MEDITATION, ARTISANS, TEXTILES, AND A REALLY BIG BUDDAH

 MEDITATION, ARTISAN SCHOOL, AND A BHUDDA 

 



The morning started with a great breakfast with fellow travelers. Porridge for me.

I then did a walkabout the grounds of the hotel and found the Archery Range. I also found a stupa with a big prayer wheel. I did spin the prayer wheel so as to have a good start for the day.

 

Next we drove to a local temple where more prayers were spun offering our prayers.

We then entered the temple. One takes off their shoes and no photos are allowed. Here we sat before the Buddha of Compassion and learned about meditation. For some,  myself included, it was a very positive experience.

Then we went to the local artisan school where we saw students working on their various projects. There were classrooms on woodcarving, silver smithing, slate carving, embroidery and appliqué as well as painting. 



We did spend some time and money in the shop where our purchases contributed to the school. 



Next we were off to the Textile Museum. Here we learned about the dress and weaving styles of different parts of Bhutan. These intricate woven patterns are not made from any form of template or written pattern. They are created in the minds of the artisan. 



Then to a nice local restaurant for lunch. 



Then a drive to the Big Buddha. 



Atop a hill in Thimphu, the capital and largest city of Bhutan, is a massive, golden Buddha sitting atop a gilded meditation hall. But the monument holds an invisible secret: Unbeknownst to many people viewing the statue, they aren’t actually looking at one Buddha, they’re looking at 125,000 of them.

Inside of Thimphu’s 169 foot Buddha Dordenma statue, there are 125,000 miniature Buddhas encapsulated inside of its enlightened bronze chest, ranging from 8 to 12 inches tall. This means that in Thimphu, which has a population of around 100,000, there are more Buddhas than there are human beings.

Like the large Buddha, these thousands of miniature Buddhas are also gilded and made of bronze, a major reason that the statue cost almost $100 million to build when it was constructed in 2015 to honor the 60th birthday of Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth king of Bhutan.

The statue also fulfils two prophecies. The first, foreseen by yogi Sonam Sangpo, is that a Buddhist statue would be built in the region to “bestow blessings, peace, and happiness to the whole world.” In addition, the statue is said to have been mentioned by Guru Padmasambhava, widely referred to as the “second Buddha,” in the eighth century. This statue kills two birds with one stone by fulfilling both prophecies in glimmering fashion.

Again no pictures inside, but I did get some nice ones outside, with very difficult light. 



The group was the driven back to a handy craft emporium located next to the hotel. 



We decided to make the walk down the hill to see the one traffic control device in the country. (There are no stop lights in Bhutan) We found the smartly dressed officer with white gloves direction traffic. They did try a traffic light at one time and the people did not like it replacing the officer. Thus the officer remains. 



Back to the hotel where we will be dressing in local attire for an evening dinner party with local officials. I will wear the Goa and Lynn will wear the Kira.

Photos of us all dressed up tomorrow. I will say I am not a fan of these sort of dress up things, but here in Bhutan it is expected and welcomed as a respectful thing to do. 

Photo  Dump: 

Strays, Street Dogs abound, but they look healthy

Lunch

Hotel

Bhutan's Traffic control.
 

 

ON OUR WAY TO PARO, BHUTAN:

 ON OUR WAY TO PARO, BHUTAN: 

Up and at um, nice and early bags are packed and ready. Our meeting time was pushed back to 0430. Yet I am still up early. That is a good thing. 

I learned yesterday our flight will have a layover in Dhaka, Bangladesh. HOW KEWL IS THAT!

We enjoyed a relaxing breakfast. 

We then gathered our bags and made our way to the lobby. Then as a group we walked to the Terminal and proceeded to check in and used Fast Track to clear security and passport control. 

We had a few extra minutes during which we joined another couple and found a Priority Pass Lounge. We toasted the trip with a sparkling wine. 



Then we made our way to the gate where our expedition expert David Scott Silverberg gave us a great geological mini lecture about the terrain we would be flying over. We then boarded the plane.

 The flight to Dhaka was uneventful. In Dhaka we had to remain on the plane and wait for additional passengers to board. 

The flight to Paro, Bhutan started a bit bumpy. I used the compass app on my phone to track our altitude. Thus I knew when we started our approach.  

One of the aspects of this trip is the flight into Paro, Bhutan. It is the most challenging and difficult approaches  in the WORLD! There are just a handful of pilots qualified to make this approach. Sit back and watch this video. 



AVIATION GEEKS THIS IS A MUST WATCH: 

The MOST CHALLENGING approach on earth - Paro Runway 15

Here is a link for you. AMAZING


This was an amazing approach and having some knowledge of the pattern made it even more of an amazing experience.

 

 

After landing I sure enjoyed the cool mountain air and low humidity.

I was totally WOWED!!! by the terminal in Paro. The Bhutanese architecture and design made it the best airport I have ever been to in terms of peaceful calming . 

Baggage claim was also a joy.

 

 

 Our bags were gathered and we were off to our bus, which easily accommodated our whole group. 

It was a short ride to the center of Paro where we walked about for a short time before having lunch at a local restaurant. 

 

The meal was excellent, chicken, potatoes, asparagus, rice, Chili and cheese (a national dish), fresh squeezed watermelon juice, noodles and a mashed pumpkin. All was great. I really enjoyed the chili cheese and it was no where near as hot as I expected, it was rather mild. 



After lunch we were driven to a local Buddhist Temple where we received a blessing for our journey. We also lit a butter candle as we made a prayer. I had special prayer for a recently departed friend. 

Next to the Temple was a vegetable market. We enjoyed walking about taking photos and see what was offered. It was here we saw our first red rice. All the vegetables looked great and there was much color to be photographed.

 

 

Back to the bus and made the drive towards Thimphu.  We made a stop along the way to talk about the different stupas and some very interesting geology points of interest. 

 Pemako Thimphu our hotel for the next two nights.  After checking in we had a trip briefing explaining procedures and cultural courtesies. 

Then it was off to a local restaurant to have a meal with a gentleman who had served The King of Bhutan. Much was learned about the form of government and how the people of Bhutan describe happiness. 

Back  to the hotel for a briefing about tomorrow and get organized and get some laundry done.






THE WORLDS LARGEST MARKET

 AND SO THE JOURNEY CONTINUES AND BEGINS:

 

4/7/24 - Still in a semi recovery mode, we decided to make today a very early day. The reasoning is tomorrow (4/8) we we have a 0300 meeting time former departure flight to Paro, Bhutan.

Rough plan for the day is to have breakfast here at the hotel. Repack and consolidate our gear for the flight. Simply place some of our carry on items into checked luggage. So for me I will be carrying camera, batteries, and laptop, and a few other incidentals I.e. cables.

Then we will check in with our Expedition Leader as they have a desk set up in the hotel lobby. Can’t miss it with the big Nat Geo Flag. (Cue the Nat Geo Theme).

After that, we plan to take the train into Bangkok as a familiarization run. I think the heat and humidity will drive us back to the hotel pool today. 

Then we will crash early in anticipation of meeting our group and the flight to Paro.

The breakfast here at the Suvarnabhumi Airport Novotel is EXCELLENT!!!  So many choices, we lingered over small bites for a couple hours. Yes, they had pork steam buns. 



Back to the room and got our bags sorted and repacked. Now we are killing time awaiting 0800 when we check in with Nat Geo folks.

No one showed up at 0800 so we struck out headed to the  Chatuchak Market. No Worries. 

 

Our outbound journey was on the Airport Rail Link to the Makkasan stop where we then went to the MRT or blue line to the Chatuchak Park station. This journey cost about 55 BHT each. 

Airport Rail Link car

Sky Bridge walk way to the next station

MRT car

When one purchases a ticket you receive a token. You tap the token on a reader to enter the station platform. At your destination you deposit the token into a slot on the turn style, this open the gate for you to exit.  

This says it all
 



First off it is Asia HOT!!! From the Chatuchak Park Station it was a 100 meter walk to the entrance of the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Easy to find just follow all the people.

With over 200,000 people flocking into Chatuchak Market every weekend, the Bangkok Marketplace has become the World’s largest Weekend Market. The Market has over 15,000 stalls which are spread across 35 acres and 26 sections which range from Food, Art, Antiques, Fashion and much more.

 

Market views:

Ties in Thailand :)

We have observed this sort of utilities lines all over Asia.
 

Here is a bit of history on the market: 

Field Marshal Plaek Pibunsongkhram was the third Prime Minister of Thailand who first came into office in December 1938. During his tenure, he decided that every town must have a flea market of their own to make it easier for locals to trade and boost the local economy. Bangkok was high on his agenda, so it was declared that a flea market would open up in Sanam Luang, which would become the city’s first market in 1942.

In 1982, the market was moved as a permanent feature to Chatuchak. Five years later, the iconic Clocktower was built to celebrate King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 60th birthday and the market was finally renamed, Chatuchak Market.


This market has everything one could want. After rambling around bit Lynn found a belt for 200BHT (down a bit after some haggling).  A  fresh mango smoothy was procured as well as a bottle of much needed water. (70BHT) 



Dripping in sweat from the heat and humidity we decided to make our way back to the hotel. 



This time we took the BTS Sky Train to the Phaya Thai Station. From there the airport rail link back to the airport. 



Magic Point Food Court,

Then to another food vender for steam buns:

 The floor cleaning robot is so much cuter than the ones we have at Sam's Club

Lunch time was had at the Magic Point Food court for a Vietnamese sandwich. Then upstairs for steam buns and a cold beer. 

Back to the hotel to find the Nat Geo desk empty :) as it was lunch time. Will try later. 



Back in the room a bit of laundry was done and hydration continued.

A little after 1300 we noticed the Nat Geo desk was manned. We met our Expedition Leader Kesang Dorji. We got our logistic information updated and the best news was we get a later departure time of 0430. 



Back to the room for the final preparing for tomorrow was completed. 

See ya all tomorrow when our journey to Bhutan continues. We did learn our group size will be just 12 in the group. NICE!!!








DENVER TO BANGKOK

 Denver to Bangkok:

Early morn and off to Parking Spot, shuttle in and Clear through security and the to the UAL Club. Our first flight was to Seattle (SEA) and it was about 3 hours long. After landing we went to the United Club Room.

The layover in SEA was rather long and we needed to change terminals for the next flight.  After making our way to the S terminal, we went to another club room. At the proper time we located the gate for our next flight and had a short wait till we boarded. 



This flight was from SEA to Haneda Tokyo Japan and was a bit over 10 hours. This was an ANA flight which code shares with UAL. We found the service on ANA to be very nice and the meals good. 



We knew we had a 5 hour layover and upon arrival we learned our final flight would require us to change terminals. Due to our arrival time, the transition to the other terminal took about 45 min due to the wait for the shuttle bus.

Once we made it to Terminal two, we found the ANA lounge. This lounge is a WOW! The food and drink options were plentiful and all excellent. I had a chicken curry and  several pork steam buns. 



The next flight was to Bangkok, Thailand, and was about 6 hours in duration. Again the service and food on the flight were very nice. 



All in all our flights went smoothly. 



In Bangkok we were greeted with a blast of hot humid air as we walked the jetway. Immigration was a snap, and I missed the express lane for Seniors LOL.  We then gathered our bags and made our way to door #4 where there was a desk for the Novotel Airport Hotel. Here is where we will stay for the next two nights. The gentleman at the desk called for the courtesy shuttle and soon we were at the hotel. Mind you it is about 0430 in the morning.

 

Lucky we were to get a room which was ready at this early hour. We went to the room and did some unpacking, laundry, and tried to rest a bit.  

At about 0900 we got ourselves together for a recon of the hotel property and found the underground tunnel which leads to the airport. There are plenty of ATM’s available and we got some local currency. 



The tunnel which goes from the hotel to the airport is rather convenient. Approaching the terminal you come upon the light rail which will take you into the city where connections can be made to other metro services. There are ticket machines as well as ticket offices. The fare to the end of the line is 45BHT or just a bit over a US dollar. 



In the terminal we were looking for food options for our next couple of days. On level 1 we found the Magic Food Court. Our research told us this was the best priced street food at the airport. Here there are several vendors, selling all sorts of Asian food.

To pay for your food at the Magic Food Court, you purchase a card from a desk at the entrance, choose the amount you want on the card, make you food choice from any vendor, present your card for payment, as easy as that. 



A full plentiful meal was about 200BHT or about $5 US.  As we are so messed up time wise we grabbed a tuna sandwich and a water. 



Then we made our way up to level 3 of the airport terminal to see what shops and other food offerings were available. 

We soon found a location selling steam buns and I could not pass it by. A couple of pork steam buns and a couple of custard steam buns cost us 200BHT ($5). They were great, and I will probably have to return. 



Next was a quick stop at 7-11 for some chips to replace the salt I am loosing as the humidity and temp are making me sweat.

 

Sleep is calling and we return to the room tired and decided to try and sleep a bit.

Sleep a bit we did. Then back to the Magic Point Food Court. We got some fried pork, which came with rice and a cucumber. There were several sauces available and we got a sampling of sweet and sour, a chili sauce, and a brown sauce that had a molasses flavor. This was a good meal for 80 BHT. Then we got some mango sticky rice and pastries for later. Then a nice small ice cream cone. We spent about 250 BHT or $6.85 for two plentiful meals. 


Back to the room to hydrate and clean up and get stuff together for tomorrow. 

Tomorrow we check in with Nat Geo here at this hotel. After that we will take the train into the city for a bit of exploration. That is until the heat and humidity make us flee for AC.

Currently the plan is to crash early as the day we fly to Bhutan we will have a meet up in the lobby at 0330. 
   

 

Our Room:

Hotel Lobby:

Magic Food Point:

Hotel Pool





Where the heck is Bhutan? YES WE ARE GOING THERE

 YES WE ARE GOING TO BHUTAN!

 

 

Many have asked were our next journey will take and I answer Bhutan. I oft get a puzzled look and am asked "where is that".

Bhutan is located in the area where Tibet, Nepal and India meet. 

 A Buddhist kingdom on the Himalayas’ eastern edge, is known for its monasteries, fortresses (or dzongs) and dramatic landscapes that range from subtropical plains to steep mountains and valleys. In the High Himalayas, peaks such as 7,326m Jomolhari are popular trekking destinations. Paro Taktsang monastery (also known as Tiger’s Nest) clings to cliffs above the forested Paro Valley. 

In the early 1980 I was introduced to Bhutan via a presentation by a Bhutanese Police Officer who gave a presentation about his country to our Peace Officers Association. I then knew I must visit this country for many reasons.

To get there we will fly from Denver to Seattle to Tokyo to Bangkok. In Bangkok we will meet our National Geographic group. Currently one must travel with a group to visit Bhutan. I believe this is the first Nat Geo trip to Bhutan.

From Bangkok we will fly to Paro, Bhutan. The airport in Paro is listed as one of the most dangerous airports in the world. There are only a handful of pilots qualified to land there. My research indicates there are 20-28 qualified pilots. Here is the approach chart. 

Bhutan is a majority Buddhist Country. We were exposed to Buddhism on our trip to Tibet. The tenants of Buddhism make sense to me. I will suggest if one wants to learn more the book "Buddhism For Dummies".

The wealth of the country is measured by their Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH). An in-depth survey is administered every 5 years to measure the GDH. 

There are no traffic lights in Bhutan. 

The national sport is archery, where a good target hit is celebrated with dance and song. 

Looking forward to butter tea and momo's (steam buns), red rice and chilies are incorporated into all meals.

The country has a negative carbon impact, and is covered by 70% forests. Their laws dictate it must not drop below 60%. 

We will admire the architecture of the dzongs.

I hope we will see some Black Necked Cranes.

I have this feeling I will be very moved by the spirit of the people of Bhutan. I am ready to learn and experience it all.

So hang on and get ready to follow along.