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(Greg/Dana) “You’re not bringing the kids there, are you?” our great friend Ruth Sherman asked as she gently warned us about Bhutan when we discussed our draft itinerary with her a few years ago. She had been here but even her first hand experience and soft admonition did not deter us from our plan. Now, […]

(Alex) “Great!” Mom says as we are driving into the city (actually the size of a really small town) of Mongar. “We get to spend the night in a traditional farm house!” Well if that is great news to her, then I don’t know what bad news is. Oh how I am dreading a night […]

(Andrew)  The Kingdom of Bhutan is a beautiful, land-locked Himalayan country of 700,000 people bordered by China/Tibet, India and Nepal.  It is primarily a rural country; its three largest cities are the capital of Thimphu 80,000 people; Paro (where the international airport is) 8,000; and Bumthang 6,000. Bhutan is a subtle country and you have […]

(Reis) As we go through countries in the world, we look for special opportunities to mingle with the people (and culture), to better understand them. When we discovered the chance to go to the annual Dup Chen Puja (Celebration of peace and happiness), in Bumthang, Bhutan, we eagerly agreed. The area of the Kharcchu Monestary […]

(Emma) Archery is the National Sport in Bhutan. The younger athletes are starting to use the American Hunting Bows and moving away from their real, traditional bows, and I can tell why! The traditional bows are two pieces of bamboo wired together; they are very hard to pull back and harder to hit anywhere near […]

(Dana)  Druk Path Trek in Bhutan.  5 days.  63 kilometers (37.8 miles).  32 walking hours.  Elevation from 2200 to 4250M (14,025 feet) and back to 2100, with several ascents and descents in between.  As reference, our peak was over 2.5 times higher than Denver. Camping every night.  No showers. It was supposed to be five days […]

(Andrew) I can’t feel my feet Cause there is no heat While trekking in Bhutan All people are cold The young and the old While trekking in Bhutan Crisp snow under shoe Don’t step in pony poo While trekking in Bhutan As we walk mud will squish Like a slippery fish While trekking in Bhutan […]

(Dana) 70% of the population of India lives in villages and towns. That is 900 million people living outside the cities. We are sitting in our bus passing countless villages along the way. Images fly by. Each seems like a National Geographic photo waiting to be taken. But if we stop each time, we’ll never […]

(Emma) As we pull in I hear the horn playing. Six elephants are lined up with their attire on and painted very nicely. A man in a colorful turban sits on top to direct the elephant (to keep us from failing miserably). I get out with my camera in hand. First, we feed the elephants […]

(Dana)  Sometimes expectations are so high that reality never reaches them.  How many times in life have I been disappointed by the “must-see” or “must do?”  On this journey, there have been a few destinations with the potential for disappointment.  After all, could the pyramids or Machu Picchu or yesterday’s destination – the Taj Mahal […]