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 Continue reading →
Saturday, November 21, 2015 in
Bhutan Travel Blog,
Travel
Via Nobding (with more phalluses) – I couldn’t make this up if I tried! Today was essentially a very long and somewhat boring drive, to the “alpine” bit of Bhutan. Although start and end are probably only 50km apart as Continue reading →
After a somewhat later start, we drive up a steep mountain road to Nalanda Monastery Institute, basically a training school for Buddhist monks, with several of the initiates only 6 years of age. It’s ironic that these boys are entering Continue reading →
Friday, November 20, 2015 in
Bhutan Travel Blog,
Travel
After a very meagre breakfast (breakfasts are getting steadily worse while the other meals may be improving slightly), we have a short drive and then start off by walking up to a temple which nestles on a hilltop below some Continue reading →
I’ve discovered that I’m tending to go to extremes with my lenses on this trip. The shot in the previous post used the 12-35mm at 12mm. This shot was taken down into the Punakha valley from above, using the 100-300mm Continue reading →
Wednesday, November 18, 2015 in
Bhutan Travel Blog,
Photography,
Travel
We leave Thimphu via a small mountain road which climbs rapidly our of the city towards the north-east. We are treated to great views of the Buddha, which although below the summit is brilliantly positioned and visible from all over Continue reading →
We’ve had another good day. We start at the National Memorial Chorten (a sort of shrine), which is very busy but I get some good shots of old ladies cleaning all the brass lamps, and then the brass lamps burning. Continue reading →
6am: I’ve just woken up and we have to repack and get out early, and there are no lights, so while I can see to type (and the Wifi is working, oddly), I can’t see a bloody thing otherwise. This Continue reading →
Sunday, November 15, 2015 in
Bhutan Travel Blog,
Travel
On Saturday we do a long loop drive via the Chelela Pass, which links the Paro Valley to the one which borders Tibet, and then back round the end of the valley. The pass is at 13,000 feet, and the Continue reading →