2017 Himalayas - Thailand Day 1: .... and End of the Road

Due to our late and indirect flight from Bhutan yesterday, our projected 3 hour flight to Bangkok yesterday morphed into nearly 8 hours and we had no time for the activities originally scheduled. We had only a few hours to sightsee in Bangkok today but it was SOOOO hot, I'm glad we were finished by lunchtime.

We visited Wat Pho, home of the chanting monks and a famous reclining Buddha. The grounds included a wonderful collection of Chinese stone sculptures that were used as ballast long ago in junks sent to Thailand to pick up jasmine rice. The ballast was traded for jasmine rice and left in Bangkok when the junks returned to China filled with their cargo. (The cobblestones paving Philadelphia's streets in Old City also arrived as ballast; I think Bangkok got the better deal.)

 

 

Monks gather to chant twice a day in the temple. You can watch the morning ritual, but must sit on the floor crosslegged. It is a position of respect, as the soles of the feet are then pointed towards oneself instead of at the monks or an image of the Buddha. (If you cannot sit that way, you must stand outside the temple door.)

 

 

A garden of colorful geometric stupas were outside the monks' temple. 

 

 

 

The reclining Buddha is 160 foot long with toes (still under construction) made of mother-of-pearl.

 

 

 

Lots of smaller Buddhas sat nearby,

 

while decorations on a nearby temple provided a tutorial of pressure points for the traditional Thai massage school that is in the Wat Pho temple complex.

 

A walk through the sweltering streets took us to the Grand Palace, a complex of buildings that has been home to the kings of Siam since 1782. Remember "The King & I"? That was Rama IV. The current king, Rama X, ascended after his father, the popular Rama IX, died last October after a reign of over 70 years. The country is still officially in mourning; he will be cremated next October. Meanwhile his body lies in the Grand Palace, while thousands of mourners dressed in black congregate outside the palace walls awaiting their turn to enter the palace tu pay their respects.

Also outside the palace, we passed a quartet of white horses which were being trained (probably for next October's funeral) to step at a very slow pace to the beat of a muffled drum. 

 

Within the Grand Palace complex are residential and government buildings, temples, stupas, pavilions, etc. 

The buildings are dazzlingly opulent and ornate. Stupas are in Cambodian, Thai, and Ceylonese styles. It's hard to take it all in.

 

 

 

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha (which is technically a chapel rather than a temple, as there are no residential quarters for monks) is home to one of the most revered Buddha images in Thailand. Its namesake Buddha is only about 26" high, beautifully made of jade and clothed in gold. 

 

From the Grand Palace we were taken to lunch. Usually beer is my go-to drink in a developing country. It's cold and tasty and safe to drink. Sometimes, as I learned at lunch today, it comes with an irresistible incentive. 

 

Back at the hotel. Elaine and I each had a two hour extremely thorough and somewhat painful massage from graduates of the Wat Pho massage school for an amazing $30 each, including tip. Despite all odds, I fell asleep during it.

And then it was time to head home. We joined our farewell dinner for about 20 minutes before catching a cab to the wonderfully named Suvarnabhumi airport. The rest of our group left a couple of hours later, traveling to L.A. by way of Beijing. We flew to Philadelphia via Frankfurt, truly circumnavigating the globe. My friend and former co-worker Tina picked us up in Frankfurt and took us to her home during our 6 hour layover, where we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast spread prepared by her husband. 

 

After traveling for 34 hours, we landed in Philadelphia. The hardest part of the return trip was finding Elaine's husband in the parking garage. Now, after laundry, we'll began the long process of synthesizing all of our experiences, memories and new friendships acquired during our amazing trip to the mountain kingdoms.

2017 Himalayas - Bhutan Day 6: Paro Watchtower, National Museum, transit to Bangkok

This morning we visited the National Museum of Bhutan, which is housed in a building just above Paro's c. 1649 watchtower fortress that was damaged in a 2011 earthquake. The 7-story watchtower, Ta Dzong, commands a strategic, defensive view above Paro's Rinpung Dzong. 

 

 

The bottom two levels of the watchtower are without windows, with only arrow slots for openings to the exterior.

 

The museum had a special exhibit of ceremonial masks used in traditional dances for specific feasts, as well as thangkas, sculptures and other pieces of Bhutanese art. There were also sections on ecology, geography, wildlife, botany, etc. Everything was well labeled in English as well as in Dzongkha (official language of Bhutan). No cameras allowed, so no photos.

Forecourt of the watchtower. Broken panels are still being repaired.

 

 

After lunch in town, we headed to the airport to wait for our 4 pm flight to Bangkok. The departure from Paro Airport was as thrilling as our landing. After a layover in Kolkata, we eventually landed in Bangkok around 10 pm. I was seated next to a couple of Buddhist monks who were in transit to Taiwan, one of whom knew a little English, enlivening the flight.

We were greeted at our Bangkok with light refreshments in the lobby. Everyone was ready to settle in asap as we have an early departure in they morning for a few hours of sightseeing.

2017 Himalayas - Bhutan Day 5: Tiger's Nest!

Today was the long-anticipated trek to Tiger's Nest, an ancient monastery perched impossibly on a sheer cliffside. Our briefing last night was a sobering reality check, focused on the hike's 2,200 ft altitude change to 10,400 ft and the 750 uneven stone steps at the end if the climb. After (surreptitiously) assessing our capabilities over the previous few days, Kinga predicted that only 3 or 4 of us would make it all the way to the monastery. 

The Tatkshang Monastery (originally built in 1694) is on the spot where, in the 8th century, Guru Rinpoche (also known as Padmasambhava, who helped bring Buddhism to Tibet at the invitation of the king who had married a Buddhist Nepalese princess) flew on the back of a tigress to subdue a malignant Bon deity, and then mediated in a cave for 4 months. It is a sacred spot which practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism try to visit (although there is no requirement to do so) at least once in their lifetime. Kinga, our guide, has made the long walk over 100 times.

 

We got our first glimpse of the Tiger's Nest (high on the center mountain below) from the trailhead and were on our way by 8:30 AM. After the talk last night, the three of our group of 13 elected to stay wait at the bottom.

 

 

We had an excellent day for a hike, cloudy, 60s and overcast. We shared our first hour on the trail with horses, which local farmers rent out to carry the less ambitious or capable pilgrims to the Tea House, the halfway point. A shaggy foal dutifully followed her mother up and down the steep slopes, training for future employment.

 

At the Tea House, we enjoyed the magical views and a complimentary cup of coffee and biscuits served by welcoming staff. There were also, to our surprise, quite decent flush toilets. In short, everything we needed to set off refreshed on the second half of our trek.  

 

 

 

Four of us (Susan, Vincent, Bruce and me) continued with Kinga towards the Tiger's Nest, Elaine and Karen later followed at their own pace up to the view point, and the other four headed back to the parking lot with Sanjay. The stunning views got better and better as we climbed.

Pilgrims on the trail.

 

A Lama sat near the first viewpoint.

 

 

With Kinga 

 

We scrambled down and up the infamous 750 steps, crossing the bridge at the base of the waterfall before clambering up to the monastery. 

 

 

 

Kinga collected our hiking poles, backpacks, cameras, shoes and cellphones, put them in a locker and tied it shut with a piece of rope. Our Bhutan visas were checked by security, and we proceeded up a steep set of high stone stairs. In stocking feet, Kinga took us into four small temples built into and on the cliffside. In one, a small golden door guarded the cave where Guru Rinpoche meditated for several months after defeating the demon. The door is only opened once or twice each year. I quietly sat crosslegged on the floor in two of the temples, feet respectfully tucked so that the soles did not face the Buddha. The monastery is a historic, reflective place. So different than the Golden Buddha visited a few days earlier near Thimphu.

Kinga was right: with Sue, me, Vincent & Bruce.

 

We gathered our thoughts and our belongings before our return trip...which involved all those stairs back up before the long journey down to our bus. We were happy to meet Elaine and Karen waiting at the top of the steps near the first viewpoint.

We spotted a pair of grey langurs, which Kinga said was a rare and auspicious event.

 

It started to rain as we passed the Tea House and again, harder, as we neared the parking lot. But the rain felt good and we were a happy, tired bunch as we climbed into our bus to return to the hotel. The fitbit reported a good day's walk, with 238 flights of vertical club and 10 miles walked. Elaine and I treated ourselves to a massage back at the hotel. Great end to a memorable day!

2017 Himalayas - Bhutan Day 4: Farmers & Craft Markets, Archery, Paro

We woke to the low clouds and misty morning that characterize this cloud kingdom. 

 

Some favorite observations while wandering around Thimphu:

DOGS:

They are everywhere. There are lots of them. They seem to be homeless, but do not fawn or beg. During the day they collapse whenever they happen to be, and they sleep hard.

 

As dusk falls, they congregate, greeting old friends, and with much fanfare, go rat hunting. They were so noisy throughout the night that our guide asked the hotel staff to chase them away whenever the wild rumpus started, but it's pretty much a Sisyphean task. 

 

TRAFFIC COP:

Where Bhutan's sole traffic light had its brief debut before complaints caused it to be removed, stands a colorful booth manned by a traffic-directing policeman. Armed with a whistle, he performs a endless, graceful ballet of slow, deliberate arm gestures, controlling the flow of cars around the traffic circle. 

 

STREET GAMES

At night the streets come alive with women selling produce on the sidewalks, monks on their cellphones doing their shopping, and young people congregating in western attire. 

I stopped in an alley to watch a group of men huddled around a clicking table. The game (carrom)looked to be a combination of pool and foosball. The gameboard was sprinkled with cornstarch to make it slippery, and the players snapped the big disk into the smaller ones, trying to get the little ones of "their" color to ricochet into the corner pockets.

 

This morning we stopped at the farmers market to see both the local and imported items sold there, but most of us immediately headed across the cantilevered bridge to the handicraft market, instead. 

 

We next stopped at an archery match to observe the national sport of Bhutan. This is some serious skill. Two teams faced off at a distance of 145 meters (more than 1.5 football fields) to shoot at targets so small that they were indiscernable to me from the shooting position. You can see one behind the shooter below. When the target was successfully hit by the opposing team, the archers standing near the target quickly lined up in formation facing said target and executed a chanting dance to honor the shot.

 

We drove back to Paro for our final two nights in Bhutan. Our hotel here is a bit of a resort, nicely situated along the rushing river with a front row view of the airport runway. 

 

 

The hotel rooms are spacious and nicely appointed. I find myself running to the window every time I hear jet engines because it is genuinely thrilling to see the planes take off, climb steeply and bank into turns to avoid the mountains.

 

Paro itself is a small, concentrated town filled with shops selling either handicrafts or groceries and goods to locals. It is a jumping off place for Tiger's Nest hikers, and home to a 17th century Dzong and watchtower. 

Paro Dzong

 

Dishwashing in Paro

 

Tonight is our briefing for the trek to the Tatkshang Monastery. Everyone hopes for a good night's sleep.