In The Land Of Happiness

Tiger's Nest Monastery in the background.

Bhutan has been a dream destination for me and Robbie for many years.  I remember seeing an eco special on it on MTV (yes, you read that correctly - it was the 90s!) with Cameron Diaz.  Everything about the country's landscape, the culture, and the people just drew me in and I knew I had to go there.  It's one of the last few places on Earth that hasn't been spoiled by tourism and hopefully, it stays that way.

Again, we opted to leave Dhaka for the Eid holiday this year.  The thought of seeing a bunch of cows being slaughtered on the streets just didn't sound appealing to us and would probably have been traumatic for the kids.  So instead we spent a week in Bhutan trekking the Dagala Thousand Lakes trail and learning about the Bhutanese culture and people.  I have to admit, there were some unexpected challenges (such as a freak snow storm), but it's all part of the adventure!  Here are some of the highlights:

The start of our journey on the Dagala Thousand Lakes
trek.

Lunch time

Karma, our guide, teaching the kids archery
with a bow and arrow he made for them.

Mason's new favorite sport.

Our first campsite.  

Trying to stay warm.

Good horsey.

She always wanted a white horse!

What happened to the sun?  The weather suddenly
changed and we started to get snow flurries.

Second campsite

Finally, we see a lake on the Thousand Lakes trek.
Notice the snow flurries.

More snow and it's cold.  We are wet and freezing by this
point, especially the kids.

Vanessa still smiling at our third campsite covered in
snow.

The kids had to be carried the rest of the way because all
their clothes, including their shoes, were soaked.  Plus, our
guide was so worried about them, he wanted to get back
down to treeline as quickly as possible.

Yakkity Yaks!

We were already so wet, we didn't even try to stay dry.

Hallelujah!  A yak herder's hut!

The yak herder was kind enough to let us warm up by the
fire before continuing on.  Four more hours to go!

Dad of the Year!  Robbie carried Cadyn for two days
without socks I should add.  He gave them to her
because hers were soaked.

By this point, everyone was tired, hungry, wet and cold.
Seeing this village was a huge relief.

We must have looked so pathetic to this
little boy.

Once again, we were saved by the kindness of the
Bhutanese people.  We filled our bellies and warmed our
toes before heading out again.

We made it!  Heading to our hotel in Paro for a hot shower!

At the National Memorial Choeten (stupa)
in Thimphu.

Spinning the prayer wheel for good luck.

We're not done with hiking just yet.  On our way to
Tiger's Nest Monastery.  You can see it in the background.

Spinning, spinning, spinning.

It truly is an amazing site!

We made it!  We got to tour the inside but
were not allowed to take photos.

So you can see from the pictures that the biggest challenge we faced was the snow storm.  Trekking through snow is not a problem as long as we're prepared.  However, that wasn't the case.  Even our own guide wasn't prepared because it doesn't start snowing until December.  Some of the porters wore sandals on the trek, no gloves, thin jackets, a couple were wearing jeans.  All of us had to wear wet clothes for three days which is obviously not ideal in cold weather.  Our main concern was the kids.  At one point we thought they were going to go hypothermic - that's how serious it got one day.  We found out later that a cyclone that had hit India was the cause of the unusual weather pattern.  The Bhutanese believe that when it snows, it means that someone either took fish from the water or threw trash on the ground.  You've gotta love their superstitions.

This is definitely one trip we will never forget!  Even with the snow incident, we had such an incredible time and would go back in a heartbeat.  We highly recommend this trip to everyone...................just check the weather forecast before you go:)