My travelling adventures...

Just waiting for the taxi to take us on the 2hr drive (only about 30km away) to the airport for our near mid-night flight. Actually stopping off at the Forum Mall along the way to grab some dinner, and do a bit of last-minute window shopping... Had a good day today wandering around... Got up early to go to the Hoogley Ghats to see people do their offerings - think we missed most of them as there were only a couple, the rest of the multitudes were bathing in the muddy brown smelly water. Saw a dead cow and a number of puja statue offerings on the banks. Went onto to visit a temple that is made up of a number of mixed religions temples so was quite interesting and then caught the ferry down the Hoogley - not quite a city cat experience. The first part was ok, went under the worlds busiest bridge, saw some more sudsing up and swimming... Then had to switch ferries and trying to get off was tricky with everyone was pushing and shoving - in both directions as lots of people trying to get on as well as off. The next ferry turned up and that wasn't pleasant - loads - I mean 100s of people pushing you ahead so that they could make it on and you just got carried along - was a tad scary - not sure what happens if someone falls. So there I was in the middle of all these smelly Indian armpits not exactly sure that we were on the right ferry but at least it was getting us to the right side of the river. I definitely prefer rural India... From there got a taxi back to the hotel to have a nap before the journey home. Images that will stay with me from this trip - the big, and unfortunately rare, grin of Roshin, our quiet driver in Bhutan - the yak herder from our trek in Bhutan peering at us as she did the milking - the beautiful scenery on the owl trek - the monks running between flaming haystacks, rubbing their bald heads once they distanced themselves from the fire to alleviate the burn - the white beacon of Everest at sunrise from Tiger Hill - the numerous fireworks lighting the sky in Shillong - on the road to Sibsigar a man being pulled along on his horse-driven cart, fast asleep - a goat inside a corner shop, gazing up at the counter seeming to be waiting to be served in jorhat - the Asiatic rhinos!!! Well this is the last namaste from India (for this trip anyway)!

It is now nearing the end of the holiday... :( have had 2 days in kolkata which have been good- managed to get some street popcorn and today (Sunday) saw a few funeral processions - one was a man on a bamboo stretcher been bounced along as 6 men carried him as they ran thru the streets chanting... Another was driven by in a fancy white car covered by muslin... Did a bit of sight-seeing today, including one of the world's largest planetariums. It was an interesting show with the lady giving the talk insisting on absolute silence - which was a big ask considering how many school children were there. It is definitely a popular attraction with people clapping before and after the show. Saw mother Teresa's grave, and went to the colonial graves in park st cemetary. Getting up early to visit the Hoogley Ghats and the morning offerings, then Eden Park (cricket ground) and some temples, and perhaps a bit more shopping and eating sweets... :)

Sibsigar was pretty good.... The place we stayed was fairly ordinary but it was a nice to wander around. Went to the lake, or man made tank as it us called in the guide book. Next to it was the tallest shiva temple in India at 33m. Went inside which was an experience w the little orange men all outside and was very humid inside. Had a bicycle rickshaw ride after dinner back to the hotel. The next day we had our taxi man pick us up who had been arranged by an owner of a shop that we went into the night before and who liked tourists so went around asking how much they charged. The sibsigar airport was interesting - it was in an army complea so was guarded by an army man out the front gate and you had to walk down the driveway to the terminal. So now in kolkata - we went to south city mall last night for dinner as that us what our guesthouse recommended?! The shopping was good tho. Today wandered around and checked out a few markets, got hassled to go into shops and became a regular on the metro... All pretty good. Doing more of the tourist thing tomorro and checking out the sites...

Well... Shillong - was great - was good to spend a few days in one place... Went to Persula and saw Asi's cleanest town (it was like an english garden with lots of little huts), walked across an awesome living root bridge (over a river that was pretty low at the time but was pretty cool to see what you can make trees do!) and went to the Bangladesh border where we saw loads of men diving to quarry stone. The next day was Cherranpungee - and we were accompanied by our driver (who we had for 3 days) and his 9yo daughter - Poona who was lovely and took us by the hand and lead us to the waterfalls, scrambled thru the caves with us (was awesoe fun that - ladies all dressed up in saris and heels were rock scrambling in the cave with us), and then we went to the park where we went on a merry-go-round, played on the swings and seesaw with her too - lovely day :) The next day was the long 7hr drive to Kaziranga NP. Was fairly scenic tho once we got past the long chain of trucks to Guwahati. The place we stayed - Jupuri Ghar - was a nice little cottage. Our first safari was the eastern range where we felt unbelievably lucky seeing 4 rhinos - and one (which i didn't see) was just about to cross the road so was literally 2m away from it)... The western range, we did in the afternoon, and for which we had such high hopes - didnt meet our expectations after the success of the morning. All the rhinos were ages away, grazing on the lake bank opposite us. The next morning was an elephant safari - which was great fun - had a lovey elephant, comfy seats, going thru grass that was the same height as us (on the elephant), sloshing thru mud, and spotting a couple of rhino fairly close. We went to the western range again that afternoon and it was fantastic... Saw over 20 rhino - some pretty close - and one especially close so got some great pics! While people had spotted a tiger the day before, it is apparently very rare... there are a few monkeys, wild boar, deer, and birds i the park... (so pretty much the rhino is the draw card). Had a good last meal at our cottage establishment and today we drove the 4hrs to Sibsigar... Haven't really gotten into it yet... And tomorrow flying to Kolkata to check out the city with the guiness book of records for the worlds most sweet shops!! :) - a town like that can't be bad! Anyway time to check out this town...

Getting to pelling wasn't as lovely as planned -the scenery along the way.. And we had plenty of time to take it in as the driver was going a bit slow... And the roads were windy. Then he wanted to take us to his friends place -when we weren't impressed he wasn't as chirpy. We ended up in a pretty good hotel with fantastic views of the Himalayas -when they decided to emerge from the clouds -which was mainly on our last morning there. Spent 2 relaxing days in pelling just doing Short walks to local monestaries and ruins of ancient capital of sikkim. It poured with rain each afternoon and there were blackouts, so just sat in bed and read. The drive back to the airport on the third morning required an early start to make the 2pm flight to guwahati. The driver tried telling us we had to go the long way due to a landslide closing the road which was going to cost us the fare again. After a lot of argument we said if it was the long way, we would pay extra. However we went the original planned way and it took only 5hrs. Seemed too have a bit of trouble in sikkim with taxi drivers trying too take advantage. The flight went well -altho my backsock went on a different one and ended in kolkata - hopefully it will arrive at our lovely hotel - Eee Cee hotel in shillong, this afternoon. The staff are really good, hassling the airline for me etc :) oFf to check out the local markets and then do tour to Cherapunjee waterfalls tomorro.... Later!

Hello!. Well we went to the zoo - i got to see a snow leopard, a panther, a red panda (!!) and a slow lorris (so cute!). Was pretty good zoo - with a lot of animals in big open areas, but you still felt bad for them... Like the slow lorris - they were putting new trees in his cage and woke him up so he started screaming - it was awful - altho he everntually climbed on the new branch, and curled in a ball and went back to sleep. This morning we got up very early to see an 'amazing sunrise' over the himalayas... hmm it was ok as sunrises go - ok was pretty cool watching  a red sun come up and light up the himalyas and everyone cheering... and Everest lit up like a little bright white beacon in the distance...

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Well there were no aches or pains after the walk up to tigers nest - perhaps that is partially attributable to the hot stone bath which is meant to have healing properties. They put hot stones from a fire into a separate little compartment of the wooden bath tub to warm the water and act like a sauna. They added mint so it felt a bit like you were getting marinated but it smelt good! Tigers nest was as amazing as it looked in the photos clinging to the middle of the cliff -you look at it and wonder how you manage to get there - ends up being some steep stairs down and then up -with some handrails, so isn't too scary at all. The guides all walk in their goas as they are required to be wearing them in order to go into the temple. Had a pretty good meal at the homestay and the house was over 300yrs old -so was like a museum! The next day we were up early as had a long drive to phuentsholing -the border town. The drive, albeit windy with lots of 'land slips' and 'shooting stones', was quite scenic with huge mountains looming all around us. The border town was one huge sprawl with bizarrely no clear delineation between Bhutan and India. We stayed in the car while Pema got our exit stamps in our passports. We ended up going back into Bhutan for our taxi to get petrol with only Bhutan checking our visas. So now in India where the car horns are beeping more impatiently (in Bhutan its more of a 'excuse me, i'd liken to pass soon' as opposed to an 'I'm coming thru now, watch out!' in India). Also in Bhutan there was no road kill (they actually don't kill anything in Bhutan -all meat is sourced from India), there was very little rubbish laying on the streets, and there were more red stained mouths from chewing beetle nut (apparently bhutanese used to be cannibals which chewing the nut is said to replace as the nut represents the bones, the leaf its wrapped in is the flesh, and the red juice represents blood). Bhutan also felt a lot more honest and safe... Having said that we were told 'night hunting' occurs in eastern Bhutan -where bhutanese boys climb into girls windows at night to 'stay'... Once we were driving along the bumpy 1.5 lane 'highway' in India passing tea plantations, bicycles, colourful clothes and loads of jungle green, it felt like I was putting on a comfy pair of pjs :) The 4hr drive from the border to kurseong took a bit longer due to the driver fixing his tyre, stopping and having a bite to eat and then the road closures... We'd heard about the earthquake but figured all was ok since the Indian rail website didn't say anything about the train not going in the area etc. So we hit the first road closure due to landslide caused by the earthquake and got turned around and told to go up another way on this rough little one lane road, which was all fine and interesting passing thru little villages with their little shack shops lining the road. Then in one steep part the car (a little Suzuki van) ran out of puff and stalled. So the drivers friend got out to push, we also got let out but before we had a chance to do much 2 others joined the push and the car was up the hill... Onwards and upwards for supposedly half hour til kurseong... We passed a brown dog that had been crossed with a damaltion as it looked like a leopard! until another road block and having to backtrack another 5-10mins to another little turnoff. By this stage we were getting worried kurseong would be a ghost town if it was that much hassle to reach, let alone not being able to get out of there. The road got steeper and windy-er... The van stalled another 2 times and had to get out and push (well ok perhaps I didn't push much in my flip flops and long skirt)... It started getting dark... and a bit scary... The driver started gunning the van around the sharp corners that were adjacent to sheer dropoffs in order to make it up the next incline, which was made a bit more petrifying due to the darkness - I was starting to think we wouldn't make it up. But eventually we did. Phew. However when we finally made it to the hotel -the only one mentioned in the lonely planet which happened to be about 2km out of town-we were told they only accept Indian currency -of which we had none due to atm issues. So 2 teen boys lumbered in the van with us back into town, showed us where an atm was and guided the driver back to the first hotel we spotted in town. The driver and his friend got a big tip -the rest of our bhutanese money as they can use it in the border town from where they came. We certainly didn't envy them going back down, esp in the dark. The 2 boys that assisted us proceeded to follow us up into our room looking for a tip -neither the driver or us had any small Indian currency and bhutanese money isn't much use to them as no exchange places. They went away eventually. Had a good dinner at the hotel and then a walk up the street - pretty sure we're the only gringos here. The hotel is pretty good -paid for a late check out and a room with great views back down the mountain. It is a very Indian place -main st with lots of 'corner shops', but fantastic views. Found out the train is still running to darjeeling - just reduced services so is going a bit later than planned, but am so pleased don't have to go back the way we came... The toy train was great -in a fancy paisley carriage with the other gringos that had arrived that day. The trip up was good, altho unfortunately a dog was killed along the way and had to be yanked out from under the wheels. We arrived in darjeeling about 6 last night and got a share taxi up to the 'mall' pedestrian only street. Wandered around and found a decent enough hotel to stay. Wandered around the mall a bit, then had an early night. Today we woke with gorgeous views of the Himalayas -meant to be able to see Everest from here -not sure if can see it tho... Off to the zoo and a few view points, and then probably heading to sikkim region tomorro if it hasn't been too affected by the earthquake..that's all for now. Namaste

Hello! Figured while had free internet might as well give an update... Went to the takin reserve this morning... The golden takin has the head of a goat and the body of a cow... with a sloped back and a lopey walk... and it is very cute. It was said to be created by the Divine Madman -a bhutanese saint - as a display of his powers. Despite the signs to stay away from the fence and not to feed the animals, Pema collected some grass for the takins and we got to feed and pat one of them :) Another was snoozing out in the sun - so cute! From there we went to a few view spots, saw the folk museum that showed how houses were traditionally built, went to the handicraft school to see woodcarving, weaving, painting etc, then souvenir shopping, lunch and then went to the world's biggest Buddha statue that sits on a mountain overlooking thimpu, which is still getting its finishing touches of having a temple built underneath to fit 1000monks... It has been mainly funded by 2 people from Singapore. From there we drove to Paro where we went to the bank to see if they had my lost visa card... and hip hip hooray they did!!!! (I had left it in the airport atm...) Staying at an awesome place tonight overlooking the river and valley in our own little cottage! After dinner tonite Pema was going to take us to the local karaoke bar to mingle w the locals, however he remembered that its Tuesday -which is no alcohol day throughout Bhutan so no nightspots open. 2omorro we are starting early to climb up to tigers nest tomorrow, hot stone bath at the homestay tomorrow night and then the long drive to India the following day... Oh and a chunk of one of my back teeth just fell out as I was chewing some gum :( thinking of encasing it in crystal but not sure it'd become as much of an attraction as Buddha's tooth... So next time I write i'll be in India!!!

We have arrived back in thimpu after what feels like ages ago.... Think its only been ~5 days tho. Very different now without the festival -not as busy and more relaxed feel -wandered around the main street this afternoon -which is only a few blocks from our fancy hotel... Anyway back to bumthang... Did dinner at farmhouse which was fun. Another couple were there and we had a sing-a-long with another guide that was there. It proved to us that we have been getting typical bhutanese food. While they mainly eat chilli w cheese sauce, we also get potato w cheese, mixed veg either stirfried or in a sauce, spinach and fern... They aren't big on desserts tho -and there is no such thing as bhutanese chocolate. The 3 day owl trek, altho hard-going, was fantastic. Walked up to a little village where the school had just got let out and music was blaring on speakers in celebration of the royal wedding. 2 boys were dancing away which we thought was hilarious -as did most of the school. Then we went up, up, up... And met up with the family of horses and mules responsible for carrying out luggage, food and camping gear. We had to rock-hop across little steams, trample thru mud and climb steadily up to the first pass where we camped for the night. And I did get to hear owls -at 3am but wasn't getting much sleep anyway... The owls were very cool tho. The next day was further up -to 4000m but had some great views. Unfortunately the weather closed in on us - but we were cozy in the tent by the time it started pouring. Visited a yak-herder on the way down the mountain as well as a remote temple... The walk down was worse than up-walking amongst the clouds on very steep mountain side.... But was all worth it. The following day drove onto gangtey -a place that has only recently got electricity as it is a black crane roosting habitat area which they are trying to protect -solar and underground power is used to help minimise disturbance. Went for a nature walk through the village, forest and across the marshlands. We stayed at a 'new hotel' -think that is a generous description as it wasn't finished yet -no kitchen so our meals were delivered from another hotel (meals are always buffet style) and no room for guides or the drivers. Lots of moths tho... And we did get hot water bottles and great views over the valley. Visited an old fortress on the 5 hour drive back to thimpu. The roads here are super windy -someone said there is a corner at least every 9 seconds -dont think they were far wrong. Off to the takin reserve tomorro and possibly an archery lesson. The day after is going to tigers nest -900m above the valley. Hopefully my legs will have recovered from the trek before then otherwise it will be a very slow climb... Anyway nearly bed time! Night!

Greetings from the land of the Thunder Dragon!Back to the beginning of the journey – arrived in Kolkata about 11pm and got a taxi to the hotel – which was about 20mins drive away – saw lots of dogs roaming the streets, strings of lights beading down from the rooftops and not too many people about… The hotel was lovely – but then we paid for that luxury I suppose (one of the most $ hotels I have paid to stay at). Breakfast was delicious  -loads of different curries and some sweets!The flight onto Paro (Bhtan) the next day was great – about 60 seater plane – got to see Everest peaking out above the clouds.We arrived in Bhutan about 3pm and were greeting by the guide – Pema. We got to see the end of a festival in Thimpu with people lined up for miles, snaking around the temple for a blessing. In the main square of the temple there were dancers doing their thing. After that we wandered around the town – kind of like a more controlled Kathmandu – sort of anyway – there were lots of street sellers but apparently that was only because of the festival so it will be interesting ot see the difference on the way back. Found out a bit about Bhutan – like the King installed traffic lights in Thimpu about 6 years ago. However there were lots of accidents so they were removed, and the original traffic policemen were reinstated in the middle of the little roundabouts throughout the city. Bhutan also boasts the highest unclimbed peak  (at about 7650m)– which will remained forever unclimbed as they no longer allow mountaineering (they saw what happened to Everest) and the old religion believed that the mountains were gods – so it is also a sign of respect. We are now in Bumthang – where we saw the fire festival. It starts off with dancing… and then they lights two big haystacks that are about 1m apart and people run through them to be ‘cleaned’ and purge their sins (it is also meant to extend your life 1 yr). It was very impressive (and extremely brave)… Loads of people rush through – you have got to be careful when you go to make sure you don’t fall and get trampled (a couple of people did but luckily they had others to quickly help them up). People run through with their children on their shoulders, old grandmas and grandpas go through also… Pema (the guide) ran thru 3 times, and I went thru once when the flames had died down a significant amount.. We had lunch among marijuana plants and then watched a bit more dancing (and people) before heading back along the bumpy road to the hotel.We have been sightseeing around Bumthang today – seeing temples, monastries and fortresses.All the hotels seem to be a bit out of the city so you feel like you are getting quarantined. The hotels have been pretty good so far –pretty roomy, very clean, hot water. It is pretty much an all inclusive deal where you have all your meals at the hotel as well (have told the guide we’d prefer to eat out with the locals where possible)… The hotel in Bumthang has had fairly ordinary food – so we managed to have lunch at a different hotel which was much yummier. It is mostly veg and curry with cheese sauce and lots of chilli.Off to do the 3day trek tomorrow.Tashi delek