Bhutan Tour

Background : ब-याच वर्षांपासून Bhutan tour हे एक long cherished dream होते.

शेवटी संधी मिळाली साक्षात सुहास कडलासकर व संयोगिता यांच्या बरोबर !!

सुहास कडलासकर यांनी Bhutan tour Esha Tours यांच्या कडून customised करून घेतली, 

East Bhutan is Not visited by Indians,12 दिवसांची detailed Bhutan Tour, including East Bhutan..

क्या बात है !

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This is the vehicle which made our voyage comfortable.

Driver Namge and guide Ram (right)

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Green highlighted content taken from following link with Thanks

https://ophi.org.uk/policy/national-policy/gross-national-happiness-index/

Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index

The phrase ‘gross national happiness’ was first coined by the 4th King of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972 when he declared, “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.” The concept implies that sustainable development should take a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing.

Since then the idea of Gross National Happiness (GNH) has influenced Bhutan’s economic and social policy, and also captured the imagination of others far beyond its borders. In creating the Gross National Happiness Index, Bhutan sought to create a measurement tool that would be useful for policymaking and create policy incentives for the government, NGOs and businesses of Bhutan to increase GNH.

The GNH Index includes both traditional areas of socio-economic concern such as living standards, health and education and less traditional aspects of culture and psychological wellbeing. It is a holistic reflection of the general wellbeing of the Bhutanese population rather than a subjective psychological ranking of ‘happiness’ alone.

Construction of the GNH Index

The GNH Index includes nine domains

1. Psychological wellbeing
2. Health
3. Education
4. Time use
5. Cultural diversity and resilience
6. Good governance
7. Community vitality
8. Ecological diversity and resilience
9. Living standards

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I spoke to few Bhutanese and I understood following,

Impression : Happyness need to be cultivated in one's attitude, when you are close to Nature and less desire for materialistic needs ,when you have a spiritual and pure mind with friendliness and love to others you are really Happy !!

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Day1: 20 March 2019 

Pune -Kolkata

Kolkata-Paro

On the way from Paro to Thimpu, this is pictorious place to wait for a while & take few photographs. Crystal clear water where you can see stones lying at bed. Bhutan is nice clean place with excellent civic sense.

Sangam of two rivers
The Paro Chu(river) meets the Thimphu Chu (river). 

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Day 2 :Thimphu
21 March 2019

 Tried  Local food...
was scared with red chillies...
But delicious !!

Rice,potatoes,spinach, vegetables,Ema-Datshi (chilli-cheese) and chicken cheese.

         Hotel TajTashi at Thimphu
                   (reception)

Buddha Dordenma is a gigantic Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the mountains of Bhutan celebrating the 60th anniversary of fourth king Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Type	statue
Material	bronze
Height	54 metres (177 ft)
Beginning date	2006
Completion date	September 2015
Dedicated to	Bring peace and prosperity to the world

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Day 3 : Thimphu to Punakha
22-March-2019

Enjoyed this drive to Punakha. The stop at the top of the pass(10,000 feet) was a great place to get out and stretch your legs and photoshoot @ 108 stupas.

The Dochula Pass is a mountain pass in the snow covered Himalayas within Bhutan

 on the road from Thimpu to Punakha where 108 memorial chortens or stupas known as "Druk Wangyal Chortens" have been built by Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, the eldest Queen Mother.

The surrounding was pleasantly cold and covered with mist....

(photos credit :suhas kadlaskar)

Look at the sky

Such a clean water in Bhutan,

Such a protected trees and animals /fish in Bhutan,

Feels photos from another planet !!

(photo credit :suhas kadlaskar)

Description

 King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck  and Jetsun Pema is the queen of Bhutan,

Palace at Punakha

In front of Hotel Pema Karpo , Punakha,there is river.

we were fascinated by round stones at bank of river ,round stones probably bythe erosion of waters of river in hundreds of years !

we played by making a tower of stones by delicately balancing the weights of stones.

 isn't life all about 'balancing' !!

 Life is nothing but balancing time with friends, work,family, earning/spending,stress and fun !!!

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Day 4:Punakha to Bum Thang
23-March-2019

 225 km drive via mountain ghats. (Took 7.5 hours)

Truly adventurous drive with that roads and vally/ rivers deep down and nature's spellbinding beauty around.

Yak  (is he /she(?) angry with us?)

(Photos credit :suhas kadlaskar)

Day 5: Bum Thang

24-March-2019

Jakhar fort

On sundays Bhutanese play the game of darts, sing n dance when the dart hits target...

Local winery, she's the owner

        
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Day 6: Bum Thang to Mongar
25-March-2019

On the way enjoyed veiw of beautiful Himalayan range.

         (photo credit :suhas kadlaskar)

The distance from Jakar(Bumthang) to Mongar is about 192kms(7hrs), from Jakar the road follows the east bank of Chamkhar chu and climbs up the ridge to Tansibi village. From here the road ascends to Sertangla pass(3590mts) and descends to Ura which is about 48kms from Jakar.

First time it happened that journey was more fascinating than the destination !!

"Safar kaisa chuna shahzad tune,

har ek Manzil muze,

rasta lage hai !"

Video clips

The fearful looks of nature !

Delighted to see ice at 3600 meters / 11,000 feet altitude.

With Kids of Mongar

    ( Photos credit :suhas kadlaskar)

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Day 7: Mongar Fort:
26-March-2019

Mongar Fort video clip

Drive from Mongar to Trishigang

Once again veiwed fantastic mountain beauty !

 Rock in the shape of a Frog.

Goodness..This is "marble stone"

        Marble stone mountain broken for road widening.

We saw cold season (winter) on the heights and Suhas said we should also see rain here....

Little we knew that this wish would granted so soon by God nature !!

As we arrived on hotel on top of mountain 'Druk Deothjung Hotel '...wind started blowing high and,

" वादल वारं सुटलं ग,
वा-यानं तुफान उठलं ग ,
भिरभिर वा-यात
पावसाच्या मा-यात
सजणानं होडीला
पाण्यात लोटलं"

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Day 9: Trishigang to Paro
             By Druk airways.
28-March-2019

Paro airport to city

Driver Choki(left) and Guide Vishnu (right)

Visit to local house in Paro

They offered Ara wine
In Bhutan they drink responcibly , never cause nuisance to others.

Feel of local dress and archery

आभाळाच्या भाळावरी चंदेरी टिळा  !!

(श्रेय-सुधीर मोघे)

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And the Climax 
Tiger Nest !!

They say Bhutan tour is incomplete without Tiger Nest trek..

See this link for details about Tiger nest

https://www.earthtrekkers.com/ultimate-guide-hiking-tigers-nest-bhutan/

The temple devoted to Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche)  meditated there in 8 th centuris an elegant structure built .
And around the cave in 1692 by Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye. It has become the cultural icon of Bhutan
Tiger Nest (Paro Taktsang)
The monastery is located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the north of Paro and hangs on a precarious cliff at 3,120 metres (10,240 ft), about 900 metres (3,000 ft) above the Paro valley, on the right side of the Paro Chu (‘chu’ Bhutanese means ”river or water”. The rock slopes are very steep (almost vertical) and the monastery buildings are built into the rock face. 
facts about the Hike
* Distance : 4 miles round trip
* Elevation gain : 1700 feet
* Highest Elevation : 10,232 feet
* Time : 5 to 7 hours for entire trip.

Our minutes report 👇🏻

29-March-2019

Tiger Nest trekking 

07:30 am started trekking for Tiger nest. 

11:00 am reached Tiger nest

After seeking darshan and blessing,

00:20 pm started alighting/walking down the steps.

01:30 pm reached cafeteria.

rested for 10 mins , ate snacks and continued descending.

02:50 pm reached ground at parking area.

Celebrated the memorable adventure.

Video clips

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30-March-2019

Tour concluded and started from Paro to Phuntsholing by road.

Return journey

Phuntsholing to Guwahati airport by road 370 kms

Guwahati --Bengaluru

Bengaluru --Pune

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