Well, I can’t believe my trip has already come to an end, but I am so happy that I ended it in Bhutan. Thanks Jake and Stephanie for mentioning that I should come here. It was the perfect place to end in after eight weeks of crazy, loud, polluted, dusty and crowded India and Nepal. Bhutan is paradise in comparison. It is everything that India and Nepal are not—clean, quiet, spacious and all about sustainable development. It is not a cliché that Bhutanese define themselves and their country on happiness. Everywhere, their motto “Happiness is a place” can be seen and being all about “gross national happiness” instead of gross domestic product can also be felt. It’s an amazing place, and you all have to visit one day!!
Remember how crazy Delhi was?! Here’s a video I shot from my hotel balcony in Paro. Is this what camping is like? LOL
I arrived on Sunday after a relatively turbulent flight. I saw the top of Everest from the plane! My guide Duptho was waiting at the airport for me. (Side note – the Paro airport is the cutest thing ever. The arrivals building is literally one room… we got off the plane on the tarmac and walked in. The immigration and customs counter was maybe about 200 hundred metres from the door hehe.) After getting my bag we headed out to Thimpu, Bhutan’s capital about an hour away. I got in around dinner time, so after checking into the hotel, we went for dinner. I got a short walking tour of the city and had yummy food after having very mediocre and bland food for four weeks in Nepal! Everything was so spicy, including a dish that was called “chilli cheese.” I don’t know what I expected, but I did not expect the chilli to be actual chillies. When I saw it at first I thought it was green bell peppers, but it was something that looked and tasted like jalapenos, except more spicy. And the “cheese” portion was a white sauce of some sort. It was good, but damn, it was spicy!! The best part was that they brought extra hot sauces, and one of them was what I make at home – fish sauce with cut up chillis. I ate with a chicken dish I ordered. Soo good!
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m Asian, but after dinner, Duptho took to me to a karaoke bar!! LOL. The bar was not crowded, and I was not drunk, but I sang a song Love Will Keep Us Alive with Duptho (his choice, not mine lol). I wanted to sing my go to – Living on a Prayer – but everyone there was singing Bhutanese and Hindi songs that were kind of slowish, so I thought it might be weird to come in with a rock song. 😛 Anyway, it was fun!
–Bea
Bea Vongdouangchanh 