Farewell Bhutan

As I write this, I am in Bangkok... a city that I generally hate but have found somewhat refreshing after Bhutan, which I have decided is a beautiful country with great scenery and some awesome historical sites, but by and large is a kind of Stepford Wives country... something just isn't right about it. It seems very controlled, as if they are putting on a show for the handful of tourists who can afford to go there. I had read a bit about how friendly the Bhutanese people are, but by and large I found it to be the opposite... I'm not sure if it is resentment for us being there, or because we are living the uncontrolled lives that they are starting see in the media and online, where we can keep our passports and travel freely, choose our own jobs and not be compelled to walk around in 14th century outfits. (in Bhutan the police keep your passport and you can't have it back unless you have a good reason and pass a character test, your career is chosen for you and to enter public buildings without being fined you need to wear traditional clothes...) I met some British and American tourists on my travels, and the Americans agreed with my take on things... it just wasn't quite right. The British had a different take, but they had been trekking in more remote areas and may have come across villages where life is more authentic and less influenced by the west.

Over the last few days, we travelled as far east as we would go, to Bumthang which is the spiritual home of Buddhism in Bhutan. It was an interesting place, but really cold... The room I stayed in only had a wood heater, so once I went to bed the room cooled down considerably and getting out of bed was a struggle. Most people who live in Bumthang head further south or west to escape the cold. On the drive back we visted Gangtey where we did a horizontal walk (almost unheard of) to look at the rare black necked cranes. There were a stack of vultures around as well, which were far more interesting to look at!

We returned to Thimpu (a bit of a snore, but I met up with another tour group from Mountain Kingdoms who had heard about me as being the stranded traveller!) They were very nice, and I basically joined up with them for meals from then on in. It reminded me why I wanted to join a tour in the first place... they all seemed really nice and had had a good time. They were (supposed to be) leaving before me, but bad weather meant they were stuck in Bhutan an extra day, and then the following day there flight was delayed by at least six hours, close to the curfew and I'm not sure if they made it out on time.

On the final two days we went back to the starting point of Paro, where I visited the museum and the dzong (I am now dzonged out...). The following day I climbed up to Tigers Nest goemba, which was a walk of 600 metres in elevation, over about 5 km each way and up and down about 1200 steps. I was absolutely rooted by the time I reached the top, but it was well worth it. The place clings to a cliff top in the most unlikely of places... I'll put up some photos on Facebook. I was proud of myself for making it... and in fairly good time! The Crown Prince of Norway was apparently in town, and he turned back! That night was New Years Eve, and my hotel was miles from town so I was stuck with whomever was at the hotel... a couple of Japanese tourists and an Indian family. No luck there... anyway, I bought some local beer (Druk 11000 is actually pretty good, but 8%...) After a five hour hike at high elevation, and three bottles in quick succession I was absolutely stonkered, something I never do when I'm by myself. Oh well! I was so blotto that I staggered back to my room and was asleep by half past 10... Happy New Year! (The hour had passed back in Australia, so I kind of made it!)

The following day it was snowing... which sucked because the airport was closed and my flight was delayed by four hours. But the snow on the mountains once the cloud cleared was beautiful so it wasn't so bad... plus I ended up with a Business Class ticket and got to wait it out in the lounge. Thank god for only having a BC class seat left (and it only costing $100 more than a standard seat, so I could afford it...) The general seating area is crap, and apparently the Calcutta-bound passengers virtually rioted when they realised their scheduled plane was going off somewhere else first... They kicked up such a stink the airline relented and they were off first. Don't blame em... they were due to leave at 8 am and had been in the airport for about six hours already...

Off to Khao Lak tomorrow... a few days by the beach should be just the cure I need to get over this cold I have come down with!