December 10, 2005 - It was a very, very long day.

The beds at the Majestic Grand Hotel were very comfortable. Those soft goose-down comforters and high thread-count sheets were luxurious. Too bad I enjoyed them for only a 20 minute power-nap. At 3:30 am, we were off to the airport to catch a Druk Airlines flight (they have but one plane so it wasn’t difficult to find) to the Kingdom of Bhutan.

We bumped into Joel on the check-in line at the airport. Joel is a university student in Wisconsin who is currently taking some time off to see the World. He’s well along his way of his goal to tag all seven continents. He makes the forth and last person in our group.

Calcutta is a mysterious place to me. It will remain so since we only stopped there to pick up passengers and fuel before taking of for the last leg to Bhutan. This last leg packed some major punch in the form of tall Himalayan peaks. Those mountains have inspired so many, and caused the demise of others. Today, they formed just a backdrop for the start of our adventure.

Our guides, Passang and Tenzing, met us as we exited the airport. They met us with warm smiles which were helpful at the time since we were met with temperatures just above freezing. They were dressed in traditional Bhutanese garb which didn’t seem adequate to protect them from the cold. I thought perhaps that they had long underwear but that couldn’t have been the case with their exposed legs. But, I was in the Country for 30 minutes. I shouldn’t know better.

Our travels in Bhutan started at the Paro Rinpung Dzong, a large “fortress” dating back to the 18th century. We encountered many monks along the way who were visiting there was well. There were sleeping dogs and drying red peppers in the sun. Passang warned us that the peppers were quite powerful which made me want to try them even more. Little did I know that I would get the chance very soon after.











Lunch was in a little restaurant in town. Paro is very rustic with small, two story building lining the narrow streets. The restaurant was well prepared to satisfy our gluttonous appetites. I must make an effort to control myself from now on.

We then visited the watchtower of the Dzong which was converted to the National Museum in 1968. The structure is 7 floors high and every corner is filled with an unbelievable collection of artwork, tools, and weapons. The displays snaked tightly around in a spiral orientation with the floors connected by steep, narrow staircases. It was overwhelming. I found myself moving too quickly from one display case to the next for fear of not making it through to the outside before nightfall! It was also frustrated by my inability to recall facts from the various history and art classes I had the opportunity to take in college. I’ve regressed in my knowledge but was still able to enjoy being in awe at the skilled workmanship needed to create such pieces.

We took a frightening and beautiful van ride along mountain roads to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. Our host for dinner was Mrs. Sonam Wangmo, Managing Director of the tour company responsible for us for this trip. Bhutan’s visitation is controlled and restricted to 12,000 people per year. This limitation is imposed by the government, wisely, because they recognize that their Country’s current tourism infrastructure is not capable of accommodating more at this time. Travel must be arranged through one of the government-approved traveling companies. The fees are quite high but as Passang stated, the goal is to have “low volume, but to keep standards very high”.

Sonam graciously welcomed us into here home and generously provided us with a feast of local cuisine. The rice wine was delicious but hit my sleep-deprived state pretty hard. There were so many dishes, each made even more delicious by the chili sauce. I cavalierly spread a generous amount onto a dumpling and was punished with an inextinguishable blaze in my mouth! Passang did not understate their potency at all. I was quite happy.

We finished the evening with such a rich conversation. Sonam grew up in one of the remote, nomadic villages in the eastern region of Bhutan. There were no schools in the village. Her parents were able to send her to India for boarding school. Her education then took her to London and then to Florida. She returned back to Bhutan with the aspiration and knowledge to build a life in Bhutan. After many successful entrepreneurial pursuits, she now runs this very successful travel service. Our different backgrounds made for a fascinating discussion. While we come to Bhutan after a lifetime living in a more “modern” world, Sonam came to the same place after growing up in a world that she describes as being several centuries behind. I so very much enjoyed meeting Sonam, a truly fascinating individual. I do regret that even my normal insomniatic state wouldn’t allow for the evening to last longer.