The Traveling Pancy

We had time for a short walk in the morning before we left for Paro. The rain had cleared, the sun was out and the clouds were thinning so that the high peaks were becoming visible in the background. We walked down the hill from the hotel and spotted a large soaring bird – a…

We rose early, breakfasted and packed for a day of hiking. Our plan was to hike through the rice fields and uphill to Khamsum Yueley Namgyel Lhakhang, hike down along the river, stop for a picnic lunch and then hike to Punakha Dzong. Punakha is in a valley at an altitude of 4000 ft. vs…

The small village of Sobsukha in Punakha district is an agricultural community surrounded by rice paddy fields but it is best known as the starting point for the hike to Chimi Lhankhang, the monastery of Lama Drukpa Kuenley, fondly remembered as the Divine Madman. Our visit to Chimi would help us discover the key to…

We leave Thimphu for Punakha later today.  Although less than 50 miles, our actual drive time will be over three hours because of the mountains; our route will cross the 10,300 ft Dochu La pass.  Before leaving Thimphu, though, we have several additional places to visit. First stop in the heart of the city is…

This afternoon we experienced everyday Bhutanese culture.  First stop – the local market.   The Centennial Farmer’s Market is located on the Wang Chu River and attracts vendors and farmers from all over the region to sell their produce in Thimphu.  The market was a cacophony of colors, sounds and smells.  Vendors sat surrounded by mounds…

We woke to a beautiful sunny day.  After a quick breakfast, we met Tandin to hike and explore the Thimphu countryside.  Our first stop was Changgang Kha Monastery, a hill top temple where Tandin’s family has practiced Buddhism for generations. We quickly learned in Bhutan that to experience ‘thin places’, those holy places where the…

We caught an early morning flight on Bhutan’s national airline, Druk Air, from Bangkok to Paro. The flight was scheduled to make a short layover in India but much to our delight, the stop was cancelled. We were fortunate to be seated on the left side of the aircraft; as we approached Paro we could…

Bangkok is our staging site for Bhutan. We arrived in Bangkok about 11pm and although we could have taken the Druk Air flight to Bhutan early the next morning, we were advised to spend a day in Bangkok just in case. Only two airlines fly to Bhutan; the numbers of flights in and out of…

Now that we’re home, I am pausing before becoming too consumed with everyday life, to reflect on this journey. I am awed by its scope – we circled the globe, traveled more than 32,000 miles, visited twelve countries (yes, I am counting the Azores) on six continents, toured eleven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, three Wonders…

Enroute to the U.S., we had one more stop that was planned but not well understood by us in advance. We landed in Terceria, Azores for refueling and security screening. So technically this brief stop in Portugal enabled us to visit six of the seven continents as we journeyed around the globe. I did a…