My Bhutan Adventure
I love to travel and see new locations around the world. Most of my vacations are continental USA for backpacking, though recently I have done some trips abroad with the Wild Women Expeditions (WWE). This has been a great travel group for me to travel with as it is devoted to groups of women. WWE posted a couple years ago that they were beginning to craft a trip in Bhutan and I have been looking forward to this trip since then.
I knew I needed to get into better shape for the vertical climbing to the renowned Tiger’s Nest, but I have been limited in what my body would tolerate due to an old spinal injury that resulted in a neck fusion in 2012. Since 2012, I have lost the ability to tolerate most of my favorite forms of exercise due to risk factors associated with them and I subsequently have gained some mass myself. I did however, with slow diligent progress beginning in March 2019, build up tolerance to spin classes, thereby building my endurance. By September 2019, I was attending spin classes two to three times weekly and hiking in our Boise foothills and central Idaho mountains one to three times weekly. This was crucial for my preparation for the trip. I was also lucky that I was able to get some altitude exposure up to 10,000 ft. over labor day with backpacking in Idaho’s Pioneer Mountains.
My travel to Bhutan did route me from Boise, ID (my hometown), to San Francisco, CA, USA; through Tokyo Japan; to Bangkok, Thailand with an overnight stay. I flew United airlines with ANA for the last leg of the flight. My hotel was a quick ride from the airport for convenience. After a few hours’ sleep at a my hotel, I flew Bhutan Airlines to Paro, Bhutan. I did use my Melatonin beginning on the flight from San Francisco to Japan with continued use for good nights’ sleep throughout my stay in Bhutan.
Day 1: Thursday, October 3, 2019
We went to a farm house and sampled some tea, took a hot stone bath, and had dinner while sitting on mattresses that lined the walls of the kitchen. Due to the long days of travel we were all tired and ready to get some sleep in our great little hotel room. The bed was firm, and the melatonin greatly helped to be able to fall asleep despite a little discomfort from all the travel and the harder than accustomed to mattress.
We met up for breakfast after packing up our rooms, had breakfast together at 730 and were on the road at 0800. Breakfast included items such as cereal, pancakes, fried eggs over hard, chicken sausage, sautéed tomatoes, toast, and juice and coffee. Our destination for the end of the day was Punakha.
We took in markets along the way, toured a memorial chhorten in Thimphu that was finished on behalf of the 3rd king after his early passing, toured textile weaving location where women were working on an order for the royal family, saw the Great Buddha, and had some time in the van to reach our beautiful hotel (Zhingkham) up a steep, narrow, winding road in Punakha.
This was our first day going over a winding mountain pass road, up and down approximately 4000 ft. We had a great cottage with many rooms for the WW. There was a great gift shop at the hotel where I found a beautiful pendant with a silver chain and beautiful sounding cymbals. We had dinner then climbed the numerous steps up to our cottage - the higher you climbed the better the view, making our location fabulous viewing.
Day 3: Saturday, October 5, 2019
We woke up before our alarms, had a great shower, packed our bags, and walked the many steps down to the restaurant in our hotel. We loaded the van and hit the road, taking in another market.
This time, some WW sampled components of the betel nut chew (mixed with limestone and other ingredients that are generally chewed together) at another market. The betel nut is one of the worst smelling things I have had the displeasure of experiencing; I do not understand its attraction. It stains the ground when people chewing it spit. It is used similar to a tobacco product with the spitting practice that occurs. Looking it up after returning home, I learned it is listed as a carcinogen and classified with other addictive agents such as nicotine and caffeine. We then were in the van for what was the most winding road I have ever been on.
The road switch backed up the mountain, had areas of wash out, numerous rock slides littered the road, and at times the road was barely wide enough for our vehicle to pass. There was one “Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God” moment for me on this road today where we had to pass another vehicle on the cliff side with a rock slide complication. Rinzin is an amazing driver, and pulled us through safely.
We saw some white monkeys along the drive, and learned that this was a sign of good luck. We stopped for tea along the way with some great views, and shortly after tea
we stopped again for lunch. We didn’t arrive to Trongsa until 1630 and all tourist locations closed at 1700, so we checked into our hotel (Yankhill resort) and then walked into town for some stretching out the legs from the 6 hours in the van. We returned to the hotel for our buffet style dinner at 1900, then retired to our rooms.
Day 4: Sunday, October 6, 2019
I didn’t wake fully until the alarm this morning; after readying for breakfast we met our group in the restaurant at 0800. There were some of the usual breakfast items: porridge, chicken sausage, sautéed tomatoes, and today also had custom omelets made to order! I was able to load mine with the hot chilies, onions, and tomatoes. It was fabulous! Though I may have gone overboard on the chilies when I asked them to add a 2nd spoonful to the omelet. We loaded up to start our day and check out of the hotel at 0900. First stop we walked to was the Trongsa Dzong was just in town, probably a 20-30 min walk up the road.
While there, we were able to learn how they dye the wool, spin into yarn, and weave into rugs. There was also a shop where they sold their goods. I did find a rug I liked and thought it would surely be out of my price range. It was 8,000 Nu (in local
currency); $150 USD. So guess who has a new rug! It takes up a lot of my extra room in my extra large north face duffle that I brought on this trip. I am lucky that I changed up the size of my duffle to the larger at the last minute prior to flying.
We got back on the road before long and arrived at our new hotel (Jakar View) in the town of Bumthang. It is in the 2nd valley of the state of Bumthang. We will be here for 3 nights! This is the first time we get to settle in a little as well as get some laundry done with ease of drying. And it is a beautiful location. We had lunch promptly after checking into our rooms. This was the first lunch that varied a bit from the usual rice, chicken, hot chilies, cabbage; it had rice, chicken hot chilies, green beans, broccoli, potato pancake, and lentil soup. It was quite good, and nice to choose from some different items. Apparently some of the variation is from the Swiss influence in the region.
Following lunch, we prepared for a walking sightseeing tour. We first drove to the local Dzong (20 min. drive) just as they finished a special celebration; the traffic was impressive! We toured the temple there, bought some souvenirs, walked on further to another Dzong that was built at the location where it is believed that Guru Rinpoche left his body’s impression in the rock. There are numerous temples in the area, and the lighting was perfect for this shot.
We went a bit further, crossing a swinging bridge that is in need of attention due to some broken boards on the walking surface. We saw some of the cutest puppies along the walk. All the dogs are wild here, but generally well cared for by the towns and especially the monks. We had dinner at 1930, there were some subtle differences at this location with the typical Bhutanese dinner, very tasty and with a fruit serving for dessert.
Day 5, Monday, October 7, 2019
We had a nice breakfast then got on the road at 0800. Along the drive, we stumbled upon a temple under traditional construction. It was so impressive how the take large
We later toured a home with incense manufacturing; the family that runs it has their son involved with the juniper chipping portion and I think the processing of the clay out of the juniper powder and spices, and they hire some village ladies for rolling out the clay into the incense sticks. They then lay them out to dry in the sun if it is sunny. If it is raining it dries more slowly indoors. We proceeded further up the road and switched up the mountain past a Dzong to the trailhead.
Our hike ascended just over 800 ft. to the summit where we had lunch. It was initially quiet, but then the wind kicked up bringing life to the many prayer flags along with a little drizzle of rain. We then descended 3,000 ft. to the chhorten location where Rinzin was waiting with the van for us. The hike distance was listed as approx. 9 miles; my Garmin tracked it as 7.79 miles.
We returned to our hotel and ate a great dinner; and I tried a couple items with flour as they were made with buckwheat flour. It was a successful trial for me. I am so excited that I could try something different without any repercussions. I then got to bed rather fast.
Day 6, Tuesday, October 8
We woke without an alarm, the power was out due to the constant heavy rain that happened overnight. We went to breakfast at 0800 where we found buckwheat pancakes, scrambled eggs to order, rice porridge and honey, toast, bananas and peanut butter. We then loaded the van at 0900 to drive to town for the festival (this was a variation in our itinerary related to voting for the festival over a long rainy hike).
We arrived to the festival in rain, consistent but light. There was no good viewing on the entrance side so we worked our way into the tent where surprisingly there were many available seats. We then watched the first five events of the day (of eight).
There was power loss during a heavy downpour, the microphone no longer worked, but the monks continued with their sword dance. The dances were quite lengthy, generally over 30 minutes each. They were very interesting, and thankfully we had great rain cover for the event.
We went to lunch at the local farmhouse adjacent to the monastery. They served even more food than we had been accustomed to. It is a compliment to finish the food; with the amount provided we would have required a group twice the size. We then went down the road to the brewery.
We weren’t able to tour since they were making beer, but were able to sample beer if desired, or have black tea, herbal tea, or cocoa. We walked next door then to the Swiss cheese manufacturing location where they sell their cheese along with wine and numerous miscellaneous items. We bought some wine for dinner to share. Next, we went into town and did some shopping in the local stores.
I have already spent a fair amount with buying a rug two days ago, a scarf from baby yak wool prior to that, and today I found some keychains. One will be a Christmas tree ornament for me. After shopping, we find ourselves back at the hotel and readying our bags for the six hour drive we have in store for us tomorrow. We were able to enjoy having a home base for three consecutive nights. It sure was nice to have.
Day 7, Wednesday, October 9, 2019
We awoke early to prepare for a long day in the car, packed our bags, and went down to an 0730 breakfast, again fabulous and slightly varried: buckwheat pancakes, eggs to order, bananas and peanut butter, puff pastries which I admired but did not try.
We got on the road at 0830 with first stop of Trongsa to go through The Royal Heritage Museum, aka the watch tower. We arrived too late to Trongsa earlier in our trip to do the tour, so today we were able to fit this in. There were many restored ancient artifacts of the Bhutanese culture along with a short history film. We were able to have tea on the grass after touring the museum and prior to loading up for the rest of our lengthy drive.
Shortly after leaving the museum, we were able to see many brown monkeys (the mischievous monkeys) very close to the side of the road. From the van we were able to get some great pictures.
We arrived near Gangtey, took some road side pictures, then started a “short” walk to town. It turned out to be much more than anticipated, and we arrived after sunset as dusk was darkening our skies, to our hotel (Dewachen Hotel and Spa). My phone app estimated that we walked one hour 11 min and 3.55 miles. Initially the walk felt great, esp. since we had been in the van a cumulative six hours. Later though in the walk, my bladder got very upset with me, and had to stop a tad short to borrow a bathroom from a shop owner. Our hotel is nice, but we won’t know the view until morning. We had dinner buffet style in the dining room with the most tourists we’ve seen in one place since arriving in Bhutan. It sure was an overstimulation of the senses with all that noise. Only one night here, so that is OK with me.
Day 8: Thursday, October 10, 2019
We were awakened by the sunshine in the room. It was a beautiful view indeed. We started with packing up then having breakfast in the noisy hall. It was a good breakfast with omelets made to order. Shortly after that we were on our way to the local Dzong to watch the practice of monks for their pending festival.
Their festival begins tomorrow. I was surprised at some variations in the dances when compared to those we saw in Bumthang. The morning went fast, and we were off down the road to an amazing lunch, cooked fresh for us, and served to us in the room with the worship altar. It was great to have some steamed veggies!
After finishing lunch we started a hike, nearly 5 miles, up into the hills around the valley then down to the valley floor. After our hike, we loaded up the van for a 2.5 hour drive to Wangdue, aka Wangdi. The sun had set prior to our arrival here, so again, we will learn of our view in the morning from our hotel (Ecolodge).
The small one lane road to the Ecolodge was at times unnerving in the dark of night. We are here for two nights however, so hopefully it’s better in the daylight. With the two nights, it is another great opportunity to do some sink laundry (it can be hired out, but easy enough to do myself). We went to one of the best dinners, competes pretty good with the food in Bumthang. Sticky rice, broccoli and carrots, chicken without any bones, potatoes, and fruit for dessert. They were very attentive to dietary restrictions and served our food dished out on the plates. It was fabulous! Now to bed because I am exhausted.
Day 9: Friday, October 11, 2019
We woke early for breakfast at 0700; they served us outside with a view to kill for! We got on the road at 0800 for a packed agenda today. We back tracked to Panakha to hike to a five-year-old temple, Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Choeten.
The hike was approx. two miles, had some vertical, but mostly it was hot and humid. It is hard to believe that we are nearing the middle of October; however, parts of Bhutan are tropical. We definitely required the sun screen and bug repellant today. I
This was a very impressive temple. The colors were so vibrant. I am not sure if it is because the temple is so new, but that is my guess. When we returned to the suspension bridge that we had crossed early in our hike today, there was our van for changing to our river float attire. It was the female side of the river, the Mo Chu River. It is the calmer side prior to the confluence with the Po Chu River, but our guides made sure that didn’t mean we stayed dry. I did pack the change of clothes like recommended, and my towel (though I could have used one from the hotel) and my Chaco flip flops (though the rafting company had some flip flops for use too). What I didn’t bring was a change in underwear! And boy did both bottoms and top get soaked! After our 45 min and 3.7 mile rafting experience, we got out along the shore where there was an amazing catered picnic! This was yet the best food of the whole journey! There were a couple things I couldn’t try being gluten and dairy intolerant, but overall, there were still so many options.
Again we got on the road with our next destination as the Panakha Dzong. Boy is it beautiful!
We then had a little drive back to Wangdue. We arrived back to the hotel at 1700 allowing for showers, sink laundry, then dinner at 7PM. Dinner was buffet style tonight; a little less exciting for me than the customized dinner from the prior night.
Day 10: Saturday, October 12, 2019
Today we woke early again to have 0700 breakfast and be on the road at 0800. The staff was however late at getting breakfast ready, so they served buffet style at 0730 with some of the items, and more of the food came later in the morning. I had 3 eggs and returned to my room to finish zipping up bags and setting out the luggage.
We returned to Panakha, this time to walk to The Sopsokha village (aka “penisville”) and beyond it to the Chime Lhakhang Temple. The is the temple for fertility and for long life for families’ children. The area is a touristy area more than other locations
Along our walk to and from the village, we were able to see what hard work harvesting rice is. there were numerous men and women working the fields, working hard, and no rest in sight. It makes you respect every bite of rice more throughout the trip.
We the had 4.5 hours in the van back to Paro. This was broken up with lunch at the summit where we met Blue Poppy’s manager, Karma. The nice thing about a light day, is we arrived early to our 5-star hotel (Zhima Ling). This is by far the best hotel ever! A nice treat before and after our trek. I have been able to organize for the overnight trek that we have tomorrow. I have been able to load a bag for the horse to carry and my daypack for me and the bag to leave at the hotel for safe keeping while we hike for two days to and from Taktsang (Tiger’s Nest).
Day 11: Sunday, October 13, 2019
Today we had a great breakfast at 0730 for our 0830 departure to the trailhead. We had to drive up some switchbacks to the temple near the trailhead. We then proceeded to hike a steep five miles (4.94 according to my Garmin), ascending over 3000 vertical feet, to our new overnight accommodations.
We did break for a juice snack at a covered picnic area, and later for lunch at another temple. Upon reaching our camp, Chhimi wasn’t sure if it was our camp because the tents were not those of our contracted travel agency. She did call out for our crew – consisting of Tshering, Tshering, Leki, and Sensei. She learned that the tents that were set up for another group were unoccupied for the night, and that we had been given permission to use them for the night.
You may ask, what could this mean? We were planning to sleep in shorter tents with mattresses on the floor and sleeping bags; bringing along our bag liners and pillows and sleeping pads as desired per person. Well, this set up meant we were glamping tonight! The tents were so tall you could stand up in them! They each had two cots
It did get cold fast and we were delivered warm bathing water per person to the tents. This was wonderful! All I needed were my sea to summit soap slices and my handkerchief to do a PTA bath. Then we started to layer up for the cold was setting in. There was an older dog with mange that had an eye issue and was so ugly he was dang cute. He was very accepting of some granola from my snacks.
Delores did well to make sure he was fed while we camped here, and later we
We had dinner in the dining tent, hot ginger water, then turned in early for the night to avoid the cold. This allowed for some visiting with your tent-mate time and experimenting with layers. I found that I could sleep really well with my base layer Patagonia tops and bottoms, fleece pants, smart wool thicker top layer, north face
down jacket, fleece gloves, and hat, then in my bag liner, the bag liner we were lucky to have, then drape in the sleeping bag and the provided additional blanket. Wow was this nice! I could have zipped up and taken off a layer or more, but not having to zip into a mummy bag is a sweet deal! The other item not on the packing list that I brought and loved were my down booties for fall camping.
Day 12: Monday, October 14, 2019
We woke to a fully socked-in morning. After a while, the clouds started to part and the Himalayan mountains with snow top were visible. We slowly packed our gear and reduced our layers to allow our team to load our supplies on the horses, then had breakfast. Rinzin began the hike back to the van to be able to shuttle the van to our
ending location. After breakfast, we began our hike. We weren’t sure what to make of the hike today since we were technically above Taktsang (Tiger’s Nest), and there would be sufficient downhill as well as some return climb with the “750 steps” we had been warned about.
Yesterday's trip description didn’t list the mileage correctly, so we hoped that today would be similar. It turned out that today was 8.9 miles (according to my Garmin) and a ton of vertical.
We toured Tiger’s Nest, noting that this was by far the most crowded tourist location to date. It was very worth the crowds in Tiger's Nest and on the trail descending from it though! We benefitted from Chhimi educating us more about Guru Rinpoche and the reason that he meditated at this location for so many months. Tiger's Nest was an impressive site; we toured three different temples at the location. It is literally built into the mountain, and has been rebuilt because of fires in 1950 and again in 1988.
After touring we did the steps again and then took a break for lunch. It was the best rice I had ever tasted, and by this point, I’d become pretty tired of rice. The dogs loved the leftovers that we couldn’t finish. We thought we were pretty well in the clear with a short hour hike back to the car, but it was more than that, and far steeper than we had thought too. I believe it was over 90 minutes from our lunch location back to the trailhead.
All in all, it was a fabulous once-in-a-lifetime experience, that I will always hold dear to my heart. We returned to our hotel and I took the best shower, then began the dreaded packing again. We had a fabulous dinner tonight. We are again at Zhiwa Ling, and they accommodate Gluten Free and Dairy Free better than any other location we have been by noting on the menu items that are already meeting that criteria. Now, it’s off to bed early to catch some zzzz’s and enjoy a bed rather than the many airplane seats to come.
Day 13: Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Today is bitter sweet as we finish up our Bhutan adventure. Our flight (for five of the six of us) was changed to a later time. This was nice for us to do more shopping and have another meal together, but it also meant a longer work day for Chhimi and Rinzin. Last night I slept the worst I had throughout these two weeks; every little
This was my 3rd trip with WWE and I expect to continue to use their services due to no hidden surprise expenses, well planned out itineraries, female guides, female travel groups, and small group sizes on all three trips that I have been on.
Bhutan is an amazing destination for cultural immersion and for adventure, though there are a few things would be helpful to know before you go:
1.) The Bhutan bank will not accept older bills and the currency exchange rate is better for the $100 bill versus the $50 and so on
a. Bring only new $100 USD
b. The Indian Rupee is equivalent to the Bhutanese Ngultrum (Nu)
c. Though credit is often taken in most locations, the machines are very inconsistent and not reliable; for best options have cash on hand
d. Have cash on hand for the 2-day trek to Tiger’s Nest to tip the trail and camp crew
e. Have cash on hand for tipping the guide and driver
f. If traveling through Bangkok, it is worthwhile to have local cash as some hotels do not like to use credit and they do not accept USD
2.) The main road in Bhutan is improved, but still it is challenging to stomach if you are prone to motion sickness or afraid of heights
a. The wrist bands for motion sickness were helpful when worn on both wrists and according to the directions in the packaging
b. When headed east, generally sitting on the left side of the bus or van is better if afraid of heights; and the reverse for headed west
c. At times, travel can be delayed due to rock slides or other road condition deterioration
3.) Though the agency provides trekking poles for the 2-day trek to Tiger’s Nest (Taktsang), they do not have them for use with hikes earlier on. I was fortunate that last minute I decided to bring my own and had them to use with all hikes that required our use of hiking boots.
4.) The packing list recommendation from WWE is going to result in over packing if you are a list follower like me
a. Do not be like me and bring enough clothes to not have to do some laundry, you will have way too much weight in your bag for moving hotels frequently
b. I didn’t bring a swim suit; we all went into the hot stone baths in the buff. It’s a little weird with a new friend, but speeds up the process of being at ease with one another
c. I did bring a dress; not sure if I would do that again. It has provided me a nice outfit for the last night and for the flight home.
d. I packed a couple camp luxury items from the list and one that wasn’t; I slept like so well at camp it was great for a good 2nd day of hiking
i. Sleeping pad
ii. Travel pillow
iii. Down booties
e. Make sure to pack a bag with enough room for all your treasures
i. I am headed home with 1 rug, 2 paintings (rolled for easier transport), small symbol chime, a baby yak wool scarf, a pendant, a T-shirt and a couple key chains
Here is my version of a revised packing list, aka what I should have done:
• Insect repellant – the smallest you can find, 30% deet is plenty
• Sunblock – a small size tube
• Lip chap with sunblock
• Camera – ideally not only a camera phone
• Flashlight or headlamp
• Electrolytes
• Water bladder
• Sun glasses
• Snacks – proportioned out in Ziploc bags is helpful
• Toilet paper for everyday use (towns are not reliable for TP) and for trekking
• Hand sanitizer for everyday use and for trekking
• Waterproof stuff sack to put overnight trekking in for horses to carry
• Waterproof cover for day pack
• 30+ L capacity day pack
• Sleeping bag for < 0-degree weather (Celsius)
o You can use one free of charge from travel agency
o Make sure to let WWE know you want to use one of the agency bags
• Sleeping bag liner
• Camp inflating mattress pad
• Inflatable pillow
• Hiking poles along with repair kit
• 1-2 trekking trousers, pockets are helpful, removable pant leg or conversion to shorter pants helpful in the tropical areas
• 1 fleece pants
• 2 wicking T-shirts
• A travel chic outfit for the nicer hotels – not necessary, but can be enjoyed.
• PJs for hotels
• 2 Bras – definitely bring more than one, you will want a spare on rafting day as there is no not getting wet on that raft. This was my first year doing numerous trips in many climates with an icebreaker wool sports bra, and I love it because it is not uncomfortable if it remains damp.
• 2 long-sleeved shirts
• 1 lightweight fleece
• 3-4 pair of smartwool socks, 1 pair of fleece socks for trekking night, other dress socks as desired
• 3-5 pair of quick dry travel underwear
• Thermal underwear (top and bottom)
• Down lightweight jacket
• Waterproof jacket and pants
• Face buff, winter hat, and gloves
• Lightweight hiking shoes for everyday use
• Hiking boots with high ankle support (water repellant)
• Broad brimmed hat or baseball cap with bandana to shade the neck
• Spare batteries (ie: for flashlight), cordless charger (ie: for phone when trekking), and converter/transformer (ie: for in hotels).
• Travel wrist bands for motion sickness
• Personal medications and OTC and any travel nurse meds o For traveler’s diarrhea, motion sickness, altitude sickness, NSAIDs, any respiratory every used due to heavy use of incense o Antiseptic cream – always a must have. o Throat lozenges, cold and flu meds o Sting relief and insect repellant – hydrocortisone cream (generic) o Blister care
• Toiletries – be minimal if you can o Shampoo, conditioner both in small travel bottles
Most hotels had shampoo and conditioner
All hotels had soap
All hotels had hair dryers though some were lacking in power
o Travel size toothpaste and brush
Some hotels had dental kits o Hair brush o Travel sized dental floss
o Feminine hygiene products
• Travel wash cloth and/or handkerchiefs
• Biodegradable soap for body and laundry
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