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Nepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019
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Nepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019

Mount Everest here we come. One more for the bucket list. Read more
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  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    John has a go at sewing

    National Institute for Zorig Chusum

    May 21, 2019 in Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    National Institute for Zorig Chusum provides instruction on Bhutan's 13 traditional arts.

    This was quite interesting watching the students, wood carve, paint, sew, embroid and make statues from clay.

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    Trying butter tea
    Lunch

    Simply Bhutan

    May 21, 2019 in Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We visited a Bhutan culural centre which highlighted the living styles of old Bhutan. We watched traditional dances whilst drinking buttermilk tea and then we had lunch.

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    Thimphu central square

    Thimphu

    May 21, 2019 in Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We then walked around Thimphu city centre, nothing to sing about. It is dirty, dusty, smelly and expensive.

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    Soaking the bark
    bark before soaking in the tubs in the foregroundbark soaked liquid being captured in a framePiles of paper lifted from the framesYoung tree that will grow to provide the bark for the paper makingTired after looking around the factory

    Bhutanese Paper making factory

    May 21, 2019 in Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    This was fasinating.

    This small factory produces tradional paper hand made from the bark of Daphne Bush. The process involes stripping the bark, soaking and boiling it, then crushing, pulping, layering, pressing and drying. We watched steps of the process in this tiny dirty shed but the paper is lovely.Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler

    Janka Resort Paro

    May 21, 2019 in Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    This certainly is not a resort, actually it feels a bit like we are back in China with its horrible rooms. We have very creaky pine floors, every step makes a noise, nowhere to sit other than on the hard single beds. It is actually cold tonight so we have the heater on not that I think they are working as I have climbed into bed to keep warm. Very slow Wifi which is a pain as I cannot download any photo's or look at Tiny Beans photo's of Charlie.The bathroom is just adequate, we are not looking forward to dinner. We did read some reviews before we arrived so we knew what to expect but boy when as a tourist to Bhutan you have to pay $US250pp per day you expect much better than this.

    We are here for 2 nights only thank goodness.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler

    Simtokha Dzong

    May 21, 2019 in Bhutan ⋅ 🌫 14 °C

    After Dinner our guide and driver took us for a short drive to take photo's of the Simtokha Dzong, it looks so pretty we could not let the opportunity go with adding it to our 1000's of photo's. The Monastery is even more spectacular at night than during the day.

    Fit Bit Stats:
    7675 steps
    20 Floors
    5.31 km

    Not many steps but we did go up and down a few stairs today. We kept it low today as tomorrow is the big trek to Tigers Nest.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    Starting our hike up the mountain
    We can see Tigers Nest in the distanceAs we get closer the building details appearA closer look at the monasteryAlmost there just 750 steps up and down to goWe made it up and back down again in only 8 hours.

    Taktsang Monastery (Tigers Nest)

    May 22, 2019 in Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Tigers Nest is a monastery perched precariously on the edge of a steep cliff 900m straight up and 3,120 metres above sea level, it is widely regarded as one of the most important monuments of spiritual significance in Bhutan. Its history is associated with the visit of Guru Padmasambhava, the revered Indian saint who came to Bhutan in the 8th Century. The cave was named Takshang after Guru Rinpoche who flew into the cave from Kurtoe Singye Dzong in eastern Bhutan while riding on a tigress. When he landed in the cave, he took wrathful form of Guru DorijiDrolo who is regarded as one of the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche to decimate the demons.

    We climbed all the way and it took 8 hours return. As we approach the monastery there are 750 steps which we climbed down from the mountain we had ascended and up the mountain to the Monastery. The round trip is 6.5 km along windy rocky trails and steps.

    It was hard work and very rewarding my knee is very sore and swollen but at least I can say I achevied this feat whilst many people even on the trek today could not make it all the way to the top.

    Fit Bit Stats
    21771 steps
    124 Floors    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler

    Darjeeling

    May 23, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    Today we will cross the Bhutan border at Phuentsholing to enter India at Jaigaon. We will be spending the next few days in the Darjeeling Area of North East India.

    Darjeeling is also know as "Queen of The Himalayas"

    Jaw-dropping locales, mesmerising sunrises, the untouched beauty of the hills, the old-world charm of the past, and the welcoming smiles of the local people all add up to make Darjeeling one of the most beautiful hill stations in the Eastern part of India. Darjeeling is spread over a steep mountain ridge and is nestled amidst acres of lush green tea plantations.

    Darjeeling stands at the height of 2,050 meters above sea level and boasts a cool climate all year round.

    A respite from the hot and humid summers of India, Darjeeling is a popular tourist destination in North-East India. Providing a heady mixture of splendid tea gardens on rolling mountain slopes, meandering toy train rides through the picturesque city, and delectable traditional Tibetan cuisine, Darjeeling works wonders to cater to the gorgeous panorama of the Himalayas.

    There is a reason the city is known as the 'Queen of the Himalayas'. The lush green slopes dotted with women plucking tea leaves is a sight as mesmerising as no other.

    There are over 86 tea estates in Darjeeling that are responsible for producing the worldwide famous 'Darjeeling Tea'.

    A previous summer capital of India under the British Raj, Darjeeling has come of age as one of the most sought after hill stations in India. Famous for its beautiful tea plantations and the quality of Darjeeling tea, Darjeeling is a delight for all kind of tourists. The toy train established back in 1881, still runs in this part and is also one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

     Beautiful colonial architecture including mansions and churches dot this little beautiful town. The towns are filled with people from Tibet, Nepal, nearby Indian states and the Gurkhas, Darjeeling is brimming with cultural diversity. The third highest peak in the world and the highest in India, the Kanchenjunga peak is clearly visible from here and you can enjoy a panoramic view of the peak.

    Darjeeling is a wonderful place to walk around and explore the tea estates, villages, and markets.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    The cows can do what they like in India. Here they are eating the street rubbish

    Jaigaon

    May 23, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Handover went well. It was interesting to see the change from Bhutan to India in one block. Immigration was really weird as well. First step was in an open garage in the grounds of the immigration office and second phase was a virtually empty room in the adjacent building.Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    Tea leaf picking on a plantation
    Monkey's on the roadside waiting for food scraps tossed out of car windowsView from the roadside as we go up the mountainThrough the clouds

    On the way to Darjeeling

    May 23, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    We are now on our way to Darjeeling it will take 6 hours driving.

    We started off on great roads and some very pretty tea plantations. We thought this was going to be a lovely drive however the roads gradually became worse as we drove up the mountains around winding roads through the clouds again.Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    Couch that smells of wet dog. This is a pet friendly hotel
    Walking to our hotelCrowds in the local streets

    Little Tibet Hotel

    May 23, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    We arrived in Darjeeling but not at our Hotel just yet. Today they were completing the counting for the Indian election and as there is a possibility of rioting from the locals if they do not agree with the outcome and as the counting was being held near our hotel, local police and armed forces had blocked off the roads. Therefore, we had to walk a kilometre to our hotel with our bags being carried by porters.

    The Hotel is another yukky one, it smells of damp, mould and wet dog and very bad wifi. Apparently they are going to upgrade us tomorrow not sure if that will be any better but we can only hope.
    I can say the staff are lovely it is just a shame about the Hotel. Dinner was OK I could eat 2 things from the buffet.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler

    Little Tibet Hotel

    May 24, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    What a horrible night I hardly slept due the awful smell, breakfast is meant to be ready at 7 am. John went to check at 7.30am and it was not set up so we waited until 8 am. Breakfast was basically Indian food. John had toast with a red jam, I asked for to 2 eggs fried over easy and when they came out they were so under done I just left the room. Eating raw eggs is just horrendous.

    Well let's hope the day improves.

    I really do not like Darjeeling and will never come back here.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    Ready to board the toy train
    The train has stopped at Ghum Station. The locals call it Glum, I do not know whyAll abourd for the return tripThe train tracks are quite narrow

    Toy Train

    May 24, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Today we are going on a train which runs through the centre of Darjeeling and is quite famous.
    The train has operated on narrow gauge tracks since 1880s and provides an important transport link to various parts of Darjeeling hills and lower plains. The toy train is an icon of India's heritage since the colonial days and an engineering marvel that was achieved in that era. It also offers a wonderful way of absorbing the Himalayan beauty as you traverse along the slopes of the hills.

    Our guide picked us from the Foyer at 8.30am, however, due to the traffic our driver was not there so we had to walk down the dirty dusty smelly streets for a distance until he was able to reach us, I am sure they seem worse than they are because I am in such a negative frame of mind because of the Hotel.

    We arrived at the train station only to then find that the 9.40am train had an issue and would not be running until 10.00am. We thought this was OK as it was quite foggy. At the station we waited until 10.30 for the train and guess what we are seated on the wrong side of the train to see the view over the Himalaya's but it is foggy so you really can not see anything anyway.

    The train ride is really interesting as it goes right up the middle of the narrow streets and in some places you are only inches away from cars, walls and shops. The cars have to stop for the train to cross from side to side of the narrow street.

    The ride goes up the hill to Ghum which is the highest altitude station in the world and returns in 2 hours. It does stop along the way. The first stop is for water as it is a steam train.

    You continue up the hill to a war memorial and gardens where we stay for 10min then continue further up the hill to Ghum for a 20 minute stop which is enough thime to visit a train museum there before we return back to the Darjeeling Station. The ride was fun all be it that the train was dirty, late and on the wrong side for the view. Thank you Mum and Dad for this Christmas present. The ride is something we will remember because it was just so different to other train rides we have done.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    View from the restaurant

    Glenary's for Lunch

    May 24, 2019 in India ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Our guide recommended this resturant as it is supposedly the best resturant in Darjleeing with beautiful views over the Himilaya's.

    Well it was a nice resturant. We did not have Indian so that was a bonus as all the Indian food we have had so far has been quite poor quality. John ordered what he thought was going to be a hamburger and I ordered pork and chips. Mine came out with 4 huge slices of pork covered in gravy and my first reation was yuk but it was actually quite nice. John's was not a hamburget but two large hamburger patties and vegetables and he enjoyed his as well, but no view still all foggy.Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    That's snow leopard
    Red PandaHimalayan wolves

    Padmaja Naidu Zoological Garden

    May 24, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Well this was a long drive, well most of the drive we were just sitting in the car in traffic to get to the Zoo. The guide and John slept for most of this time. The traffic is dreadful it was actually quicker to walk to most attractions but the roads are very dirty with people and cars everywhere so we go in the car until our guide suggests that we get out and walk. The Zoo was another occassion where we walked for about 7min up hill to get to there.

    Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park is quite small and is right in the centre of Darjeeling. The zoo was opened in 1958, and an average elevation of 2,134 m, is the largest high altitude zoo in India. It specializes in breeding animals adapted to alpine conditions, and has successful captive breeding programs for the snow leopard, the critically endangered Himalayan wolf and the red panda. The zoo attracts about 300,000 visitors every year. The zoo serves as the central hub for Central Zoo Authority of India's red panda program.

    We wandered around for 30min and saw the snow leapod, black bear, red panda, himayalan wolf and tiger. Even though they are caged they did look quite healthy. Just a shame about the very loud Indian tourists shouting at each other in conversation even though the signs around the park say "Silence"    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler

    Tea Tasting

    May 24, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Next was the Tea Tasing somehting John was not really looking forward to as he does not drink tea. We tasted about 6 different teas and learnt that different teas have different health properties, noit sure I belvie them but it was interesting. I preffered the Black Tea pass 2 and what this means is it is black tea picked in the summer months. We both liked the White Tea, John tried a lavender tea and did not mind it to me it tasted like perfumenI wonder why? We did purchase one and it is Bkack tea with red wine. No, you cannot taste the wine, it is a lighter black tea and I thought it would be nice to have when Melissa visits with Charlie in a few weeks.

    We said goodbye to our driver as all the next attractions we are going to walk as the traffic is just not moving. I don't think we willk every complain about Sydney traffic again.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    Local produce
    Street marketsDried food storePasta storeSquashSweet treats

    Local Markets

    May 24, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    This was really cool as most markets in the first section are small shops that are full of copies of anything you can think of and so cheap.

    We then went to the fruit and vegetable markets which we always enjoy walking though looking at all the weird and wonderful foods each country has to offer. Other than a few things, most items we could identify.

    We continued walking back up the hill towards the Hotel.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    New room

    Back in our Hotel

    May 24, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    The joy continues, right at the street level we can tell an Indian wedding is on at the Hotel and we all now how they can party.

    Once in the foyer the front desk give us the key to our new room and guess what not much better than the first but we can open a window and no wet dog smell so that is a plus.

    Our window opens right out the where some of the wedding party are sitting but no one is smoking so that is great. They are loud but the music is really good, so I am enjoying updating the blog listening to Indian music and some music we actually recogise. But what is weird is that we wanted to know how long the party would continue as we have to get up at 3.30am tomorrow and they told us they are going to finish at 7.30pm, what sort of party finishes so early. However, we are thankful , maybe we should join the party.

     Staying Alive is now playing.

    Fitbit Stats::
    10,0007 steps
    40 flights of stairs
    6.93 km    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler

    Tigers Hill

    May 25, 2019 in India ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Well that was a waste of 5 hours. We were meant to see the sunrise over the Himilaya Mountain's this morning so were awake at 3am to catch what is meant to be a lovely view. Ha Ha Ha.

    There was a traffic jam within minutes of leaving the Hotel. We eventually get there and it is so foggy you cannot see in front of you so no hope of sunrise. Not that this stopped the stupid tourists. 100's left their cars and walked to the point. We sat in the car as would need to walk 1.5km to point to see nothing. What a waste of time. We did do a lot of laughing at the tourists though because they kept walking past us to view the sunrise. Apart from the fact that you could not see anything due to the fog, sunrise was well and truly over as the tourists kept coming . This created a huge traffic jam of cars and people so we sat in the car from start to finish 4 hours. Even our guide did not turn up he claims to have told the Hotel it was raining so we would not be going but that is not what the Hotel told us.

    Communication is not something anyone in Darjeeling seems to know.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler

    Little Tibet Hotel Darjeeling

    May 25, 2019 in India ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Yey, we are leaving one of the worst cities we have visited in all our travels. We still have not seen any tea plantations which was the reason for coming to Darjeeling. We are hopefully seeing one this morning.

    Anyway remember I mentioned we changed rooms. When we returned from our uneventful sunrise we went for showers and this is what we found. It is shocking.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler

    Tea Plantation

    May 25, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

    Yeh, we finally went to a tea plantation which is the reason for going to Darjeeling . The ladies were actually picking the tea when we visited, which was great. My issue was that I really wanted to go to a tea plantation and factory which is what I believed the tour was to include. Guess what I was wrong as they are closed at this time of year according to the tour guide. I really cannot understand how a major Tea supplier does not operate all year round at the factory level anyway. I understand the tea picking is seasonal. Just another reason why Darjeeling is off my recommendation list.Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    Teesta River forms the border between the two states
    Local apricot which tasted like a peach sold on roadside stall.The landslide is finally cleared so that we could proceed.Landslide debris as we pass by.Traffic caused by the landslide.

    On our way to Gangtok

    May 25, 2019 in India ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We continue driving to our next destination Gangtok which is only 110km away but it takes 4 hours from Darjeeling. It was a pretty drive going up and down the hills through the fog on the very narrow roads.

    We stopped to take in the view of the river which forms the border of Darjeeling and Sikkim. On entering Sikkim we had to get another visa even though we had an Indian visa, I do not really understand why but even our driver we have had for the next few days is not allowed to work in this state so we get a new driver tommorrow.

    To add to our list of experiences that only happen to us, there was a rock slide across the road so we were again stuck with nowhere to go for 1 hour.    Read more

  • We are Living the DreamNepal Tibet Bhutan India 2019Traveler
    Our latest appealing room.
    View from the balcony outside our room.

    Sonam Delek Hotel

    May 25, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Today's drama continues. We pull up out the front of what look like a descent hotel only to find that they did not have our booking and no vacant rooms. So our guide suggested the hotel that they usually stay at. We went to this hotel to check out the room, as we did not like the rooms we were given in Darjeeling. The hotel right from the start was going to be a worry but we looked at the room in case the outside was misleading. Once inside it was as expected, it was more like a kids room with 2 very low single beds and looked terrible so we declined and proceeded to another hotel suggested by the guide. It is now getting late and I was getting cranky and upset so we had to take whatever was now on offer. This is another dreadful hotel but as it is the holidays and the Indian people are escaping the heat to the cooler places and apparently Darjleeing and Gangtok on on their lists. Not sure why as they are both dreadful places dirty, smelly, crowded and not much to do.

    The only plus of this Hotel is apparently from the balcony right outside our room we can view a sunrise which is a little different. We will not see the sun actually rise but it glows over the moutnains.

    This Hotel also has a powerpoint in the shower recess which is very weird. To make it worse there are heaps of very loud children and parents hanging around outside our room. One plus is the dinner menu does not look that bad so fingers crossed.

    Maybe tomorrow will be better.    Read more

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