Mira + Brian’s Blog

We had a wonderful, relaxing week in Bhutan.  We’re now eagerly (and I mean *really* eagerly) awaiting our flight back home.  In fact, Brian is currently checking if we can return a day early. 

Yesterday we spent almost 3 hours in the baggage claim offices of Jet Airways and Air France.  Dennis’ luggage was still stuck in the Delhi airport (after 6 days) and we were on a mission to free his luggage.  Incidentally his lost luggage also included all of our trekking gear and souveniers as well.. so there was added incentive to get these bags back.  After a failed attempt to free the bags from customs, we discovered that the entire process of getting the bags from Jet Airways to Air France was blocked due to 2 little pieces of paper needed by Air France from Jet.  Brian ended up physically walking the papers from the Jet Airways office to the Air France office (about 200 yards away).  The bags are supposedly now on a flight back to Boston, our fingers are crossed.  Lessons learned:  (1) Any time you cross customs, your bags need to cross with you; (2) It’s MUCH faster solving these sort of problems in person.  Now we just have to hope that no one stole anything out of our bags.. fun!

After the baggage claim incident, we met up with Ric in Defence Colony where he’s currently living.  We experienced Delhi in 40 degree weather (that’s about 100F) and it was HOT!!!  I hear that it’s snowing back in Seattle.. we’re not sure what’s worse.. snow, or extreme heat.  Right now we’re leaning towards snow

I suppose I should write a little about Bhutan as well.  We spent 7 days there total and wandered through many many dzongs, monasteries and temples.  Dzongs are giant fortresses that were used in the wars with Tibet and have now been turned into part government administration office and part monestary.  There are classrooms and large halls for the monks along with goverment officials – a strange combination.  The size of these structures is mind blowing, each containing a huge watch tower, courtyards, residences and rooms for various functions.  My favourite moments:
Tiger’s Nest:  On our first day in Bhutan we hiked up to the Tiger’s Nest Monastary at about 10,000 feet (that’s the picture on our blog).  For the majority of the hike we were the only people on the trail and it felt magical.  As we approached the monestary we had some breathtaking views.  It felt as if you could just reach out and touch it.  For me, this was the pinnacle of our adventure. 
Kyichu Lhakhang:  Near the end of our week in Bhutan we visited the Kyichu Lhakhang in Paro.  On first look it seems like any temple.  Even inside, it had the usual statues, scrolls, butter lamps and thangkas (large paintings of the Buddha and his teachings).  A monk then opened a gigantic vault and inside were rows and rows of ancient statues of the Buddha and various Bhutanese deities.  I felt as though we had stumbled upon a secret treasure.  It was a scene our of National Geographic. 
Celebrating my birthday:  Brian surprised me on my birthday with a special Bhutanese dinner and cake (yum!!).  I can’t imagine a better way to have spent my 29th bday

Looking forward.. we’re itching to get back home.  We miss our friends, family, good food and being in a familiar place.  Brian’s been craving a burrito while I’ve been dreaming about sushi… :)  See you all soon!!!