Thimpu skyline

16 July 2011 - at the capital again

After a morning hike, we are back in the capital for a few days. Very different view from the hotel room.

The hike started at a pass which supposed to overlook the Himalaya. There was one cute tidbit about the hike: two dogs started following us on the hike. They escorted us to the top and back, at times running back to see why we were slow, waiting when we stopped. So cute.

It is nice to be in a "nice" hotel with clean white towels again. Not that the other ones were uncomfortable, growing up in the city makes us weary of any sort of mud, stains and bugs in our living quarters and bathrooms. They are part of the experience but fresh clean smells are always welcome.

Himalaya unseen

Unfortunately for us, we didn't stay at that resort, so all we got was summer fog so thick we couldn't even see the trees clearly in front.

Getting a bunch of emails from friends is making me missing home. Aside from being on vacation, I wanted to see how it feels to be on the road for a period of time. I used to always get homesick by the end of two weeks. Part of me think that we subconsciously try hard not to think about home. Thinking that we are still a month away from home brings a bit of tightening to my stomach.

Buddhism says that desire is the source of suffering. That maybe be true but I wouldn't want to give up the taste of joy and passion to avoid the feel of pain. The question is how we turn desire into healthy drives and discipline so that we are not overtaken by it but able to enjoy the fruit of having desires.

Our longing for home is being turned into appreciations of the opportunities of being here.

15 July 2011 - ice-cream

Like erik in Namibia, today, I missed Mr. & Mrs. M's ice-cream. Salted caramel on a freshly made ice-cream cone, yum...

14 July 2011 - back to the warm climate

This was what we woke up to yesterday at a farm house in Phobjikha. There was an extension where guests can sleep in "regular" beds in their house. Still a practice in the villages, the family of nine slept on mattresses on the floor in a room that is the living room, the kitchen and the dinning room. The fire stove in the middle of the room keeps them warm. Being at 3000m (9800ft) in altitude, it is chilly at night even in the summer.

Today, we headed west to Punakha for more hiking and visiting more dzong and temples. One of the temples we visited was dedicated to the devine mad man, who subdued a demon with fire coming out of his phallus. It's much lower altitude (1200m) and warmer here but the rain has really started now.