Thu, May 5 - The Journey Home

The Punakha Dzong

We slept in until  8:30 which meant I didn't have time to blog.  We went downstairs and indulged in the great Novotel buffet, and bumped into David Bishop who was relaxing until his 6 PM flight to Sydney.  Bob has a small flashlight that he really likes and has been missing for some time.  He last remembered using it in our room when we were in Bangkok on April 13.  He went up to Reception and asked if they had a lost and found.  The very nice lady behind the counter checked her computer, and said "Yes", they had the flashlight and would deliver to to our room!

A few minutes later there was Bob's precious flashlight neatly wrapped in cellophane - what a hotel!   It really is the perfect travel hotel as it' s open 24/7 and when you arrive you have your room for 24 hours - really convenient for travelers changing planes at odd hours.

We checked out and took the hotel van to the airport, checked in on EVA Air and took our coach flight to Taipei where at 7 PM we got on our EVA 777 to LAX in Premium Economy - very nice wide seats with footrests, nice menus- all you really need for a comfortable flight.  We settled in, had mojitos, dinner and watched a lot of movies and TV.

We had breakfast and landed at 4:20 PM on the 5th, before we took off from Taipei- always a weird sensation.  We got through immigration, picked up our luggage and reached  the curb in front of the Tom Bradley Terminal in time to catch the 5:30 SB Airbus.  We had intended to drive a rental car home but, considering the amount of time we spent sleeping on the bus, I'm glad we weren't driving!

We semi-unpacked, ate a snack (mushroom soup and hotdogs - our arriving home traditional supper!) and went to bed at midnight.  Friday we got up at 8 AM and started the several loads of eleven day's worth of dirty clothes!  At ten we drove down to the Cat House Hotel and there was Maddie up in the front window dozing on her regular perch.  I entered the building and called her name - she jumped up howling and dashed around to the door and stood up to greet me!   That was pretty gratifying!

Miss Maddie - home again!

Thanks for traveling with us to Bhutan!  It was a great trip and wonderful to experience such a lovely paradise of a country:  miles of primary forest, very friendly people and healthy, happy dogs, no plastic bag litter, and amazing plants, birds, and butterflies.

Bob's goal was to see 130 new life birds and he ended up with 140!!

Wed, May 4 - Leaving Bhutan

We had some coffee at 5:15 and loaded onto our bus for a drive up the mountains.  We had hoped for one last chance to see snowy peaks, but it was overcast once again.  We stopped for good views of several species of pheasant and saw that the red rhododendrons are fading and white ones and azaleas are taking their place.

Mrs. Gould's Sunbird & Coal Tit (D Alexander photo)

Kalij Pheasant. (D Alexander photo)

At 6:30 we reached the Chele La, the pass where we had had our snowy breakfast three weeks ago.  The temperature was 37 degrees, but there was a bitter wind.  We huddled around our table while our loyal crew ladled out warm porridge and cheese omelets.  We ate them pretty quickly and I fed half of mine to a nice dog who obligingly rolled over and requested a belly rub!

Wolfing down Hot Porridge at a very cold Site!

David was going to conduct the farewell ceremony there but we were all so cold that we planned to meet the crew further down where it would be warmer. We drove slowly down hill, stopping to photograph several flowers.  We met the crew and David warmly thanked Wangdi,  our driver, Uygen, our guide, the cook and all the helpers and gave them their envelopes.  David takes care of all tipping on his bird tours which is great for us as we wouldn't know what would be appropriate.

We returned to the hotel at 11 with instructions to meet for lunch at 12:30 with airline checked bags in our rooms and hand luggage with us.  I was afraid I would have to take too much hand luggage as we have so much laundry by this time, plus a few purchases, but somehow it all fit in.

Paro Dzong

We had a very good lunch at the hotel and at one, Ben, David A., Nancy, and I were driven downtown by Wangdi;  Uygen showed us the Paro Dzong and the shops.  Ben, the premiere shopper of the group, led us from shop to shop, all with different types of merchandise: books, maps, prayer wheels, fabrics, and other goodies.  We were even able to glimpse some snow-capped peaks in the far distance!

Shopping Heaven!

A Glimpse of the Snowy Himalayas

We returned to the hotel, took a group photo, and set off for the airport at 3:15.  At the check-in counter, David was asked if some of us would like to upgrade to Business Class for a few dollars more!  Most of us jumped at the chance and went up to the Business Lounge where  there was a tray with full bottles of booze and sodas for a make-your-own drink!  Pretty cool.

The Birders!

We boarded the plane at 6 PM and it promptly took off.  It was sad to leave this magical kingdom as we probably won't return, but I'm so gad we were able to experience quite a bit of it.  The plane was only partly full, I guess because of the problems with Druk's schedule (one of their few jets is out of commission - we were supposed to leave at noon) but we had a pleasant flight with foot rests, hot towels and the usual perks. We stopped briefly in Guyahati, India, and finally landed in Bangkok at a little after eleven and were processed through immigration, baggage claim and onto a Novotel van in just a few minutes!   It was a shock to step into the fetid heat of Bangkok, but we were soon in the inviting hotel and checked into our rooms.

We bid a fond farewell to our wonderful companions and our leader, David Bishop, who did such a stupendous job of guiding us around, showing us such terrific birds and sights.  We took showers and collapsed.  The others have flights leaving at 6 AM and 9 AM, and so won't get much sleep.  We're really fortunate in that our jet doesn't leave until 12:30 PM, so we can sleep in!

Tue, May 3 - Completing the Loop!

The Sun rises through Prayer Flags

The "Wakey, Wakey!" call didn't happen until 5 AM this morning - after our snacks we walked a ways down hill and birded a bit before returning for breakfast at the campsite.  Across the street was a small hotel which had a moth-observing sheet next to it that some scientists had used the previous evening.  David met them and the gentleman turned out to be the author of "Butterflies of India" which we have been using the past three weeks, and a woman who is writing a book on the moths of India.  Bob and I went down and saw a great variety of beautiful moths still clinging to the sheet.  The mystery is why nocturnal moths are so attracted to lights in general and to an illuminated sheet like this one?

We packed up our gear from our last camp site of the trip - they have all been quite enjoyable, largely due to our great crew who also seem to have quite a bit of fun traveling around and camping.

Our Entomologist Friends

At 7:30 we drove off north towards Thimphu.  There was fairly heavy truck traffic carrying supplies in from India.  We found ourselves stuck behind a truck that slowed down on the uphill, staying in the middle of the road and not allowing us to pass, unlike most drivers here, and then sped up on the downslopes - a really cowboy jerk of a truck driver!  We drove through a large town of Damphu, and just turned a corner to see our pal hurling himself between a stationary truck and a wall!  

The Guilty Truck on the Left

There were no injuries bur our pal's truck was little squashed.  The laws of Bhutan states that if one has a traffic accident, both parties wait until the police arrive.  We couldn't edge our way by and so had to wait, also!  Amazingly no one got angry or shouted.  Everyone, including our cowboy, waited around for 30 minutes until the police arrived.  Thank God we were near a town or it could have been hours.  The cops took photos, made measurements, and sent the innocent truck on its way and we resumed our trip.

We entered the canyon of the Puna Tsang Chhu river, and encountered the huge hydroelectric project that India is building in this river and on several others.  For 30 miles we saw dormitories, machine shops, supply yards - just massive installations of equipment and personnel that seem destined to impact Bhutan's bucolic atmosphere permanently.  India seems determined to take a lot out of Bhutan with little long term benefit for the country.

Some Hydroelectric Project Buildings

A Dzong on the Puna Tsang Chhu

We passed the turnoff to Thimphu and continued on to Paro arriving about  5:30.  We had until seven to shower and relax and then joined the others and met the owner of the company David uses to travel here and were able to express our gratitude to him for his wonderful crew that has taken such good care of us!

 We were scheduled to fly out to Bangkok tomorrow at 11:30 AM, but that has been changed to 6 PM.  Fortunately we are not leaving Bangkok until noon on Thursday - so we'll see how that works out!   Since we have all day here, we will get up at 4, as usual (!) and drive up to where we had our snowy breakfast on that mountain pass so many weeks ago!

Mon, May 2 - Heading North

Bob and I got up at 4 AM and stumbled around our incredibly badly designed room - its only redeeming feature is that the A/C works well.  The bed was in an alcove so narrow that to get into bed one had to walk sideways to squeeze in.  And then once in you discovered that there is no light switch, you have to return to the door to flip off the five wall switches.  The room has  five hangers but no place to hang them.  There are no hooks in the bathroom , and the desk, while a nice idea, was built for a first grader!  But it turned out that we got the deluxe suite as some of our group didn't get a toilet seat, and one had to put up with an eastern squatter!

Clerodendrum sp.

We got onto our bus at 5, and drove slowly west along the Indian border.  We saw a sign alerting us to the presence of elephants, except the sign showed an African one.  Unfortunately we didn't see any, but we did see some nice birds including the Rose-ringed Parakeet, my favorite bird from our trip to India in December.

Rose-ringed Parakeet

After 25 miles we turned right and started north, rapidly ascending into then mountains again.  We met our crew for lunch and tried to look at some birds and plants, but we encountered a lot of truck traffic -about 50 large rumbling trucks came by and the stretch where we were wasn't paved, so the dust was really bad. 

We got to about 6000' and turned into a grassy area near a chorten covered with prayer flags.  

Cocktail Hour by the Prayer Flags

We had beers and popcorn and did the list followed by a very jolly dinner in the dining tent with samosas, chicken curry and other dishes.  Our crew cooked us a special cake as this as our last dinner with them.

Farewell Dinner Cake

Sun, May 1 - To the Indian Border

Lower elevation vegetation

When we got up the toilet tent was on its side, but we were grateful to our crew for coming to our aid in the thick of the storm to make sure our tents were secure.  We packed and set off at 5 AM to drive slowly down the mountains to the plain of India.  We are seeing different birds at these new elevations. After four hours of birding, we stopped at a colorful Dzong for breakfast.

Orchids

Black Drongo

Breakfast!

An interesting beetle and our only reptile of the trip:

 

Suddenly we were out of the mountains and on flat agricultural land, and soon in the small border city of Gelephu.  We checked into the Hotel Kuku at 11 AM and climbed up two flights of stairs to our large, but pretty basic, room.  

The Hotel Kuku

The shower is in the middle of the bathroom with the toilet at one end and a sink at the other - there is no way to take a shower without the entire room filling with water!!  A bizarre design, but it did allow me to clean up and change clothes.  

Mountains of Chilis!,

Tools, and 

Herbs and Dyes 

After an Indian lunch downstairs, David A., Nancy, Ben, and I walked a few blocks to the weekend market.  We saw piles of veggies, huge bags of chilis, all sorts of melons and squashes - almost everyone typically selling the same thing!  At one end of the market we found some tools for sale and some beautiful spices and herbs.  We left the market and walked along the streets checking out shoe stores, fabric stores, etc.  Everyone was very friendly and didn't object to us taking pictures,but often thanked us!!

I returned to our room, Bob braved the shower, and we joined the others at 4 PM for a ride to the river that flows through town in order to see some shorebirds.  The river had been bulldozed in order to channelize the river for the upcoming monsoon, so we didn't see much and returned back to the Kuku for dinner and bed.

Looking back at the Himalayas from the river bed

Sat, Apr 30 - Continuing south to Jigmi Choling

Bamboo over the  Mangde

At 5:15 we were on the road, birding the roadside above the Mangde Chhu (Mangde River).  This was our last chance to see the White-bellied Heron.  It has been seen here, but is so rare that we didn't' have much hope.  That was fortunate as we sadly didn't see it, but did have lovely views of the valley and river framed by large bamboo as the sun rose.

Lovely Orchids

We turned south and birded along the road until we met our crew and had breakfast.   We continued south through several villages until we again met the crew and had lunch at about 12:30.  In a small village there was a typical tiny general store which amazingly had a freezer with ice cream!   We all piled out and bought various treats.  Bob and I had Belgian Chocolate cups which were delicious!

The Ice Cream Shoppe

It was getting quite hot but we gradually ascended to a pass at Tama La, circled around the chorten, and started down, past some active wild bee hives - with a sign warning to close your car windows.  As we left the Himalayan foothills and proceeded into the flat lands toward India, we entered an agricultural area of simple metal-roofed cinder block houses surrounded by bougainvillea and bananas which appeared to be like any typical tropical village the world over.  As we approach the Indian border, the Indian influence becomes stronger.

Watching the Tourists

We finally turned into an old monastery where our tents were all set up!  Our dining table was placed on the porch and we could heard the caretaker monk singing songs and praying inside.  We sat down for tea and biscuits, or in my case, a large beer.  I was the only one opting for a shower and found myself once again in the blue 4 x 4 tent with dogs playing outside and kids throwing balls while I poured ladles of warm water over myself.  It felt great!!

The Monastery Campsite

We had a good dinner on the porch and compared photos before going off to our tents.  Up at 4:15 AM with the promise of a real hotel tomorrow!!

Front Door of the Monastery

 

Later at 10:30: fierce thunder and lightening and pouring rain!  The tent back window was open for ventilation and water was coming in.  As I needed to use the toilet tent after all my beers.  I sloshed over, found the tent was collapsing and the paper was wet.  I went to close our tent window which required two hands so I ended up back under my quilt rather soaked, but at that hour I didn't care and figured I'd dry soon enough.  Our wonderful camp crew came out to check on our tents as the wind was really blowing - I heard them pounding in a few stakes as I fell asleep.

Fri, Apr 29 - To Tingtibi

David called out "Wakey Wakey!!" at 4:30 this morning and we gradually emerged for coffee and cookies.  Our crew loaded our luggage on the luggage van which had magically appeared during the night, the driver having found the only available part in Bhutan that he needed!  

The Shemgang Dzong

We took off and passed through Shemgang which has a very beautiful Dzong (monastery) and views of snow-capped mountains

The Dzong in the distance

The day started out quite cool, but when the sun rose it quickly became very warm.  David said that tourists wearing shorts wasn't improper, so I unzipped the lower part of my long trousers and felt cooler in my shorts.  We  had breakfast by a lane of prayer flags and a small goemba (self-contained monastery).  

We continued birding  on a road that overlooks a deep valley and the Mangde Chhu (Mangde river), until we finally got to our crew who had set up for lunch in a shady corner in the road.  We sat there for a couple of hours to relax  as the birding was quiet at that time of day.

Himalayan Cutia

Wangdi drove us down and down to about 2000' elevation; the vegetation was dry deciduous  with Kapok trees that had dropped their capsules of soft fine fiber all over the ground.  

Kapok fiber

Orchids in a Tree

Golden Langur

We got to our campsite at 5 PM on a turnout on the road which has quite a few large trucks bringing goods and construction material from India.  I was feeling pretty hot and grubby and found that a shower tent had been set up!  I entered the 4 x 4" stand-up tent which had a small stool to put your clothes on, a plastic bath mat to stand on and a large bucket of warm water with a dipper in it.  It was a little bizarre to be standing there pouring water all over myself and hear large trucks lumbering by right next to me!

Purple Sapphire (Ithink)

I felt much better, though, until a termite plume appeared and those of us outside our tents found termites crawling all over us and inside our clothes.  Fortunately,  termites don't bite, but still having insects inside your clothes is a bit uncomfortable!  They had lessened by the time we sat down for dinner at 7:30 - the crew had set up the dining table inside a tent covering, but kindly carried the table out side so we could dine in the cooler air and attract fewer insects.  We were served a great platters of delicious deep-fried flat bread covered with sesame seeds, in addition to other goodies.