to Bay Leaves, I am having a giveaway. One lucky reader will receive a free 10×15 inch fine art print from my husband’s travel and nature photography website Bay Images. It has a retail value of $100, and I will pay for shipping. Here’s all you have to do to enter: [...]

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My Travel Playlist

October 11, 2009

Since the launch of iTunes, I have permanently set my radio dial to NPR and turned to browsing the internet to find new music. My iPod is overflowing with tunes to listen to on long flights (not to mention episodes of This American Life – the best radio show ever). Here’s a small selection of [...]

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Review: Village Tours & Treks, Bhutan

October 11, 2009

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 [...]

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Bhutan 2009 Day Eleven – Paro to Bangkok

October 9, 2009

I woke up at about 5:00 am to the sound of rain falling, and I wanted to cry. If we can’t get out of Paro today, we’ll have to deal with changing our hotel, changing our United Flights, notifying our car service picking us up at SFO and letting the dog sitter know we’ll need [...]

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Bhutan 2009 Day Ten – Taktsang Monastery – Tiger’s Nest

October 8, 2009

When we woke up this morning, it was still raining. At breakfast, we sat with an older couple from London that we met the evening before at dinner. They were also hoping to hike to Tiger’s Nest today. By the time breakfast was over, the rain had stopped. We went ahead and got ready for [...]

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Bhutan 2009 Day Nine – Paro Dzong, National Museum, Drukgyel ruins

October 7, 2009

It rained all last night, and this morning it was still raining. Our first stop was the ruins of Drukgyel Dzong. The rain was fairly light so we were able to walk around the ruins. The dzong was built in 1649, but destroyed by fire in 1951. They plan to renovate it, but that would [...]

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Bhutan 2009 Day Eight – Wangdue to Paro

October 6, 2009

We left at 8:30 this morning to drive back to Paro. Pema had a plan to break up the drive a bit so that I wouldn’t get carsick. Our first stop was at Dochu La Pass, about one and a half hours after we left Wangdue. I walked around a bit, not really nauseated, but [...]

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Bhutan 2009 Day Seven – Phobjikha to Wangdue

October 5, 2009

We had breakfast with the French ladies today, and had an interesting conversation regarding religion, including Mormonism and Scientology. 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 [...]

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Bhutan 2009 Day Six – Punakha to Wangdue to Phobjikha

October 4, 2009

This morning we hiked to Chimi Lhakhang,the Temple of the Divine Madman. Lama Drukpa Kinley was a spiritual master who had a unique method of teaching to the people. He believed that the monastic body was too strict, therefore separating the common people from Buddhism. His goal was to loosen people up to bring them [...]

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Bhutan 2009 Day Five – Khamsum Chorten, Punakha Dzong and Archery Competition

October 3, 2009

This morning we hiked to Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten. It was about a 45 minute uphill hike. The first part was through some rice paddies, which were surprisingly beautiful. Although the hike was a little bit difficult for me with my cold, it was totally worth the hike. Once we reached the top, I sat [...]

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