customs and out into the street

after all the delays of the day, it wasn't surprising that getting through purchasing travel visas and getting through customs in Nepal took some time. 

we were expected in Kathmandu around 9:30am, and made it out to the arrivals area after 3pm. we were all skeptical that our arranged van to the last resort was going to still be there.... but totally lucked out, and someone was waiting for us. poor guy had been there waiting since 9:30am. it took another 45+ min waiting on the curb for the van to arrive to pick us up, but it was an enormous relief to know we didn't have to make alternate arrangements on our own. 

outside the airport in the arrivals area was insane and crazy. total 180° flip from where we had been. tons of people swarming, cops with whistles moving people to and fro, and cars honking horns circling, weaving, and being flagged down and ticketed by the traffic police. 

we stood around and watched. wide eyed, exhausted, hungry and overwhelmed. 

. 

Coming into Kathmandu

the scenery coming into Nepal was so stunning... and the plane ended up circling Kathmandu about 6 times wearing for a gate, so we got to see it over and over and over. ha. 

once we dropped below the clouds, we got the view of the high plateaus town / villages in Nepal were built on... and the the sprawl, and smog hanging over the vast city of Kathmandu. 

coming from the sparsely populated Bhutan, Nepal was already looking like huge shift in mindset. 

Himalayan Giants!

once we cleared the Bhutanese mountains, the Himalayan Giants came into clear view. we flew by all the tallest mountains in the word, and had spectacular clear views of the all! it was so incredibly breathtaking!!! I spent the entire flight with my nose and camera glued to the window! 

and Everest!!! couldn't have been a clearer, more amazing view!!! 

with no zoom, that's how close to the range we were. 

the southern Anapurna range 

Bhutan - Nepal

after the morning of being delayed, the views from the flight were again spectacular! 

we all managed to have right-side window seats, and had a view of the entire himalaya range just outside our window for almost the entire flight. 

layers and layers of hills leaving Bhutan on a beautiful clear day! 

jumlohari, and the high Bhutanese peaks bordering Tibet. 

finally, our flight was leaving.

our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:30am, and another plane arrived for us to use, and we finally boarded around 12:30pm. 

we killed time as best we could, but 4 hours was a long time to wait when we were all good and ready to move on. 

in the departure area after security, there were vendors selling snacks like chips and noodles, but nothing that made up for missed breakfast after three weeks of three meals a day. 

...and waiting

made it through security (with a few more souvenirs purchased with remaining cash), and we settled in to wait for a few for our flight to board. 

and we waited. and waited. departure time passed. they updated us that there was a delay due to weather in Kathmandu. it is only a 1 hour flight, so we can't leave the ground until we are cleared to land. 

and we waited some more. and more. they finally served some tea and biscuits (more than you ever get domestically on the us!), but didn't quite make up for our lack of breakfast. 

they then took our bags off the plane, and sent it out with all the folks going to India (destination of our flight after Nepal). 

all the airport staff were pleasant, but didn't have any info... and we didn't have a plane now. sigh. 

leaving Bhutan

our flight out of Bhutan was scheduled for 8:30am, so we had to depart the hotel by 6am. we all somehow managed to get all our belongings stuffed back into our bags, and were out of the hotel before the sun was up. and unfortuneatly, also before breakfast. 

we arrived at the airport, checked in, ditched our bags, and had one last tea with the guides, then said goodbye to them and our trusty van that carried us safely around the country for 2 weeks. 

it was bittersweet to leave our adventure behind, but we were all ready to go. 

final dinner in Bhutan

on our final night, our guide, tshe tshe, and driver, ashish, joined us for dinner. throughout the whole trip, they made sure we had everything we needed... but never joined us for meals (we extended many invitations). 

it was a fun night, and we really enjoyed chatting and reminiscing about the wonderful trip. it was such a full 12 days, and we all learned and absorbed soooo much. Bhutan is a really serene, adventurous, and cultural rich place to travel, and it was awesome to be amongst so few other travelers that we felt incredibly special everywhere we went. 

souvenir shopping in paro

spent our final afternoon in Paro wandering around the main town area shopping (spending our good tourist dollars). most of the items were more weavings (scarves), wooden masks (for the boys), books, postcards, etc. we were all running really tight on bag space, so tried to gauge purchases wisely. ha. 

after shopping, we returned to the hotel, and furiously worked on finishing our postcards, and put together a few thank you cards for our guides. 

our last Bhutan picnic lunch

we made it back down from the nest by 1pm-ish, and there was another lovely picnic lunch set up for us. the company who catered our lunch was also throwing a reception for some monks in the same location, so we got to sample even more of the more traditional Bhutanese dishes on top of the tamer chillip dishes they prepared. 

the exhaustion from three weeks of constant travel was a little relieved from the high from the hike to tigers nest, but I was definitely ready to start moving toward home. 

coming down

inside the monestary it was shaded and quite chilly hugging the rock cliffs... once we got back outside, we peeled off our layers, and climbed back down the stairs to the waterfall, and up the other side back in the sun to the opposite cliff. we really got in and out of the nest with the prefect timing cuz the masses were arriving as we left. 

we took a bunch more amazing photos in the sun on the way down. 

inside the tigers nest

to go into the monestary, we had to leave all our bags, cameras and phones behind. the security was a lot tighter at this monestary than anywhere else we went. there are a good amount of tourists, but they have only been allowed to enter the monestary since 2000. in 1998, almost the entire monestary burned down, the cause of the fire was unknown and lots of relics and the lives of the caretakers were lost. it took 2+ years and the generosity of many nations and donors to rebuild the monestay. all the temples were repainted, and new alters and artifacts were brought to the site. pretty amazing! 

the nest consists of a handful of monestary buildings, intricately woven into the side of the cliff. only a half dozen monks live there to care for the space. the buildings are built above the sacred caves where legend holds that the guru rimpoché flew in on the back of a tiger, and meditated, and left sacred artifacts (scrolls and statues?) behind. 

we visited 4 of the inner temples, all dedicated to different Buddhas, dieties, and incarnations of prominent figures who brought Buddhism to Bhutan. one of the temples had a trap door in the floor, where you could look down into the upper part of the sacred cave, the hole is the shape of the auspicious symbol of the three sided blade. 

as with all the other temples, tshe tshe filled our heads with vibrant descriptions of the art, alters, and stories that weave them all together. 

as impressive as the structure of tigers nest looks from the outside, it is nothing compared to the inside. 

sunshine on the cliffs

as we made it to the top of the facing cliffs, the sun had come out, and we couldn't walk 10' without shooting more and more pictures. the monestary and surrounding are simply overwhelming. 

from the cliffs on one side, you descend a bunch of stairs down to a waterfall, and then back up the other side into the monestary. 

up up up to tigers nest

on our last day in Bhutan, we hiked up to the world famous tigers nest monestary, set high up in the hills above paro. it is a popular tourist destination of all people coming in and out of Bhutan, and our guide was smart, and got us on the trail by 8:15am to begin the hike. 

it was a chilly morning with a bit of fog hanging low, which kept us cool as we started hiking up. it was a well used wide trail, but up up and up. as we ascended the fog started to lift, and we came around corners to see tigers nest nestled in the cliffs above. 

our motley traveling posse

it has been a challenge to keep up with a simple description of all we have seen and done on this blog... And I have definitely neglected to talk about how much I am also enjoying the company of our traveling posse. rachel, rich, dan, and scott have been a delightful traveling companions. a great combination of people and personalities, and we have all been on the same page through this adventure enjoying each other's company, and playing as a group. we have cut out just enought time individually to rest, but mostly opt to spend evenings chatting, laughing and drinking beers together, and sharing our many photos and things we experienced during the day. 

I really treasure that we have had this shared adventure, and all have unique perspectives on what we have learned and experienced. everyone saw different things, chatted with different people, but we have one amazing tale to share when we get home. ;) 

we huddled together with beers in our room to keep warm that night! paro was a tiny bit warmer than bumthang, but not by much. the hotels are lovely and well equipped for westerners with hot water, good plumbing, etc, but not so much with heat for cold weather (we are at the very tail end of tourist season). 

paro dzong

we made it into the dzong about 30 minutes before closing time. it was similar in structure to the other dzongs. and once again tshe tshe took us into the inner temples, and described all the statues in the alters and stories behind the murals painted on the walls. 

the inner temples are so rich with ornamentation and storytelling that each one blows me away anew. with so much repetition, the stories are becoming slightly familiar, and I am able to pick out some of the central characters... but I am only scratching the surface of comprehending how Buddhism is woven into all aspects of life thought and culture in Bhutan. it is a lovely foundation, and one that people choose freely how they live it. 

the 8 auspicious symbols... dharma wheel, 2 umbrellas, the fish, lotus, infinite knot, conch shell.