Roadtrip to Gandikota: The Grand Canyon of India

The journey to Gandikota via Belum caves & Ahobilam from Hyderabad was around 1000 Kms approx (return trip). This trip was a unique blend of the Heritage sites like Belum Caves Ahobilam, Vontimitta Lord Kodandarama Swamy temple & Gandikota the hidden grand canyon of India with a bit of adventurous overnight camping in open fields.  More to come...Stay tuned!! 

Himalayan People

Little Girls lost in thoughts.. 

"The Soul is healed by being with Children." -English Proverb
Spotted this Child at Thimphu Memorial.

Senior Students welcoming Junior students with Traditional Pans..

A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.

-Colin Powell

People Praying in National Memorial Chorten 

One can notice Culture and tradition every where in Bhutan .:)

One of the most distinctive features of the Bhutanese

 is their traditional dress, unique garments 

that have evolved over thousands of years. 

Men wear the Gho, a knee-length robe 

somewhat resembling a kimono 

that is tied at the waist by a 

traditional belt known as Kera.

Fresher students waiting for the ceremony to begin..

Darjeeling School kids..

On her way back to her home in Darjeeling.. 

On the Road again...

‘RoRBoyz’ is a name which represents a symbol of friendship for over 11 years. When we are together, we always try to look beyond the horizon and think of different yet exciting endeavors. There is no dearth of fun in Rorboyz, you are always welcome with open arms to follow the fun. In short, Rorboyz epitomizes the word ‘Friendship’.
We have made toys  with our logo on it’s Tee’s. In our coming trips, we’ll try to click their pictures in such a way that it summarizes our whole trip.

Thimphu City Backdrop 

Boyz @ 169 feet Buddha Statue & is one of the largest Buddha rupas in the world.

@Paro Airport

On the road again..

Born for Adventures

On the way to Bhutan..

An Adrenaline filled trip...

Bhutan Diaries: Top 5 Must try Bhutan Foods

Bhutanese cuisine employs a lot of red rice, buckwheat in Bumthang, and increasingly maize in Eastern districts. The diet in the hills also includes chicken, yak meat, dried beef, pork, and lamb. Soups and stews of meat, rice, ferns, lentils, and dried vegetables, spiced with chilli peppers and cheese, are a favorite meal during the cold seasons.

Authentic Bhutanese Cuisines in Ama restaurant, Thimphu

Restaurants here can serve Chinese, Nepalese, Tibetan, and Indian foods, which are very popular. Popular beverages include butter tea (called suja), milk tea (called ngaja), black tea, locally brewed ara (rice wine), and beer.

Indo-Bhutanese foods at Gangilokh hotel near Clocktower Thimphu

1. Ema datshi is a spicy dish made with large, green chili peppers in a cheesy sauce, which might be called the national dish for its ubiquity and the pride that Bhutanese have for it.

2. Chicken Thukpa: Made of Rice Noodles and is very popular in Bhutan.

3.kewi datshi: Made of Potatoes, Onions,Chilli powder, Garlic Etc.,

4. Jasha Maroo: Bhutanese Spicy Chicken stew

5.veg cheese momos: No need of introduction :P

Other foods include jasha maru (a chicken dish), phaksha paa (dried pork cooked with chili peppers, spices, and vegetables, including turnips, greens, or radishes), thukpa, bathup, and fried rice.

Lemon Tea & Butter Tea

 

Chicken Bathup

Lamb meat and bread

P.s: I don’t eat pork & beef. So I’m only mentioning dishes without it.. also don’t forget to try suja(butter tea) adapted from pho cha of Tibetan

Bhutan Diaries: Dochula Pass~ Enroute from Thimphu to Punakha

Dochula pass is located enroute Thimphu - Punakha, at 3000 meters above sea level is overlooking the mighty Himalayas. At one of the viewing points, 108 stupas (chortens) were constructed as a memorial built by the queen, Her Majesty Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, to honor the victory of the Bhutanese army in the 2003 war of Southern Bhutan.

This is also known as Druk wangyal Chortens

This is a quiet and tranquil location.. 

From the crest, one can get a stunning 360 degree panoramic view of Himalayan mountain range. It was a cloudy day so the view was not so clear for us.

Serene and Surreal 

We visited this place twice. 

It seems that the view from here is very scenic on clear, winter days with snowcapped mountains forming a majestic backdrop to the tranquility of the 108 chortens gracing the mountain pass.

Clouds jealously hugging the Dochula pass, making the view unviewable.. 

Closeup view of a Chorten

The past and future appears to merge in the details of the lhakhang (temple) and its structure tells the story of a supreme warrior figure, whose vision pierces the distant future in a fine blend of history and mythology.

Heavenly isn't it?

This place has become popular spiritual destination because of this temple which is located on the crest of Dochula pass.

Break with a view enroute Punakha

Bhutan was forced to repel the rebels as failing to do so, India threatened to enter the country to do so themselves. The 4th King led a volunteer army of about 7,000 men to force the rebels to exit the country. That is one of the reasons why Bhutanese love their fourth king (Jigme Singye Wangchuck). He is the one who replaced GDP with Gross National Happiness. Making it as happiest country.

Dochula Pass hosts the Dochula Festival annually on 13 December. Bhutanese Started celebrating this festival from 2011. If you have a plan of visiting Bhutan in December then don't miss it..

Jumping for joy makes our soul happy :P

Taktsang Lhakhang- A TREK OF A LIFETIME

We finally reached as to what was our most eagerly awaited destination in paro and precisely in bhutan, This was the taktsang lhakhang a.k.a tiger’s monastery , a place which was at the top of our to-do list not just because it was a 16th century old monastery built on a huge cliff but also for the fact that we have to trek 13KM(5 hours) through a dense pine forest to the top.
      The soul of trekking is determination and passion.There are people who think trekking is just walking like a zombie between forest and mountains to reach nowhere.That is not true. The idea of reaching the top of a mountain by foot drives more adrenaline from the inside and is more of a fun from the ROR boys point of view as we looked at it as a trek of a lifetime and indeed it was
      We reached the starting point at 1 30PM, which is not highly recommended as the total trek time ideally is 5 hours to and fro. If you are late after sunset then you might be in for a real scare.However that wasn’t the case here :D
We started the trek steadily and not surprisingly people were coming down after finishing the trek.They had that “you guys wont make it” look on their faces. we all gave a good glance to the monastery that was barely visible from ground zero and karthik was sulking in his already wet clothes.

Get set GO!

ON MY WAY

The way through the forest was not very tricky.It is a decent road for initial part of it and then becomes tricky after some distance as naturally the road would become more and more drastic and very difficult when you go higher on the hill.We reached halfway slowly and the monastery was getting closer and more pleasing to our eyes. we had a beautiful landscape when we turned back and a few people did suggest us to turn back and down as it is still couple of hours away and we have a time crunch,but there was no turning back. The determination was there to reach the destination.I guess there is not much of a difference between a trek and life. Have that determination :)
    Where were we?? Oh yes we were at the top of the cliff.finally!!In a little under 3 hours.Trust me when i say this,It was worth all the sweat and a little pain in the muscles.

Totally Worth it!!

The monastery is stunningly located on the edge of the cliff.It is almost as if it is glued to the side of the cliff rather than built on the very top.The locals also say that the king’s mother resides in this place very often when she feels the need to meditate.You can see an array of mountains and a picturesque view of Bhutan’s natural and well preserved habitat.No pictures were allowed inside as it is mostly a normal buddhist temple from the inside.

The Best view of the taktsang

The never ending nature

PIC by GK

We were back to the starting point in an impressive total time of 4 hours and 20 minutes.With our legs cursing us and the body searching for a cushion we are on the road back to Thimphu,Many would ideally stay in Paro but we had a liking for Thimphu which we would also suggest other travelers as Thimphu is a livelier place to stay (in other words women were more beautiful :P)
Lalla was finally feeling home by now.He was more often than not saying that he feels like a local by now although he doesn’t look even close to one.And after the long day of ROR exploring and after some 500odd selfies of karthik, we were back to Thimphu. We were dead tired but the night was ours to live.Even after the long sojourn we were in for a late night chat inside our hotel room where we gathered for some relaxed conversations.This was one of the highlights of the trip with everyone’s past being the focus. Rohith was at his usual doctor stuff giving medical advices to karthik ;) and lalla’s motivational speech on how to handle breakups was almost motivational :P we were finally off to bed and ready and set for our final destination in bhutan.

The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.
-Gilbert K. Chesterton

Dream To be continued...

Bhutan Diaries: Dholi taro bol "Paro"

LIGHTS! CAMERA! PARO!

Once done with exploring the chelela we are back to ground zero and the next stop was paro. Paro was very much conflicting to thimphu. It had a more traditional feel to it as it is older than thimphu.But it still had its own charm.

The Paro Airport, One of most beautiful airports we have seen

PARO MUSEUM

First stop , the famous Paro museum which closes at 11AM on saturdays. The museum is located beautifully but is also prone to thunders as the original museum was damaged after being hit by a thunder in the year 2013. The museum is now shifted in the newly constructed building adjacent to the old one. 

Entry to the museum

The Paro museum shows you the history and present of Bhutan like any other national museum in the world. The most interesting part of it was the display of various birds of Bhutan and the history was also captivating enough.

WoW!!



The actual damanged museum

 



Overlooking Paro from the museum

No we are not going further without feeding our tummy as the driver stopped by a decent yet empty hotel in Paro town for some yummy Bhutanese food. 

Thupka- A local dish

KYICHU LKHANG

Next on the list was Kyichu lhakhang. Believed to be the oldest temple in Bhutan The temple is popularly believed to have been built in 659 by King Songtsen Gampo of Tibet, to pin down the left foot of a giant ogress who was thwarting the establishment of Buddhism into Tibet. Additional buildings and a golden roof were constructed in 1839 by the penelop of Paro and the 25th Je Khenpo.

A Mural

A very small yet historical place

The encrypted wheels

Sometimes the least noticed things are beautiful

The temple is extremely sacred for the Buddhist and it does tell you a story of Bhutan history and old architecture as we see a lots of prayer wheels encrypted on the walls of the temple.


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