On the first day of the Paro Tshechu

More Paro Tshechu

B is for Bhutan

At the Paro Tshechu

April 6,2009, opening day of the Paro Tshechu (festival) at The Paro Dzong, one of the main social gatherings of the year.

Attendees are decked out in their finest garb, as crowds gather to watch the ceremonial dances.

Spinning the prayer wheel

A devotee spins the prayer wheels while passing the temple.

Automated prayer using a string to spin the wheel.

Last looks at Zhiwaling before hitting the road

Line of lamps in the foyer.

A Slogan for Bhutan - "Gross National Happiness"

Welcome to Bhutan!

The Paro airport is the only port of entry by air.

Checking in at the Zhiwaling Hotel on the outskirts of Paro.



View from room 36 at the Zhiwaling Hotel.

Arrival in Paro, Bhutan

We arrive in one of the only two planes in Bhutan.

View of The Himalayas upon deplaning.

Bhutan: Kingdom in the Clouds

On our Bhutan Expedition with National Geographic, April 3-15, 2009.
B is for Bhutan.

On the "road" again

4/4/09 Here in the Novotel Hotel, Bangkok Airport, awaiting the start (tomorrow morning, in the lobby, at 4;30 am) of our flight into the mountain kingdom of Bhutan. Travel clue for followers: bring/use insect repellents (DEET (diethylmetatoluamide) is best), if you intend to dine here, because the mosquitoes who have managed to get into this grand hotel are hungry. Fortunately, we always pack DEET. Nevertheless, we were assured that malaria (aka mosquito) is not a problem in Bhutan at this time; BUT, if you go through Bangkok (BKK) bring your DEET!

Killed three mosquitos today and missed one at dinner this evening who was attacking our wine bottle.

White Rhinoceros - one of "The Big Five"

On Safari in Mala Mala

The enigmatic Spotted Hyena - an experiment in developmental biology

This hyena was hanging around under the tree where the leopard had stashed his impala for safe keeping. Maybe the hyena will get lucky, should the impala fall?

A remarkable feature of Spotted Hyenas (but not Striped or Brown Hyenas; the Spotted Hyena is the only mammal known to sport such an anomaly!) is the elongated clitoris of females, roughly the size of the male's penis, through which she urinates, mates and gives birth! Check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_hyena

According to Stephen Glickman, an integrative biologist at UC Berkeley, birth of a 3-pound hyena cub is a cringe-inducing process - imagine pushing a golf ball through a soda straw - makes the downside of the female hyena's strange anatomy abundantly clear (Greg Miller, Science, 319: pp. 722-723, February 8, 2008). Hyena moms typically have two cubs in a litter, and about 60% of cubs born to a first time mom are stillborn. Amazing!

Visiting the ladies of Mala Mala

On the trail of a leopard with an impala stash in a tree

Incredible that a leopard could scale such a flimsy tree to stash his impala meal away from stalking hyenas.