Step By Step

It’s been a while since I updated the blog, but I’ve recently returned from an extended trip back to Oz, to attend my daughter’s wedding. And with the subzero temperatures here now in Bhutan’s oncoming winter, it’s more than a little uncomfortable to be walking around the place looking for photo opportunities.

So from the relative warmth of a new apartment, looking through my vast collection of pics, I’ve noticed that there is an unusual number of images of STEPS. Perhaps it’s a subliminal result of perceiving this nation’s growth as one of slow, deliberate progress…step by step. Or maybe I just like steps. Dunno.

These photos come from several countries I’ve visited over the last few years, but the theme is a common one…

This one was taken during the construction of the IT Park in Babesa, Bhutan…

Again from the IT Park, leading up and through the unfinished security guard-house...

 

At a friend's house in Hassan, near Bangalore, South India. The dog's name is Ruby...

And continuing the theme of dogs on steps, Jimmy and Jacky in Anagalpura village, also near Bangalore...

The first sight I get when entering my own little cabin in Frog Rock, Australia...

Waiting to catch a harbour cruising boat in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam...

The nearly completed granite steps on the rear entrance to the IT Park...

Sometimes, steps lead us to the most weird and wonderful places...

Beautiful spotted gum (Corymbia maculata) timber steps (before polishing) in my son's home in Sydney, Australia...

...and now finished, complete with bonus handrail...

Some ancient steps in Hampi, India...

Sapa town, Vietnam...

During construction of The Banyan, a children's hostel and school in Anagalpura, India...

Spiral steps down to the deck of a boat in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam...

Steep ones in a guest house, Phobjikha Valley, eastern Bhutan...

Completed, amongst the beautiful artwork in the IT Park...

Happy kids in Anagalpura, India...

Left, right, left, right, upwards to an ancient monastery in Bumthang, Bhutan...

 The same monastery...

Newly carpeted steps, Sydney, Australia...

Steps can also be for sitting. Amphitheatre at the Clock Tower, Thimphu, Bhutan...

 

 The Royal Botanic Gardens near Babesa, Bhutan...

A rooftop glimpse of the car-park steps at the IT Park...

New house in Kothanur, South India...

2 different ones at the 375 year old Punakha Dzong (fortress) in Bhutan...

 And my very favourite...granite slabs cut into the mud brick wall of an old well, in Chikka Gubbi village, Bangalore, India...

Road Trip to Remember

Spent 4 days last week on a long-anticipated trip to the beautiful eastern part of Bhutan. After nearly 2 years living and working here now, I've probably seen less of the countryside than the tourists who come for 7 days!

I travelled with a couple of new friends working in Thimphu (the capital) with me...Zoltan, a Hungarian living in Belgium, and Axel, a German. We hired a good car, and with our trusty local driver, LB, set off for Bumthang, with a halfway overnight break in the glorious valley of Phobjikha.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobjika_Valley

This valley is famous for the black-necked cranes that visit annually, 'though unfortunately not until the end of this month, so we missed seeing them. But we also missed the tourist rush, so not a bad result.

The next day we moved on to Bumthang, http://www.tourism.gov.bt/where-to-go/bumthang.html often referred to as the spiritual heart of this Buddhist kingdom. We stayed 2 days there before attacking the 250km, 10 hour return trip. That's a normal speed for travelling on the roads in this country. High altitude, poorly-surfaced, narrow and winding tracks with fatal drop-offs should an accident or landslide occur. But this is not a country where people are in a hurry. And neither were we.

So the following is basically a compilation of photos of what we saw on the trip. You'll see what we saw.  If you like beautiful scenery, rivers, waterfalls, temples, snow-capped mountains and happy Bhutanese faces, you should enjoy it.

If that's not to your taste, you can always turn on the TV...

This is the Wangdue Dzong, built in 1638 and tragically destroyed by fire in June 2012. But in the inimitable Buddhist way, already in the process of being rebuilt.

The lovely guesthouse we stayed in overnight at Phobjikha

Digging Bhutan's best potatoes, in Phobjikha.

 Our Bumthang accommodation...

In Bumthang, Bhutan's oldest temple and monastery, built around 650 AD

Junior monks having a music lesson