After a long day’s drive (8 hours) we finally arrived in Punakha. The sun was just beginning to set, a warm breeze was blowing and the wonderful light at dusk began to set over the  Punakha Valley. We decided to take an evening stroll through a small village, across wheat and rice paddies to the […]

Today was our last day in the wonderful Bumthang Valley and the beautiful Mountain Lodge. Thank you Mr. Karma and Mrs. Wangmo formaking us feel at home here! The day started with a great lecture by Judy on the Wheel of Life before we set out to watch Mr. Karma compete in a local archery tornament. […]

What a day! Some of us in the group got up early this morning to join the monks at Karju Monastery for Puja. There were about one hundred monks chanting and blowing the Tibtan horns. At around 9 am we set out for Kunzandrak Monastery . Very few Western visitors ever go to Kunzandrak despite […]

We left Thimphu two days ago and set out for Trongsa and Bumthang. It is a long, windy and bumpy drive with some fun stops along the way.  There are really only two main roads in Bhutan the “East-West” highway and theroad to the Indian border. We were  traveling on the “East-West” highway but let me be […]

We all arrived safely in Bhutan! We met our wonderful guide Kinga and his friend Jigme, a Kagyu monk who will be traveling with us. Jigme speaks English quite well and was educated at the Kagyu Institute in Darjeeling. His knowledge of Buddhist iconography is overwhelming. We spent the first day getting over the jetlag […]

I am off to Bhutan again this week. More to come once I reach Paro. Stay tuned.

I have been traveling for a few days now and I thought some of you might enjoy reading about what I have experienced so far: Tehran is a city of almost 15 million people and aside from the beautiful museums there is not much to see in Tehran. However, I was struck by how modern […]

The Chiang Mai Flower Festival takes place in Chiang Mai, Thailand from February 5th to 7th. The yearly festival dates back to 1977 and has since earned a reputation as one of the best in the world similar to the Japan Sakura Flower Festival. The highlight of the festival is the parade of floats decorated […]