Author Archives: Andrew

It’s become a bit of a tradition that on the last night of these trips I try and take a panoramic picture of the group, usually under lighting, compositional and alcohol level challenges which would try a saint!

I’m quite pleased with this year’s which was taken around a long, thin table with the Sony RX100.

Therefore, I proudly present the Light and Land 2015 Bhutan tour group. From left to right: Chorten (driver), Yishi (guide), Roger (Australian, but we won’t hold that against him), Annie, Charlotte (German, and the bus’s volunteer stewardess), John (AKA “Lord Blandford” 🙂 ), Liam (from Ireland), Yours Truly, Greg (another Aussie), Julia, Peter, Jeanette, Davina, Phil Malpas (co-leader) and Clive Minnitt (co-leader).

We have an early start to our return journey, bidding farewell to Bhutan in the dark. The flight back to Kathmandu is eventless, except for a slight argument about which mountain is Everest! Between somewhat poorer viewing conditions, an unfamiliar angle and a slightly ambiguous announcement by the captain we’re not sure which is which. I’m glad I got my shot on the way out.

In contrast to the rugby scrum of arrival at the start of the trip, we have Kathmandu airport almost to ourselves and formalities are discharged very quickly. The calm before the storm.

Kathmandu is a real shock to the system after the calm and emptiness of Bhutan. It’s a manic, buzzing place, and that’s in current depressed conditions. Not only are they are trying to recover from the earthquakes in April and May, they are also battling a blockade on the Indian border which is starving them of fuel and really depressing the economy. We see several long queues for petrol, and they have taken to riding on the roofs of buses, because there isn’t enough fuel to run all the normal services. There’s a pall of smoke over the city because they’ve had to start burning wood for heating and cooking after not normally doing so for years. The issue is an internal wrangle over the new constitution, which the Indian-facing group in the south think reduces their power, but it’s killing the country’s economy, blocking large amounts of foreign aid targeted at the earthquake victims, and could easily lead the Nepali government into alliance with China, extending that country’s influence south of the Himalayan backbone. None of this is good…

After a gentle morning in our hotel, we take a short guided tour after lunch. The tour takes in the holy area at the top of the hill where the main shrines are, but which is now also heavily populated with people trying to sell you handicrafts (think Montmarte, but times about 5). We then visit the squares in the centre of town where various old temple and palace buildings were very badly damaged in the earthquake.

Just a couple of months ago I read in National Geographic about the Nepali Hindu tradition of the "Kumari". Essentially this sect select a pretty young girl of about 6 and present her as a living deity, until the point where she enters puberty when she retires and another one takes over. We reach the House of the Kumari at the right time and are treated to a short view of regal-looking young lady looking down from an upstairs window. The NG article explained how it’s regarded as a great honour and selection is quite competitive, but the girls sometimes find it hard going returning to normal life in their teens. It’s a bit of a weird practice, but it was interesting to see something I’d only just read about.

Even in the current conditions Kathmandu is a noisy, manic and dusty place, and I’m not sure how I would cope at peak activity. I’m glad that having come here we’ve seen a bit of the city, but I wouldn’t want to spend much time here or hurry back.

To settle my knees at the end of the day I run myself a bath. The only slight problem is that what is otherwise a very posh hotel has distinctly yellow tap-water. Oh well – I’m not going to drink it!

Well I did it! This is Paro Taktsang, otherwise known as the Tiger’s Nest, a monastery founded in the 15th Century which sits on a cliff edge over 1000m above the floor of the Paro Valley. Apart from the obvious visual attractions, this particularly appealed to me as it’s one of the main inspirations for Ra’s Al Ghul’s lair in Batman Begins. I’ve stood where that was filmed (in Iceland, about 150′ above sea level and about 100 yards from the car park :)), and wanted to visit the "real thing".

The story is that the monk Padmasmabhava changed one of his concubines (yes, I know…) into a tigress and flew up to the top of the cliff, and after they had each meditated for three months they started building the first temple. All I can say is that a flying tigress would probably be easier…

The walk up to the Tiger’s Nest is hard work, but really worth it. Horses take you up about 400m, where there’s a convenient cafe at a viewpoint. You then have to walk up another 500m to the top viewpoint, down steps carved into the cliffside about 200m, across a tiny bridge and up the same again on the other side to reach the monastery. Going back is the reverse, so there’s another 200m ascent before you reach the high point for the last time. Think of doing Snowdon one and a half times, but starting at twice the height of Ben Nevis!

My knees hold up reasonably well, and afterwards, by the time I’ve walked all the way down (no help from the horses in that direction), our guides have organised another excellent al fresco meal under the pine trees. Very pleasant.

In the afternoon the only thing we’re good for is a bit of shopping in Paro town centre, and another visit to it’s nice little coffee and cake shop. The "last supper" is uproarious, and emphasises what a great group this has been. Up early in the morning for the flight back to Kathmandu.

Another fairly early start. I’m feeling a bit wobbly, as are some of the others, but we put this down to maybe a bit more beer than ideal last night, as a form of anaesthetic after the long drive.

We have another stop at the Drochula Pass, which is definitely one of my favourite locations of the trip. This time is in bright sunshine, and we were able to include Bhutan’s highest mountains into our compositions, rather than the swirling mists of the outward stop.

I’ve been a bit challenged on food today. Breakfast was a couple of pancakes with honey, and then lunch in Thimpu was a bit of a disappointment – very spicy and nothing I could eat apart from some more bread-like stuff (green…). Dinner at the Tiger’s Nest Resort is a bit more edible, even if the main protein is Tofu! The upside is my trousers are feeling quite loose, so hopefully the trip has had the right effect on  my weight!

We do the horse ride and hike to the Tiger’s Nest in the morning. Fingers crossed.

Typical roadside shot. Note the vehicle coming the other way… I’m full of admiration for our driver, Chorten, who has managed long drives in very difficult conditions, safely, accurately and as smoothly as the roads and vehicle allow!

These friendly fellas were just sitting on the roadside yesterday, part of a larger troupe, but this is one of the best shots. Apologies for the somewhat obvious maleness of the one on the left, but given the number of phallic references on this trip, it sort of fits… 🙂

Some of you will know that I have an unerring knack to home in on bread, wherever it is and in whatever form. I couldn’t possibly miss this shot!

We have a 4.30 start for the long drive back to Punakha. I grumble a bit but this turns out to be a good call and our misty and cold but unaccompanied drive to Tsonga completes in an hour less than in the other direction on Friday.

After coffee we get an hour to wander around the Tsonga Dzhong, and then back on the road. If anything the next stage of the journey is rougher than on the way down and we suspect that the bus may have lost a shock absorber, but we make good time, including photoshoot of a troupe of cooperative macaques sitting at the roadside. However it’s still almost 6 when we finally get to the hotel in Wangdue, Punakha. We arrive with the hotel in darkness, but power is restored quite quickly.

The rest of the drive after that was very tiring, and we’ve arrived at a hotel which has no desks in the rooms and almost no Wifi cover. However I get an excellent night’s sleep, probably aided by an extra Druk 11,000 (the local beer).

Well, Bhumtang may well be a land of breath-taking sweeping vistas and intriguing details, but my room overlooks the local timber yard, and it looks very cold out. I start the day with a bath.

The hotel is a triumph of style over substance, and over night I have discovered errors of design (fiddly lighting, bed corners which bark your shins if you brush against them) and execution (a very slippery bathroom floor, and nowhere to put the soap and shampoo). Some of these will probably be rectified as the hotel gets some serious use. Others will annoy future travellers for some time to come…

While it looks cold as the sun comes up, it’s clearly going to be another day of sunshine, cloudless skies and warmth at least in the sun. So much for needing the waterproof trousers in Bumthang.

First stop of the day is the local secondary school, where we are allowed to photograph the assembly and the students getting themselves sorted out for lessons and exams. It’s amusing how many behaviours are absolutely universal for children of a certain age. It’s also refreshing for a group of people all mid-fifties or older to be allowed to wander around a school taking photographs. At home we’d be arrested, but we’re not doing anything improper and that’s recognised, whereas at home paranoia sometimes trumps common sense.

After breakfast it’s back up the pass to a small village which specialises in weaving and textile crafts. We’re also invited into a couple of homes, and free to wander around photographing the farms and common buildings. I finally find some appropriate recipients for the contents of the "goody bag" which Frances prepared, and hand these out to much squeaking and hilarity. It’s very interesting how quickly one boy, aged I reckon 3 or 4, picks up the words "goody bag"!

After lunch a couple of us decide to walk into the centre of town, to see what makes it tick and photograph the shops. (The others decide to go and visit another couple of temples, but I’m getting a bit temple’d out.) As I observe, it has the feel of a very small town in the midwest of the USA, with a similar single main street and lots of small shops carrying a very wide range of goods, but Asian.

Tonight we’ve been invited to the birthday party of the hotel owner’s daughter, and then it’s an early start tomorrow for the long drive back to Punakha.