Bhutanese Food–Chili as a Staple, Except for Tourists

By Joyce, on November 7th, 2013

It is true that Bhutanese love hot spicy chili on their food. It is so hot that foreigners are generally herded into Western hotels with buffets of Bhutanese sounding dishes with dramatically toned down spice. Thus, we had little opportunity to taste what Bhutanese actually eat and had a number of pretty tasteless meals, where [Read more …]

Trekking in Bhutan – Dagala 1,000 Lakes Trek

By Joyce, on November 7th, 2013
IMG_8270

After a preparatory hike in Bhutan to Tigers Nest that went well, and taking diamox to help us acclimate to the altitude, we felt ready to undertake a 4 night/5 day trek to experience some beautiful mountain scenery in Bhutan, as well as to get some needed exercise. Only one problem: the night before [Read more …]

The Cities of Bhutan and a Special Trip to Tiger’s Nest

By Joyce, on November 2nd, 2013
Paro airport windows

Despite our attempts, we were unable to structure our trip to Bhutan in a way that allowed us to see one of the country’s famous festivals or archery completions. But we were able to set up a 5 day/4 night trek–Dagala Thousand Lakes Trek–that allowed us to experience a nice cross section of the country’s [Read more …]

Bhutan–Land of Gross National Happiness

By Joyce, on November 1st, 2013

Bhutan We had an idealized view of Bhutan as a beautiful, practically pristine high-altitude, relatively rural, 700,000-person Himalayan country that: Is tranquil and peaceful, in which most citizens wear traditional clothes and cling to their customs and values and in which most buildings remain consistent with traditional styles (see below); [Read more …]