Unsurprisingly, I feel more at home in the chaos of Kathmandu than the in the luxury of an oil rich Gulf State. The chaos falls somewhere above Indonesia (more dense) but below India (no cows, so far.) In spite of this, the traffic flows – people seem to show much more consideration for each other than I see in Toronto. Glad I’m not driving.
The hotel is only 15 minutes from the airport – it is an absolute oasis of calm.
My local guide met me at the airport with a khata (ceremonial scarf) as did the reception staff at the hotel. This is a Tibetan and, in Nepal also, Hindu custom given at certain events to signify honour and respect. Lovely touch. This hotel is a historical and cultural complex with fantastic salvaged and restored wood carved architectural features. There are several buildings organized around a courtyard with lots of vegetation, water features and song birds (okay, there are also pigeons so not perfect!) l’m almost regretting booking a tour this afternoon as I could easily spend the day taking photos. It very much reminds me of the Puri Suraswati Bungalows – also a heritage property – where I stayed in Ubud – similar courtyard and architectural styling but with more flamboyant embellishment.
This place is favoured by many south and south-east asian royals, Bollywood stars with a few of names I recognized from the west: Jimmy & Rosalind Carter and Adrian Brodie.
Not a bad place for breakfast!
In the afternoon it was off to Darbar Square…
…and then the Monkey temple.
Met a terrific group of folks in the evening all very excited about Bhutan – there will be 6 women, 2 men all good company. I hedged my bets and signed up to share a room but the other solo travellers paid for a single room so I get my single for free.
Bhutan, Land of the Thunder Dragon 
Leave a comment