Traveling is good
The medium sized Dzong, named as Yuduchuney Dzong, was not as big as the one at Trongsa or at Bumthang. It was situated on the lap of a hill, surrounded by very tall mountains with serene view. I met many youngsters over there in traditional Buddhist attire.
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What was supposed to be a 400km ride turned out to be a late night biking expedition covering 530kms, as we rode 60+kms in wrong direction. All was well till noon, when we stopped for lunch at Mae Sariang. Post lunch, we should have taken Route 105, instead we continued on Route 108. A few display said this road heads to Chiang Mai and that didn’t ring a bell to any of us. Only later, our pilot Sumon pulled over, cross checked his map, consulted our support team (who had take right turn) and decided that we need to go back. Without a whim we rode back all the way to the city where we had lunch. We should have added another 200 curves to our count by then, because of this extra ride.
It was evening by now and we still had another 230kms to cover. We fuelled up and began riding, this time in the right direction.
Soon it became darker and suddenly, we found ourselves on dirt track. This feels like India- we told ourselves. Our speed dropped to single digit and we negotiated the bad road slowly, maintaining gap between bikes to let the dust settle. We were very close to Burma border, with our road running parallel to it. There were hardly any vehicles other than hours and there were no lights or shops or anything else. Pitch dark, deep forest and 100 more kms to go.
Venice is a beautiful city, it is a group of islands and has no roads, only small streets and canals. To move around one needs to walk or take any of the water transports like water taxi or gondolas. Please watch my video for my top 5 favourites in Venice:
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It was just another busy week at the office and after much anticipation Sunday arrived. Movie session on Saturday night did the trick and we woke up late on Sunday Morning. So we abandoned our plan to visit the Lotus Temple in the morning and decided to go to Humayun’s Tomb first….
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As per belief, in the year 1475, religious icon Terton Pema Lingpa had jumped into the lake with a burning butter lamp in his hand. When he came back from under the water, the butter lamp was still burning.
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I wasn’t prepared for anything which is what conditioned me for everything to come. I can’t explain it. But when I landed at Bangkok, (Suwarnabhumi pronounced Su-wana-poon) a singularly inspiring piece of engineering, I was overcome with various feelings_ euphoria, above all. I needed my visa (on arrival for Indian passport holders), a shower and change. I was backpacking, had no time to waste, had to pack in as much as I could while I was here and I wasn’t going to check into a hotel to distress.
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People who leave their country to live in the USA often complain about certain things they terribly miss at home. It could be the food they are used to, the ease of life, or simply the comfort of talking to someone in their native language. If the reverse was to happen and I was to go back to India, one of the many things I would miss is the fall season I have grown to love and enjoy in the USA.
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This heritage building is a massive circular five storey tower (called as Utse) with two lower towers. The south and north towers are connected to the main tower by multi storied wings. It has four observation points resembling Tiger, Lion, Garuda and Dragon.
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Built in 1644 in its present form, it is the largest Dzong of Bhutan, which can be seen from many points of the town. It was huge, robust, elaborate and respectful looking. A series of inter-connected multi-floored buildings comprising of Lhakhangs (Buddhist temples), alley like long corridors, court rooms, wide stone stairs, paved courtyards completed the Dzong in its entirety.
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The Mangdechhu hydroelectric project is a 720MW run-of-river power plant (4 units each of 180 MW capacity) being built in Trongsa district of central Bhutan on the Mangdechhu river (which is a tributary of Manas river – which is again a tributary of Brahmaputra river). Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project Authority (MHPA), which is constituted by the Indian Government and the Royal Government of Bhutan, is developing the project. On completion, most of the electricity generated by the underground power house will be used to meet the energy requirement of Bhutan and the surplus electricity will be exported to India
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The high point of our yatra was the visit to Sigiriya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sigiriya or Simha Giriya ( Lion Rock ) is a gigantic rock formation ( 660 ft high ) on top of which a complex capital city was built by one king Kashyap and which was said to have been later usurped by Ravana. Still later, it was used by Buddhists to promote their religion. The rock and its surroundings presents a unique concentration of urban planning, architecture, gardening, engineering, hydraulic technology and art.
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I lived with my maternal uncle in remote farm near Bilaspur in mud huts with no electricity or basic sanitation with ‘minimalist’ facilities. Any…
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