Wee glimpse of Himalaya - Land of the Thunder Dragon

Yeah I know, I know. I have been neglecting my writing, again..From the photo below you can maybe guess what prompt my writing mojo today? The photo is from our 30-storey balcony. From here I can have a view all the way to Singapore. And the view is actually quite nice, even if it doesn’t really look like it on the photo. It is pouring rain right now and you can hardly see the Straight of Johor separating Malaysia and Singapore. Tomorrow we are heading up the coast towards Tioman Islands but for now, I am in Johor Bahru, stuck inside because of the rain and I am going to spend the time to continue telling you about our journey.

If we backpedal few months we will find our selves saying goodbye to Kathmandu and landing in Paro.

The beautiful scenery greets us immediately after stepping out from the plane. We step straight in to the runway which is surrounded by mountains and trees. The air smells fresh and I am feeling very grateful to be able to be here!

I also feel that I won’t be able to make justice to this beautiful country and our awesome guide, miss Tenzin. She made us feel welcome right away and told us captivating stories of her homeland. I am little bit ashamed how much of what she told us, I have already forgotten. She did a awesome job and still my brain works like a sieve and drops at least half of the things that are put there..Alas, nothing that can be done about it right now. So on we go.

Before settling in to our first accommodation, we had the opportunity to saw first sights. Between airport and Thimphu, there are Tachogang Lhakhand Bridge crossing the Paro Chhu River made of iron chains and Buddha Dordenma Statue. It rise above temple and is one of the largest seated Buddha statues in the world. It was made to celebrate 60th birthday of well loved fourth king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck and symbolizes peace, compassion and enlightenment.

We also had a opportunity for a little walk through Thimphu where our hotel was. The city was as peaceful as rest of the country and I enjoyed looking in to the stores we walked by. We also had a beautiful scenery from our window on our room and I enjoyed the well placed chairs seen on the photo.

We spent only one night here and right after breakfast headed for a drive. Even when the distances in here are not long, the roads are winding through mountains which takes time. The scenery from the window were breathtaking and made sitting on the car more enjoyable. On our way to Punakha we stopped on a Dochula Pass. It is located 3 100 meters above sea level and from there you are able to have a view towards Bhutan Himalayas. Probably the only un-climbed mountain range in the world. These mountains are deemed to be sacred and it is forbidden to climb them. That makes it a perfect place for the 108 stupas, Druk Wangyal Chortens, commissioned by the Queen Mother to remember all the soldiers who died defending their country against insurgent not so long ago.
Even if I don’t believe afterlife, this place felt serene and peaceful, good place for a remembrance.

From there we drove to our next stop, Punakha Dzong. Yet another peaceful place surrounded by beautiful nature. This Palace of Great Happiness is a fortress built in 17th century and here all the Bhutan’s kings are crowned. Right now the peace is kept by the rooster standing on the roof of the temple.

Thorough all our journey, today too, we had a lunch on the way and were definitely well fed. Food was good and there was plenty of it. Today it was set outside looking towards the river. Punakha has a two rivers, the male river Pho Chhu, and calmer female river, Mo Chhu.
Town of Punakha is known for white river rafting (on a male river whom have fast rapids) and it is easy to see why. The water in all the rivers I saw were so beautiful blue color and you can see that nature are respected here. You can see in all my photos how blue the sky is. I wish you could also smell how crisp the air smells like.

What all of the Bhutan is known for is Tiger’s Nest Monastery where we would be heading tomorrow. But after our road trip we got to check-in to our accommodation for the rest of our stay in Bhutan. Tiger’s Nest Camp. We get our own luxury tent to stay in, I loved it!

After good nights sleep, we were as ready as we could be to head up to the Tiger’s Nest. The Monastery is probably why most of the people choose Bhutan to visit. And I can’t deny being one of them.
The hike itself is not long, only 6,5 kilometers or so but what makes it challenging is the altitude. I am glad we already visited Lhasa so we knew little bit what to expect. Though, I have to admit that I rarely ever walk so slow!

The Monastery is on a cliff in 3 120 meters altitude and looks absolutely stunning! Its name comes from Guru Padmasambhava who flew on a tiger to the place Monastery is now. He introduced Buddhism to the region and the Monastery is still working place of worship.
As I mentioned before, our hike was slow, but even when we took all the breaks we needed, we were able to reach the Tiger’s Nest above average speed. Good us!

It was as spectacular as I imagined it would be and I was so happy I was able to do the hike! I was little bit scared that I would need to turn back, but even when I could feel the altitude it wasn’t too bad.
The weather was superb too, sunny but not too hot. In here, like in the rest of Bhutan the nature was clean, if not for the path and the Monastery itself, you couldn’t see the human presence here at all, perfect!

In here, I had one of the best experiences on this whole trip! As we were ready to start our climb back down, we encountered one of the monks who happened to be guy who had gone to school with our guide, miss Tenzin! He offered to make us tea and we accepted. We were offered a seat in kind of an living room which doubled as a guest room which king himself had stayed in!
Tea was nice and hot and we had a nice conversation too. You just can’t get memories like this if you stay at home!

As for memories right now, I think I will remember Johor Bahru for this rain. As you can see in a photo below, the weather is getting even worse! You can also see and hear the lightning too. Quite fitting weather to write about the Land of the Thunder Dragon! At least I was able to continue the blog of my adventures a little bit more even if I can't do the sightseeing I was planning to do here!