Burning Desire For FIRE

Kathmandu from the air, as our scenic flight to Mt Everest began.
When we saw the mountain yesterday, a part of me regretted having booked this scenic flight. I’ve already had a decent look at it, right?

But as the mountains emerged from the clouds, I became unexpectedly emotional. It was so beautiful.

Of course, it helped that this time, I didn’t have a pushy Chinese woman leaning over me. A feature of these flights is that you have the window seat all to yourself.

As I was watching the great big Mountain range, I felt a little emotional. It’s so very beautiful and reminded me a lot of Antarctica. It has the same brilliant white snow against the blue sky. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a penguin waddling down the aisle of the plane.
Suddenly, a stewardess tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the main event.

The peak to the left of the flat one is Mt Everest.

Makes you realise just how tall these mountains are when you’re in a plane flying, and it takes ages to get past the clouds, and these mountains pop up way above the clouds.

As I finished taking my pictures of Mount Everest on my side of the plane, I actually had tears in my eyes. It was so utterly beautiful. I can’t believe how lucky I am. Not many people in the history of the world have been able to see this view.

Fortunate Frogdancer struck again. Meisie and I were in the very front row. I was on the left side, so I had first crack at the views. When the plane banked to turn around, I slipped across into the empty stewardesses seat on the right side of the plane.

I had two bites of the apple.

Look. At. This.
Mt Everest, plus this sweeping cloud and the hills beneath.

The cloud looks like a solid piece of marzipan, dividing the white and the green.

Incredible.

WHAT a way to finish this holiday!

I have 3 hours before we get picked up to go to the airport. We all went out for a decidedly lovely lunch, and I succeeded in getting rid of almost all of my Nepalese money. I have 190 Nepalese rupees left, which equates to 2 AUD, so I count that as a win.

My nose is turned firmly towards home now, and I can’t wait to get there. David33 and Evan30 have both had birthdays while I’ve been away, so I’m keen to see my elderly men.

It’s been a very good holiday. Except for the leeches.

Dad joke of the day:

We had an early flight out of Bhutan. We arrived at the airport at 5:30 am, only to be told that our flight was delayed by 2 hours.
The advantage of arriving so early was that I was able to request (and receive) a window seat on the right side of the plane.

Hello, Mt Everest!

When I took this photo, I had a Chinese woman leaning over me, her phone cord dangling in my food, trying to hog the window.
On my first day in Nepal, Meisie and I booked a scenic flight to Mt Everest. Tomorrow, I’ll have a window seat all to myself.

One way in which Bhutan differs from Nepal was that there are hardly any motorbikes in Bhutan. It’s like China and Japan in that regard.
Here in Kathmandu, there are hundreds.

We went out after lunch to do some shopping. We all had Nepalese money we wanted to get rid of. There are few footpaths in Kathmandu, so it’s imperative to be aware of the traffic.

A little lawn inside your car? Why not?

We were taken out for a farewell dinner on our last full night in Nepal. Meisie and I left early. We were booked to meet our driver at 5 AM for our scenic flight.

Dad joke of the day:

Here I was before the hike, when I was still young and full of hope.

Here are the bald facts about this extraordinary place:

Tiger’s Nest Monastery is a sacred Buddhist sanctuary clinging to a sheer cliff 900 metres above the Paro Valley in Bhutan. 

History and Significance

• Sacred Origin: Legend says Guru Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) flew to the cliff on the back of a tigress in the 8th century to meditate and subdue evil spirits.
• Foundation: The main monastery complex was built in 1692 by the fourth Druk Desi, Tenzin Rabgye.
• Cultural Role: It remains an active spiritual centre and one of the most revered pilgrimage sites in the Himalayan Buddhist world. 

Hiking Guide & Practical Tips

• The Trek: The journey is a 4 km (about 8 km round trip) uphill hike taking 2 to 3 hours each way, climbing from a base altitude of roughly 2,100 meters to 3,120 meters. 
• Midpoint Stop: A cafeteria sits halfway up the trail, offering rest, drinks, and snacks. 
• Best Time to Visit: October to December offers clear, sunny skies, while March to May brings blooming rhododendrons.
• Rules & Etiquette: Cameras, phones, and bags are prohibited inside the temple complex and must be left in lockers at the entrance. Modest clothing covering shoulders and legs is required. 

If

It’s possible to hire ponies to take you up to the café, which is the hardest part of the climb, according to Sither. I was tempted, but nasty people in my group who shall remain unnamed talked me out of it.

This mule ambled over when we were taking the mandatory Group Photo. There’s me on the end with a forced smile, clinging to my trusty stick. I already knew I wasn’t going to enjoy most of this day…

This walk tests you simply because it’s so very steep and it never stops. Oh sure, you get the occasional flat bit, just to give you a glimmer of a chance of catching your breath…

… but then up we go again. I’m down there taking a photo of Meicie taking a photo of us. She’s an experienced hiker and was way ahead of us.

I tell you without a word of a lie, if I could’ve gotten away with pushing one of these riders off and taking their horse, I would have.

The foliage itself was pretty. Nice and green.
Meanwhile, I was breathing so heavily with every step. The elevation may have had a slight bit to do with it, but mainly it’s because I’m unfit.

As Anne later said, “Frogdancer was swearing all the way up!”

It’s true. I did NOT enjoy this climb in the slightest.

However, when we got to the café, we caught our first glimpse of our objective.

It was exciting, yet daunting to see that we had to climb up into the clouds to get there. I stood gazing up at it, then turned around and realised that the rest of the group had gone! Our van driver was there, waiting for me to start walking.
I caught up, of course, but it nearly killed me.

Getting closer! The guides here amble up this track as if it’s nothing. They do it 2 or 3 times a week in high season. The monks, too, are used to the climb. Five monks live here permanently, but many come here for retreats and for study.
One of us was saying over dinner that they saw a monk coming up as he was coming down. To encourage him, she said, “ Not far to go!” and he replied, “I know. This is my second time today!”

Yikes.

Soon after the café, there is a place where people put small cairns of stones in the shape of the mountain. This is near where the local deity lives. This is to ask her for a good, safe walk.

I didn’t make one. I was sensibly conserving my energy.

Anne and Russell up unheard. They had different motivations to get to the Tigers Nest. He plays a lot of sport and this was a test of fitness. She’s extremely spiritual. She would have crawled up on her hands and knees to get there. Fortunately, she didn’t have to go that far.

Another glimpse.

A yellow-beaked magpie. It didn’t seem worried about people at all.

We passed by the first lookout to take pictures at the second lookout. I was just glad for the chance to sit down.

The walk had become slightly easier, but we were warned that the steps were coming. First we’d have to go down to the waterfall. Then we’d have to go up again.

Only slightly zoomed in…

Here’s a close up.
Incredible, isn’t it?

It’s urned down twice in its life, and each time it’s been rebuilt by men and horses taking building materials up that mountain on their backs. The last time it was rebuilt was 2005.

You can imagine the cursing going on when they realised they’d have to rebuild it AGAIN. What an awful job it would be.

We started the day in Paro, way down there.

I wanted to show you the sheer scale of the cliffs that the monastery sits on. It’s truly an absolute wonder.

The spray from the waterfall was so refreshing. Even more intoxicating was the thought that we were almost there.

And so it was. Sither, Meiie, Anne and Russell were there before me, and Sither gave everyone a Cadbury chocolate as a reward while we waited for Jeneen and Rob.
As you read in the factorial at the start, no phones are allowed, except those owned by the monks, so I can’t show you what it was like.
It was pretty much a rabbit warren of 8 temples- we only saw four, thankfully, as Sither said they were all the same.
There were lots of people chanting. At the moment they have a month-long challenge to say a mantra 10,000 times (I think) to help bring about world peace.

On the way back down, Meicie left us in her dust 😂 and when the rest of the group was waiting for Jeneen and Rob at the waterfall, I went on ahead, assuming they’d catch me up.

It turns out that if you don’t have bad knees, going down is FAR easier than coming up. I almost felt like a gazelle as I worked my way down the path.

When I saw these, I knew I was getting close to the café, where we were going to have lunch. I knew Meicie would be waiting there.

The thing is, I’m sometimes very unobservant.

Horses are only allowed as far as the café. When I started seeing horse poo on the track, I suspected I’d overshot my target.
When I saw an actual horse, I knew it.

Damned if I was going to climb up that path again.

A guide from another group offered to let me hotspot his phone so I could send a message on WhatsApp to the group, telling them I’d meet them at the car park.
Turns out that wasn’t the only drama. Rob accidentally dropped his wallet at the Tigers Nest, and when our guide showed it to him, he was apparently in the middle of doing something and waved the wallet away.
Poor Sither had to race back up to the waterfall to collect it from one of the police that it had been handed to. He made it back to the car park 5 minutes after the others got there.

Now that’s fit!

I was waiting for the others for around 45 minutes. This little cutie talked to me for ages in a mix of English and Bhutan. She played with my Apple Watch and got to learn more about it than I ever have!

We fly out of Bhutan early tomorrow for a couple more days in Kathmandu.

Am I glad I did this walk?

Now that it’s behind me, yes.

But I’m absolutely never doing it again!

Dad joke of the day:

This view over breakfast is a little different to yesterday’s!

This was a funny mix of a day. In the morning, we froze back out the way we came, through the pass with all the stupas etc.

In a country full of mountains, often there’s only one road.

We stopped at a viewing point to take pictures of fort we were about to go to.

This is the oldest one of all.

I suppose even monks need a coffee from time to time.

This Temple is the first one built by the Unifier, the guy who joined all the tiny kingdoms and feifdoms into one country of Bhutan.

It was completed in 1530.

By day the locals worked on building the fort, and by night they listened to the teachings of the Unifier.

Shoes off again.

This temple has no big parade grounds like the other two we’ve seen. The ground it covers is far less.

It’s still a working government admin and monastery.

Beautifully decorated, as always.

The entry hall had paintings of the 4 kings… of the North, South, East and West.

The king of the north is pictured pressing the stomach of the mongoose to extract jewels. He looks after the rich he and also protects from earthquakes.

The King of the East protects from fire.

King of south protects from flood.

King of west protects from the strong.

The temple was hidden behind this curtain.

When we first stepped through the door, we thought Sither said it was ok to take photos. I took this quick one before he hastily set us straight.

See the riot of colour? These temples are glorious with their use of textiles.

This is the Buddhist Circle of Life. Sither explained it all and it was very interesting.

I can’t remember much now, though.

Coming back outside.

Look who we saw in the car park. Ivy’s going to look a fair bit like this.

A paper factory was next. It was nothing different to what I saw in Alice Springs two years ago.

Later in the day, I ended up buying one of these paintings in Paro. The prices there were a little more reasonable.

This is the hotel we went to for lunch.
It reminded me very much of North Korea… the Great Leaders portraits everywhere.

Sither said that this square is called the Clocktower. It’s like the clocks at Flinders st Station… everyone meets up there.

Our van was caught in traffic, so we spent around 10 minutes chatting and observing the locals.

Schoolgirls on a break.

This girl was learning how to drive her rollerblades.

These two tykes were having fun.

All of a sudden, I hear, “ Hello! It’s me!”

It was John from yesterday! He saw us from across the square and raced over.k

These little girls were throwing handfuls of leaves in the air and screaming with laughter.

Meisie took this shot. Mountains for miles.

I’ll always think of Bhutan when I see prayer flags like these.

Today was a Hindu festival, and people were dressing up their cars. I tried to catch cars while we were driving, but it was my turn to sit in the middle of the van, so that didn’t work so well.

Today is a special day for the god of iron. All people who work with iron have to worship him today. I think this was a Buddhist thing.

This car was parked near the National Museum.

Speaking of which, here it is!

This was an old watchtower turned into a museum in 1947.

Sadly, it wasn’t really my thing.

Fully 4/5ths of it was taken up with Buddhist paraphanalia, and there wasn’t much secular history.

This is a taste of what was on offer, plus lots of paintings of Buddha, the second Buddha, the god of compassion and yadda yadda.

I was getting very templed out, and this pushed me over the edge. I walked ahead of the group and ended up waiting for them outside.

But that’s not to say that there weren’t some interesting exhibits among all the religious iconography.

Chusangkhorlo (Water Timer)

This Chusangkhorlo (Water timer is used in olden days to measure the time. The pot contains 60 drops of water and when the cup is empty after dropping down, it is considered 1 hour in astrological calculation of time which is 2.5 hours of normal time.

Water timer	Modern timer
6 movement of normal breath = 1 Chusang	0.41min
60 Chusang = 1 hour (Astrologer)	25min
2.5hours = 150 chusang=	1.hour 60min
60 hours= day and night ( Astrologer)= 3600 chusang=	24 hours 1440min

A bit Lord of the Flies…

When I mentioned this exhibit to Sither, he nodded matter-of-factly and said that the monks drink from human skulls as part of some rituals.

Not exactly what comes to mind when I think about Buddhists, but ok…

THIS is what we were looking at in Borneo, in the treetops with my blurry photos!

Rhinoceros Hornbill.

This earthenware pot has lasted since the 14th century. Imagine how many pots of tea has been made in it?

Then it was back to the hotel for an early night. We have to get up early tomorrow for our hike to Tigers Nest monastery.

God help me…

Dad joke of the day:

This is how a city street looks in Bhutan. It’s the view I had over breakfast this morning.

We drove out of Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, and normally we would have stopped by to see Buddha Dordenma, one of the largest Buddhist stupas in the world. It’s 154 metres tall.

The statue houses over one hundred thousand smaller Buddha statues, each of which, like the Great Buddha Dordenma itself, are made of bronze and gilded in gold.

I was really keen to see it, but it’s being restored, so it was a no-go.

Ah well, you can’t win ‘em all!

The view of the city is very pretty. Sither told us about the time he had an American tourist on one of his trips. He showed him this view, and the American said, “Oh, what a pretty village!”

He backtracked quickly when he was informed that he was looking at Bhutan’s capital city.

Green roofs are private residences, while red is government.

As we got back into the van, Sither said, “Now we leave the settlements and you can enjoy the greenery and the fresh.”

We drove along the mountain roads. Every now and then my ears popped. We drove above the clouds up to 3,150 metres above sea level.

This is Druk Wangyel, the site of a decisive victory for the fourth king. There are 108 stupas arranged over 3 levels, to honour the Bhutanese soldiers who fell in the battle to remove insurgents from their camps.

Apparently, on a clear day, you can see the Himalayas from here through the fir trees.

I can’t verify the truth of this claim.

However, I met this delightful young man. He’s John, from India, who is touring Bhutan with his family. We struck up a conversation and I was amazed at how well he spoke English. When I complimented him to his parents, they smiled and let him continue to chat with me.
I showed him videos of penguins and polar bears. He’s a lovely kid, just starting year 7.

We said goodbye and off we went, down the mountain.

The Himalayas are behind here somewhere…

The driver stopped the van when we saw these guys. It’s against the law to feed them. They’ll forget how to forage for food in the forest and they’ll end up hanging around the roads.

At various points along the roads, prayer flags are hanging, flapping in the breeze. I really like them, both their appearance and the meaning behind them moving in the wind.
Good vibes being spread throughout the entire world.

Here’s today’s funny truck sign:

”Beauty is nothing when the lights are out.”

If I was this guy’s wife, I’m not sure that I’d appreciate that…

The hills here roll on forever. Every now and then, there’ll be a house or a monastery poking up out of the trees.

We stopped for a few minutes at a roadside market. These chillies looked good. As we’ve been driving through farmland, sometimes we’ve seen a crop of chillies dehydrating on a roof. I’ve always been on the wrong side of the van to be able to get a photo.

These are dehydrated chunks of cheese that the Bhutanese love to chew. Sither said they take ages to soften.

Tree fern fronds. I have to say, I’ve never thought of cooking mine, but now I know that it’s a possibility if I get desperate enough.

As luck would have it, tree fern fronds were on the buffet for dinner tonight. They didn’t really taste like anything, but they were green and crunchy.

These are all bags of dehydrated chillies. The white ones are chillies that have been boiled before being dehydrated, which takes some of the heat out. I’ve never heard of this before.

Little boys are the same the world over.

See that row of buildings on the top of that ridge?

That’s a nunnery.

There was an art galley attached to the restaurant where we had lunch. This wasn’t the only phallus we’d be seeing today…

This fort is Punakha Dzong, the second oldest Dzong in Bhutan, built in 1637. Punakha Dzong is located at the meeting point of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu Rivers. Hopefully, having a fort in the middle of the rivers prevents the bad energy from flowing, as we heard yesterday.

This place was even more impressive than the one we saw yesterday.

Yesterday’s fort is the one that the government and the monks use during summer. It’s up high in the mountains and is cooler to live and work in. His fort is used during winter. It’s low in a valley, where the weather is warmer.

We walked across a beautiful wooden bridge.

This is the entrance to the fort. I wasn’t happy when I saw it, as those steps look very steep.

However, it was surprisingly easy to climb. It gave me a spark of hope for the Tigers Nest climb in 2 days time.

The ladders are designed to be whipped up when enemies approach. The ladder in the middle is only to be used by the king.

This is the same sort of tree that Buddha was born under, and then later attained enlightenment. It’s a ficus religiosa, which makes sense. The trunk is crazy.

It reminds me of the backdrop to a traditional Shakespearean stage.

The detail in both the painting and carving is incredible. The craftsmanship and attention to detail is outstanding.

I think I might make a Bhutan quilt using the colours from this fort.

Even their animals blend in beautifully.

Only monks and locals are allowed in here.

Zooming in, we can get a glimpse of what lies within.

I just love the colours.

It’s not just the cat who blends in. So does the rooster.

This part of the fortress holds the body of The Great Unifier – the man who conquered all the tiny kingdoms and created one country of Bhutan around 400 years or so.

The people revere him so much, he even has his own statue in the temples sitting beside Buddha.

We visited the temple, which was just as impressive as the one from yesterday at the other fort.

Bhutan is truly a beautiful place.

Here are a few shots of the countryside. Bhutan is very serene and peaceful.

The mountains are everywhere.

We were headed to a famous fertility temple. As we drove into the village, this shop window gave a subtle hint as to what we might expect.

There were phalluses outside, and oh boy, there were phalluses inside the temple.

These monks were part of the live show. I’m always disappointed when I go into a temple or church and the singing is just a recording. These guys were the real deal, playing instruments and chanting.

Sound on for the video. I took one when they were chanting, but the sound isn’t as good.

A woman came inside the temple when we were there. She had a wad of notes thick enough to choke a Rottweiler, and she went from monk to monk, handing them money. She turned to the donation boxes and put handfuls of money in them too.

Two friends were with her, and when she had a word, they also started handing money out.

I couldn’t help thinking that if she wanted a baby that badly, she’d be better off using that money at an IVF clinic.

Sither told us hat after the woman makes offerings and prays, the monks put a gigantic wooden penis on her back and she has to walk three times around the temple. Then, of course, she’s sure to have a baby.

The temple has a spare one, for the busy season. I’ve seen them.

And just to finish: have a look at the size of my room! You could run a Roller Derby in here!

Dad joke of the day:

A couple of years ago, I was driving through South Australia on one of my Little Adventures, and I was listening to a Trevor Noah podcast. He was talking about a recent trip he made to Bhutan. The things he said sounded so interesting that I made a mental note to go there one day.
And now here I am.

On the flight from Kathmandu I saw Mt Everest!! It was sticking up from the clouds, gleaming in the sun. I wasn’t sitting on the right side of the plane, but I still had an excellent view. I’m taking a scenic flight around it on my last day, as well.

We were greeted by our new guide, Sither, and he gave us these traditional welcome scarves. We jumped into our very luxurious van and sped off down the winding mountain roads.

Bhutan is known as the sandwich country between China and India. If all the Chinese peed at the same time, the valleys of Bhutan would be flooded! 😂

Their population is only 800,000 people.
Crypto is set to replace the currency. They use the hydro electricity here to mine the bitcoin. This is the idea of the king. He’s completely modernised the whole country.

Bhutan is carbon neutral… it’s covered by 72% forest. If you cut down one tree, you have to plant 10.

Our first stop was to a temple built in the 15th century.

The way across the river was by this wonderfully bouncy suspension bridge. The prayer flags added a festive touch.

This is a poster of the current royal family. The people are incredibly fond of him. During COVID, he sold properties and shares to feed the people who couldn’t make a living during quarantine, such as people in the tourism industry.

He even fed the stray dogs as well. He knew no one would be leaving their houses to feed them, so he took care of it.

He was probably motivated by compassion, but it was a smart political move. These people adore him.

“This is why we all wear the badges so he can see that he is close to our heart,” said Sither.

These are mini stupa. People put them where they need luck. This temple is for women who want to conceive a child, so naturally this hut is full of them. We also saw them at different spots along the highway.

More prayer wheels.

Prayer flags of all different colours are everywhere you look here. They’re believed to release goodness and purity to the whole world whenever the wind blows.

I like this.

Meeting of the two rivers… this means evil activities in Buddhism. So they built stupas here to quash the negative forces.

Look at the mud guard on the wheel.
“A rich man never get old on girls eyes.”

I think we can all find some meaning to take away from that…

I thought it was the Hindus who let cows stray everywhere. It seems like the Buddhists do it too.

Oxen are free to roam now that farmers have tractors. Cows are still used for dairy products.

Suddenly there was a motorcade, all police flashing lights and big cars. It was a member of the royal family heading off somewhere.

The government builds the small roadside stalls for the farmers to sell their produce.

In Bhutan, you’re only allowed to build to 7 stories, due to earthquakes. Many buildings have decorations on them, like this one with tigers and other animals on it. Sorry it’s blurry… the van was moving.

3 stories for most houses. Ground floor is for animals; 1st floor is for people, while top floor is for ventilation and drying fruit and vegetables.

We were taken to lunch at a place that was next to an art and craft studio.

This was an unusual combo. Chillies and cheese. I’ve had 2 meals here at the time of writing and they’ve been predominantly vegetarian. There are no slaughterhouses in Bhutan. All meat is imported from India.

There are no zoos here, as Buddhism requires all animals to be free.

After lunch, we wandered around the art stalls. I took this photo because this was one of the reasons I came here.
I wanted to see a country that measured happiness instead of the Gross Domestic Product.

Marriages here are very simple. Friends and family gather, and the couple exchange wine, rings and white scarves. They are married. Interestingly, the man goes to live with the bride’s family, instead of the other way round.

By contrast, when someone dies, the family is expected to feed anyone who visits for 49 days. Every 7 days, a monk comes to pray for the departed, and you have to feed him too! On the 49th day, the biggest prayers and ceremonies are held, as it’s believed that this is the time that the dead person’s essence is released from the Buddhist version of purgatory.

Look at how intricate this painting is. He was sitting there the whole time.e time we were there, patiently painting away.

A very cute dog outside the animal rehabilitation centre. When people find injured or orphaned wildlife, they bring them here, where they’re treated and taught how to live back in the wild.

It was here that I saw one of the strangest-looking animals I’ve encountered.

But before I get to that, why not talk fashion?
The men here wear a gho, which is compulsory for schools, government jobs and formal occasions. Sither joked that it has the world’s biggest pocket, as you can see at the front. The men carry everything here. Phones, wallets… when I started coughing, Sither fished out a cough drop for me. It’s the man bag you have when you’re not carrying a man bag.

Boys knee level ; girls ankle level.

Here is the Takin. I’ve never heard of this animal before. The Takin, known locally as “Drong Gimtse”, is Bhutan’s national animal and it has a strange origin story. According to folklore, its creation is attributed to of one of Bhutan’s most renowned saints, Lama Drukpa Kuenlay (1455-1529), also known as the “Divine Madman”.

Legend has it that during a gathering, Lama Drukpa Kuenlay was urged by his devotees to perform a miracle to prove his divine powers. In response, the Lama asked for a feast to be served to him. He specifically asked that the feast include a whole cow and a whole goat.

Lama Drukpa Kuenlay devoured both animals, leaving only their bones. With the bones, he fashioned a creature by attaching the goat’s skull to the cow’s skeletal remains. With his supernatural powers, the Lama brought the assembled bones to life and commanded the creature to roam the mountains and graze. The resulting creature was the Takin, a truly weird looking animal that combines the features of both a goat and cow.

It’s one of the ugliest animals I’ve ever seen.

Itchy belly.

Barking deer, so called because of the noise they make at sunrise, or when they’re scared.

A majestic Samba deer.

The yaks were so far away that any photo I took just looked like a blur. Today, I bought myself a baby yak shawl. The wool is SO SOFT. Sorry for yelling, but it’s incredible.

This stupa was built by the mother of the third king. He died in his early 40’s, and she wanted him to be remembered. It’s also meant to promote world peace and harmony… but really, it’s a grieving mother’s project. She’s still alive at 92. She’s the only person left in the royal family who has seen all 5 kings.

It’s a popular place for the locals. There’s a constant stream of people doing the ritual 3 X circumnavigation around the stupa, while old people gather here during the days while their families are away at work and school.

There were no photos allowed inside the stupa. There were 3 levels representing the 3 levels of consciousness: Desire, Form and Formless. There were lots of stairs. We’re really getting our training in for the Tigers Nest monastery in a few days…

No traffic lights here. A while ago, they tried installing them but nobody liked them, so they went back to the traffic wardens.

Strangely, there are hardly any motorcycles here. Such a difference from the rest of Asia.

This is Tashichho Dzong. This fort and monastery was rebuilt in the 19th century after it burned down. It was built for defence, but nowadays it houses. Couple of government departments and around 250 monks.

The king also has offices here.

This is the summer location for government. In winter, it gets too cold so they move to another location down in the valleys.

It’s quite the entrance.

Tourists are only allowed in this square, and the temple.

The temple.

There were no photos allowed, so I had to do a google search to find this to show you. Along with the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, this temple was genuinely impressive.

The statues were clothed, with colourful neckbands made of the most exquisite embroidery. I’m sure there are women walking around here cross eyed after sewing such tiny stitches.

The walls were lined with 1,000 small statues of Buddha, clothes in bright yellow. These were made at the command of the third king. He also wrote a 29 volume set of Buddha’s teachings, which is stored here at the fort.

The more I hear about him, I wonder how good a king he was. He sounds as if he was obsessed by religion. He probably should have been a monk instead.

Speaking of monks, some families give over their young sons to be trained as monks. Boys as young as this one don’t have a choice. They are educated in monkey, for want of a better word, for years, until they are finally given the choice to make their final vows, or to go and live a normal life.

Older initiates are there of their own free will.

Zoom in on the decorations. The detail is amazing.

Dad joke of the day:

Today was a travel day. We flew a massive 25 minutes from Chitwan back to Kathmandu.
One of the first people I saw was this cool kid.

Today is a Hindu festival for women.

Raj said that yesterday the women all go to their parents’ places, and today they get dressed in red saris and fast.

There were red saris absolutely everywhere.

Once we got to the hotel, we went out for lunch and then wandered around, doing some shopping.

This all looks very serene… until you read the sign…

It’s a screaming goat being eaten by a crocodile.
omg.

I didn’t partake.

People in Nepal really love their colours.

I wanted to take a few shots of the crazy traffic here, but I was too busy dodging and weaving to be able to stop and get a shot.

It occurred to me that this would be a great place to get a duck down jacket. I tell you without a word of a lie, Macy gave me a masterclass in haggling. She is fantastic. I ended up getting a goose down jacket for $36 AUD.
Insane

Tomorrow we fly to Bhutan. I’m excited. After listening to a Trevor Noah podcast, Bhutan was why I booked this trip.

Dad joke of the day:

Just after breakfast, which I ate with my (thankfully) dry boots from washing, I got a WhatsApp from Hazel’s breeder. Hazel’s mum has had another litter, and one of them is a ruby! Of course, I snapped her up immediately.

Her name will be Ivy. I’m very excited!

Now, back to Nepal.

On our way to our canoe ride, we saw this lady walking her goat. As you do.

As we drove in, we saw an elephant grab a sack from the ground and nonchalantly toss it up to the man on his back. It looked very funny.

They have elephant rides here for the Chinese tourists, apparently. They seemed very popular.

We were going birdwatching and animal spotting in a dugout canoe.

There are crocodiles here. By the time about 12 of us got in, the boat was very low in the water…

The seats are best described as rudimentary. And extremely low to the ground.

It was a beautiful morning, but even at 8:30, the humidity was climbing.

We saw quite a few things, but I won’t repeat them. Egrets, of course. They’re everywhere. Just out of shot was a crocodile, not even bothering to try and eat it. Remember how in Arnhem Land the guide said that egrets are the only things crocodiles won’t eat?

We saw quite a few kingfishers. They’re such a satisfying bird to see, all chunky and colourful.

Lots of crocs.

A few Chinese tourists in their native habitat.

And then, big excitement. Another rhino. The guides immediately told us to be quiet as we drifted past.

White-browed wagtails.

This was a very nice way to spend an hour.

We were on dry land, and our guide asked us if we wanted to go on a short jungle walk, or if we wanted to go straight to the elephant breeding station. When he mentioned that the conditions would be muddier than yesterday, I plumped most decidedly to go straight to the elephants.
No more spending hours scrubbing and drying out boots for me!

Before we set off, the guides told us what to do if a tiger or elephant attacked.

Look at the elephant grass that was surrounding us. A tiger could be a couple of inches away and you’d never know it.
I decided to stick close to the man with the stick.

After walking a few minutes, we heard a sound close to us through the tree line of the jungle. The guides tensed up and had a quick conversation.

There are 3 wild elephant bulls that hang around the elephant breeding station. They’re permitted to do so, because ever since they started fathering babies instead of captive bulls, infant mortality plummeted.
They’re permitted to one the guides didn’t want us to encounter was Ronaldo, so called because he kills by kicking people like a soccer ball.

They moved us along pretty smartly.

There were around 7 or 8 mums and babies at the breeding centre. They’re permitted to babies are also chained up, because when they left the babies to run free, they’d run off and their mothers would pull against the chains and injure themselves trying to catch up with them.

When the men take the elephants and their babies out into the jungle each day, they’d run off search for dry wood kindling to cook on. Nepal has to import all of its gas, so wood fires for cooking makes sense.

This is called a No monkey climb tree. It has thorns all over the trunk when young.  It’s a great tree to hide behind if a rhino comes.

Locals make boats from the trunk, like the one we went in this morning.

The branches are good for elephant food. A local type of cotton is also harvested from it.

And a view of a typical Nepalese street as we went back to the hotel for lunch.

After lunch and a nap, we were back out, this time for a jeep safari. A little bit like the African safaris.

Remember the No Monkey Climb tree? Zoom in, and you’ll see the thorns on the trunk.

At first, the terrain was like this. Thick grasses, which could be hiding anything anywhere. Then, about 15 minutes into the drive, we rounded a corner and saw this:

It seems like rhinos are practically throwing themselves at us.

He had a couple of passengers on his back.

Look at what a rhino’s rear end looks like!

I’m including this one because our guide saw this rhino in the water 100 metres from the road. Well spotted.

Snake bird, for obvious reasons.

Honestly, this crocodile looked like it was striking a pose for the camera.

Jungle my a, Durango and shrike. No, I don’t know which is which, either.

A cormorant, drying its wings.

Yet another rhino. We saw others, including a white rhino hiding in the vegetation behind this one, but I’m not including any photos that aren’t ok.

Except this one. Wild boar in the undergrowth.

A herd of Spotted Deer.

Monkeys!

A Samba deer, the biggest deer in the park.

And then there were two…

I think this Spotted Deer and I formed some sort of psychic connection.

So close to the road! We couldn’t believe it.

A Hog Deer, so called because it moves through the long grasses like a boar. It’s endangered.

As we were driving out of the park, these Spotted Deer gave us one last hurrah.

Tomorrow, we fly back to Kathmandu.

Dad joke of the day:

Imagine living with a backdrop like this? As Rob said, we should have been doing the sunrise thing today, as it would have been spectacular. Instead, we had an earlyish start and we were headed for Chitwan National Park to spend the next couple of days communing with nature. Or something.

We stopped to take this photo on our way out of town. It’s roughly 3 hours to Chitwan, though as my friend Morgan reminded me, there are lots of roadwork delays on this road.

It was a pleasant drive. I had a snooze, because I woke at 4AM to get yesterday’s blog post written, but after that, we all chatted and the miles slipped by.

When we stopped for a loo break, Raj told us that soon we’d be crossing the Tissouli river … the river that caused all the chaos two weeks ago.

The reason the town and the bridge are all still standing is that when the torrents of water flowed past here, the river banks are far apart. It was downstream, when the banks got narrower and the cliffs higher, that the pressure in the water built up and caused the catastrophe.

It felt very strange, driving over that bridge.

There wasn’t any time to indulge in melancholic thoughts. As soon as we were over the bridge, we were stuck in a traffic jam for half an hour. There was a small landslide on the road ahead, and a crew was working on clearing it. Quite a few entrepreneurs live in this town. Quite a few men were keen to offer refreshments.

This guy even offered music.

We were in the traffic jam, when I saw something move on the top of the car next door.

”Hey! There’s a goat!”

We drove past the crew clearing the landslide. Raj said that they work for 15 – 20 minutes, then they sit back and let the traffic through, then they start working again.

We stopped for photos at a suspension bridge. I tried jumping on it, but this one was STURDY.

It’s so sad to think that something so beautiful could have killed so many people.

We were coming through the town when all of a sudden… elephants!
“ Grab a photo!” I yelled, as I scrambled to undo my seat belt.

I got the shot.

The place we’re staying I has a surprisingly tropical vibe. The constant humidity is a part of it, but the plants were definitely not what I was expecting.

My room even overlooks a couple of elephants.

We had 3 hours to kill before our jungle walk, so Macy, Anne, Russell and I decided to go for a wander in the town. I bought birthday presents for the 2 kids having birthdays this week, then as if someone opened a tap, the rain came pouring down.
We made a dash for the café over the road and emerged after the rain stopped.

As we were walking back, more elephants appeared.

Our guide on the walking tour said, “In the world there are two kinds of elephants: African and Asian. In Nepal there are also two kinds of elephant elephants: Government and private. The government ones are not used for safari.”

As we began our walk, the heavens opened again. We sheltered under a tarp spread across the street, while our guide filled in the time with random information. Apparently, this style of house is indigenous to the area.

In this part of the world, goats mean riches.

She has tattoos on her legs from the ankle to the knee. Arranged marriages… tattoos are to show that the family accepts her.

Higher class ladies have tattoos.

As we were walking, I heard a sound I’ve only ever heard in movies. It was a hand pump for water.

Then we rounded the corner, obviously still in town… and there was a rhino.

Nepalese  black one horned rhino. They are critically endangered…  roughly 4,000 left. Nepal has a quarter , while India has the rest.

When they are aggressive, they bite and crush you into the dirt. The horn doesn’t come into it.

He thoughtfully shifted position for us.

Our guide said that the best way to escape a charging rhino is to hide behind a big tree, moving around the trunk as it does. Or you could climb 6 feet up the tree.

Or you run in a zigzag, throwing food in one way and running the other way.

Sounds all too easy, doesn’t it? We were only 50 metres from it, in a suburban street, so god knows where we would’ve scattered to if push came to shove.

Then it was on into the National park. The first two elephants are twin boys aged around 24.

The rangers use them to patrol the park during monsoon season, when it gets too boggy for jeeps.

You can see the chains around his feet.
A few years ago, an American woman came here and was horrified to see this. She went home and raised money to install electric fences so the elephants could exercise free will in their paddock.

In the week after the fences were installed, 7 elephants escaped. So the chains were reinstated.

These stray dogs were with us throughout the walk, though the bitch was smarter than us and disappeared just before the leeches appeared.

Now, I love Survivor, and I’ve watched every single episode of Australian and US Survivor. But I’d never put my hat in the ring to compete, because they always have them wallowing in mud.

I can’t stand the stuff. This is what we were walking through. I was definitely not happy, particularly in one morass when I nearly went A over T. It was all over my boots, and as we kept walking, I could see that my boots were letting mud in.

But then, on the other side of the river, we saw another rhino.

There was also a herd of Spotted Deer, coming down to the riverside to drink.

Life’s too humid to stay standing.

My boots weren’t looking too flash.

People started finding leeches on themselves. Our guide was picking them off people, while Russell was picking them off his wife.
“That’s when you need a good man,” she said, “when you need to get the leeches off!”

Can you see how the leech has crawled to the edge of the leaf and is reaching out to latch onto someone? Yuck. Nasty little creature.

Meanwhile, I was unscathed. No leeches were on me whatsoever.

You can see by their perky postures just how much we enjoyed the jungle walk…

Back into town, with another storm brewing. We are very close to India here. Walk behind those blue hills and you’re there.

A peacock coming down to the river. At this time of year, they drop most of their feathers.

Then it was home again for dinner and a cultural show. I went back to my cabin, pulled off my left boot… and found at least 5 leeches feasting on my foot,

I yelped and started trying to get them off me. They were horrible. I’d grab one, pull it off my leg and find that in that split second of grabbing it, it latches onto my fingers.
I got rid of all the leeches, but there was red dye running everywhere. At first I thought it was blood, but fortunately it wasn’t. However, I now had wet boots from washing all the mud and leeches off, and I only have the one pair of shoes…

Instead of dinner and a show, I spent my evening using toilet paper and the hair dryer to dry my shoes. It took HOURS.
I left the aircon on overnight and by morning the boots were dry. Phew!

The red dye has come off my hands…

… but not my feet. I look like I’ve kicked someone to death!

No more jungle walks after heavy rain for this little black duck!

Dad joke of the day:

Well, it was too cloudy for the sunrise. This was about as good as it got.

We were above the fog in the valley. We couldn’t see the lake!

It was a very early start, with a long drive out of the city and up a mountainside on a very narrow, winding road. It was pitch black, and the van’s little lawnmower engine laboured.

People would appear, walking down the road in their hotel uniforms, going to work on the breakfast shift. We arrived before the sunrise and headed up to the top.

At the end of 370 steps, we found this massive golden Ganesh. It was only installed a few months ago.

We were surrounded by hills and mountains. Some have snow on them all year round. Raj, our guide, said, “Anything below 5,000 metres is just a hill. Anything taller than that is a mountain and they all have names.”

We were on a hill – only 1,600 metres above sea level.

I liked the simplicity of this. There are 108 taps.

in Hinduism, the number 108 represents the absolute wholeness of creation, linking the human body, maths (ugh), and the universe.

At least, that’s what AI says. Why 108 was chosen to be so significant is anyone’s guess. I just think this looks like a piece of modern art.

As we were leaving, Janeen pointed out the rat at Ganesh’s feet. Raj said that the rat serves Ganesh as a protector, and also a mode of transport if he wants to go somewhere.

it’d work as a form of protection. I wouldn’t go anywhere near Ganesh if he had a bloody big rat near him.

Then it was back down the windy narrow road to Pokhara, where we visited the temple precinct of Bindabasini. This is the oldest temple precinct in Pokhara.

My stylish boots had to be left behind. It had rained overnight and the ground was wet, muddy and slippery. I wasn’t happy.

The legend goes that the king of this area wanted to establish a temple for Shiva. He had workers transporting the huge statue to the site he nominated. One night, after a long few days of lugging the statue around, they put it down and went to sleep.

When they woke up, they couldn’t pick up the statue again. When he heard this, they put it king decreed that the temple be built around the statue where it stood.
“There must be great power in this spot,” he said.

I knew who I was going to see inside this temple!

There were many fit young men visiting the various temples. This one is whispering his wishes to the bull, in the hope that he will then pass it on to Shiva.

His wish is almost certainly that he will be given a place in the Ghurka regiment in the British army. Or failing that, the Indian army. There are squads of young men all around Pokhara, running in their hotel uniforms streets and being trained in the parks, all hoping to be selected. It’s one of the few ways they can earn a decent living and get a good wage.

Just as we jumped into the van, the rain came. We sped off to breakfast.
A word of warning for the coffee drinkers: so far all we’ve been offered at hotel breakfasts is instant coffee. This current hotel has the Nepalese equivalent of International Roast. 😩

Thank goodness I brought some coffee bags with me!

Because we elected to fly to Pokhara instead of drive, we had time to see a lot more things that weren’t on the itinerary. Turns out that The Nepalese love them a temple or twenty.
We were dropped off at a spot just below a very steep walk to the temple of Shiva at the top of a hill. Other tourists were happily whizzing past us in taxis, but Russell had airily waved away the taxi driver who’d approached us.

It was very steep, but we got there in the end. This statue awaited us:

I asked Raj why Shiva was blue. He said that it was the artist’s interpretation.

This statue is so large that we could see it from the lake far below, when we were doing our boat ride.

The statue may have been a bit theme park, but the location is undeniably beautiful.

We wandered around here for a while. I bought a medallion of Ganesh for my Christmas tree, people bought mocha drinks in tiny terracotta pots- I’m bringing two pots back home with me – and then it was down the steep hill, back to the van to see a Buddhist stupa.

We were dropped off about 15 minutes walk away. The sun was out by now, so I wore my hat, but I could feel my arms getting burned. It was my own fault. I had sunscreen with me but it was in my backpack.
There were shady patches along the way, which I welcomed.

See that SILENCE thing? They weren’t kidding. The purpose of the stupa is for calm and tranquil contemplation.

This is one of 70 World Peace Pagodas in the world, and this one is important because Buddha himself was born in Nepal. Shanti Stupa is the second oldest stupa in Nepal.

When Buddha died, his remains were divided into 8 separate sections. One of these is buried under this stupa.

Once you take off your shoes and climb up, you walk clockwise around, to see the four different sides. They depict Buddha’s life and ascension to heaven.

This one looked very Thai to me.

The big blue Shiva was visible from the next hill. The stupa was ringed with mountains. Big blue and yellow butterflies were among the flowers in the gardens.

I didn’t know at the time, but the Dalai Lama laid the first stone here, and came back to open it.

Our next stop was to a Tibetan refugee camp.

As we drove up, there were school kids running around playing soccer. Kids are amazing. The humidity was really high and we were all slicked with sweat. I licked my upper lip and it was salty.
Still, when you’re travelling, you have a different attitude to when you’re at home. Here, we all keep moving.

The women here make carpets to make some extra coin. Some of us bought. I really liked a couple of large ones that would have looked great in my backpack lounge room, but once again, travelling with carryon saved me money.

After watching a woman do some weaving, we were back in the van, driving to – you guessed it! – another temple.

This one, instead of being high on a hill, was down in a cave. Gupteswor Mahadev Cave, to give you its full name.

There was no avoiding the steps, but at least we could keep our shoes on. It was beautifully cool down there.

A couple of sneaky shots. This is the back of the cobra that (I think) is behind Lord Shiva.

A side view, with offerings.

Back up the steps! We’re certainly getting our training in for the Tigers Nest monastery in Bhutan next week!

Our last stop before the hotel was to The Helping Hand workshop, which was founded in 2009 to give marginalised people skills to earn a living. Many of the people here are deaf and mute. They had a shop, and it was the sort of place where you really want to buy something to support them, but I bought so many things in Peru that I couldn’t find anything I needed.
oh well. Other people bought things, so that’s good.

Anne was practically floating, as she was so enraptured by all of the temples we’d seen. She’s a very spiritual woman and this was right up her alley. I, however, needed something a little more grounding…

When we got back to the hotel, Macy and I decided not to have lunch. We went and did something else instead. Something that having a full stomach probably wouldn’t be a great idea to do.

What could I be doing, aside from looking at the camera?

A second later he let go, I took a deep breath … and jumped off the platform 110 metres over the river below.

Yes, after 20 years of waiting, I finally got around to doing a bungy jump.

I’m not going to lie… launching myself off that platform was hands down the scariest thing I’ve ever done. But once I felt that first bounce, it was amazing. I tried so many times to upload the video for you, but WordPress just wasn’t having it, so these stills will have to do instead.

Macy took this photo as we were heading off.
I’m so glad I finally did it. Time marches on, and I didn’t want to get too old to do it. Now I can move on with my life!

It’s funny what life brings. I never thought when booking this trip, ‘At last I’ll get to go and bungy jump!’

Haha.

Dad joke of the day: