Visual Treat- Bhutan (Druk)

Memorial Chorten- Thimphu

Changangkha Lhakhang- One of the oldest temple in Thimphu

Town Square- I guess the most happening place in Thimphu

 Thimphu Valley view from Sangaygang Cross country track.

 Taktshang Monastry - Paro..I really wanted to climb till the monastry which is located at a height of 10240 ft formally build as a Monastry in 1692 but I realized I was physically not fit to climb...after climing for 15-20 mins I started feeling dizzy and breathless...and decided not to climb up...but this has motivated me to go back again and next time I sure will climb till the top.

 Random shoot on the way to Taktshang

 Modern yet traditional Bhutanese house-I fell in love with the houses from the moment I saw it.

Visual Treat-Thailand

 The night Market at Chaing Mai...the best place to shop while in Chaing Mai.

 Chon-Buri craft center, one of the best bamboo and rattan handicraft center I have ever visited. The craftsman ship was just out of this world.

Chaing Mai riverside restaurant. Indian Consulate at Chaing Mai and the Shangri La hotel at Chaing Mai.

Soul Trip and Wanderlusting- Road Trip to Bhutan

Some of the beautiful places I visited in Bhutan

Trip Bhutan was a long and pending one,I wanted to visit Bhutan since long but for some reason or another it never worked out. It was facebook which made this trip possible,seriously  (Jai ho Facebook), I reconnected with my very good fren from college “ KC”…. we had not met since many years and I decided to visit her small and beautiful country on a soul trip.

I planned a road trip instead of going by air as it sounded much more excited and also because for some weird reason air tickets were not available for the period I wanted to travel ( I was informed later that the only flight which operates to Paro is “Drukair” with limited seats) . The journey was sure excited… I took a flight till Guwahati from Agartala…from Guwahati I took a train, the Rajdhani express till NJP (New Jalpaiguri)….travelling in Rajdhani reminded me of my college days…Rajdhani was a Luxury train for me during those days….it took only 28 hrs to reach Delhi and the food was free…unlike the other trains ( NE and the Brahmaputra Train), travelling in which was like a torture and we had to endure twice every year.  Once I reached NJP I had to rent a cab till the border town Phuntsholing, I paid Rs.2200/- from NJP , the best thing for travelers is to rent a cab from Govt. Pre-Paid Taxi Service counter located just outside the NJP Railway Station ( You can also find a lot of Thugs and middle man with taxis but the best is to avoid them) . The idea of travelling all alone from NJP to Phuntsholing was not very comforting….as I was travelling alone but still took the chance, the ride till the border town was mostly bumpy but the teas garden s on the way, were beautiful. 

It took me 5 hrs to reach the border, Jaigoan is the Indian border town and Phontsholing is the border town of Bhutan, the most interesting thing to me was the difference in these two places just across the border. Jaigoan was like any other small Indian town.…road full of potholes, dusty, super noisy, full of people and activities  everywhere….Phuntsholing on other hand was quiter, with better roads, not dusty and peaceful. Once in Phuntsholing I had to get my travel permit from the Immigration office, all thanks to KC's cousin she helped me get the permit (Indians visiting Bhutan are not required a Visa and vice versa), KC’s cousin knew the Chief Immigration Officer and that saved me from all the trouble of standing in queue. 

I stayed at Phunstholing for a night preparing myself for the 6 hrs bus ride to Thimphu, the bus started on time and as it climbed higher altitude I could feel the chill in the air. It felt really good to feel the chill , I had come prepared for winter and the thought of spending one whole wintery week in Thimphu excited me. The bus journey was not at all boring, the bus stereo was blasting Dzongkho FM, I was busy looking at the numerous waterfall…the beautifully painted houses on the mountains it was just so beautiful and I had a company…the last book in the twilight series “Breaking Dawn” I was totally hooked on to the Twilight series ever since I saw the first film.

Once I reached Thimphu, my fren “KC” was waiting at the bus depot which looked more like a mini palace to me…KC’s house looked like one of those beautiful house I saw on my way and I immediately fell in love with the Bhutanese house….they pay so much attention to outside painting and all the houses looked like it had straight come out of postcards. The locality was really clean and the outside view from her house in one simple word was “AWESOME”.

The Journey from Agartala to Thimphu though long was sure one of the best journeys I had till now.

Useful Tips:

1. Book your travel tickets much in advance and visit the Bhutan Govt. official website.

2. The best time to visit Bhutan is Autumn and Spring months.

3. Hotel accommodations can be expensive but the food is very reasonably priced.

4. Bhutanese people speak English very well.

5. Indian currency in the denomination of Rs 100 and below is widely accepted.

6. Credit card and Debit card is just a 4 inch long plastic card. Carry Cash, very few shops and hotels accept Visa Credit and Debit card.

7. Travelling alone can be expensive, plan trip in groups of 4 or more.

Bangkok- Extravaganza

Bangkok mahanagari is sure a mayanagari, Suvarnabhoomi Airport was really grand what I really liked about the airport was the way they had decorated the airport with all kinds of orchids it was sure a visual treat.

We landed at Bangkok from Chaingmai late at night and stayed at a very centrally located hotel in Bangkok, my room was at the 10th floor and the view from my window was like, that of a futuristic city in a Sc-fi movie I have never seen such tall buildings and that too so many in one place. Once in Bangkok we were at a very tourist mood I was looking fwd to all the shopping and yummy food the city had to offer. The 2nd day at Bangkok we visited Chon Buri to see a very well managed Handicraft Center which was about 2 hrs from the city, what was truly amazing about this handicraft center the fine craftsman ship the artisans of this center had. It was beyond words to express the craftsman ship the artisans had, such fine bamboo products they were making and the collection was just out of this world. I fell in love with the products and ended up buying quite many products it was expensive but worth every single bhait.

We also visited the Grand Palace and the Wat Arun, as the name suggest the Grand Palace was truly GRAND, the temples were so beautiful and very well maintained. The guide Mr. Anukool was truly kool he had so much knowledge about Northeast India that I was really impressed, first he thought I was also Thai but when I told him I am from Northeast India he immediately asked if I was from Assam. He took us around and showed the whole palace and all the temples happily explaining the history behind each temple. Thailand in olden days were very influenced by Hinduism the depiction of Ramayan on the walls of the palace was truly marvelous. Bangkok I realized was not just about shopping or massages as it’s known all over the world, after the Grand Palace we visited Wat Arun or Temple of Dawn. It was very close to the Grand Palace but we had to take a boat ride as it was located across the river, Wat Arun from a distance looked like a ruined temple but once we reached there I realized how wonderful the temple is, it was cloudy when we reached the temple giving us respite from the heat and humid weather. I ended up taking some really nice pics. Of the temple and my 2nd day at Bangkok was a day full of visual treats.

From IST to TST...Thailand-ing Day 1

I went on a 4 day trip to Thailand it was a "official" trip meaning an all expenses paid trip to visit places which is relevant to my work and missing out on all the fun places that most tourist visit. This trip came as a surprise to me, I had no idea that this trip was getting finalised I had made my own holiday plans to Bhutan during the Durga Puja Break...but for a wanderlust like me any kind of plan for travelling to a new country is always welcome.

The best part about the trip was our visit to the not so much tourist places like the OTOP craft villages and Craft Centers at Chiang Mai Province at North Thailand, I was amazed the see the kind of craftsman ship the craftsperson have at the centers and was mighty impressed. The craft villages were well maintained and the designs were just amazing, I ended up buying quite many items from the craft centers. In Thailand they have this project which was launched to support the crafts and artisans in various villages, its called "OTOP" centers, thats One Tambon One Product concept, in other words One Village One Product. It was a govt. backed programme with strong marketing networks. The finishing and craftsmanship was too good and I think artisans are given orientations in such a way that the products that they make must be world class and export quality goods. We visited OTOP centers at Saraphi District and a huge crafts village called "Ban Thawai", it was abt 50 times the size of Dilli Haat but with much better products and much, much cleaner. I was so damn impressed with the Thai people, we really can learn a great deal from them. Day 1 was spend on travelling at the OTP centers and some bit of shopping at the Anusarn Night Market, I couldn't resist buying so many items but what was really great abt Day 1 was the food we had at the Anusarn Market, it was just too good. It was a day well spent with some amazing food to end with.

AB, me and Iham

Baby Iham, my fren "AB's" cute 10 months old son.

My recent trip to Hyderabad "City of Pearls" was awesome. It was just a one day trip to meet an old fren "AB" and her son Iham. I have known AB since my Postgrads days, we did so many assignments together and over the years we have always kept in touch. Last time we met  was 4 yrs back, meeting her after so many years that too in her new avater  was funny....... new avatar of being the new age " Super Mommy" lol. The new "Super Mommy" role involves a demanding 24x7 on the call job, feeding the baby, entertaining the baby, cleaning, listening to nursery rhymes and not sleeping most of the time.The best part was we went shopping and she was carrying this huge bag...when asked why she said the bag has only "baby stuff: which was  baby's stuff..milk, diaper, cloth and what not, I started thinking how much motherhood can change a woman.

Coming to food...we went out for dinner at one of my fav. restaurants " Mainland China" the food was awesome, the dimsums, rice noodles and chicken. I enjoyed every bite of the meal and it was sure a day well spent with fren and baby.