The Bhutan Clan Vs Tiger’s Nest

24/4/2014

 

Kuzuzangpo La everybody!!!

It’s Kitson here! Daddy thought it would be funnier to write as a 3 year old instead of a 10 year old like he always does, since he didn’t have any poo and fart stories to tell on this trip.

So we are sitting on the plane in Calcutta airport after leaving Bhutan and OHMIGOSH!!! …yesterday I did the BIGGEST WALK EVER up a huge hill to Tiger’s Nest Monastery which is also called Taktshang Goemba. It’s 900m up a VERY BIG hill and is 3200m above sea level.

 

 

It’s the most famous of Bhutan’s monasteries and it’s built on the side of a cliff and it’s the reason why we came to Bhutan to see it. Our guide Robin says Guru Rinpoche, the second Buddha, flew here on the back of a tigress to fight a demon. That’s very cool. Monks are very cool… But monks are very different from monkeys! Except when monks need to open a door with their monk keys… then they are the same.

I walked up most of the BIG HILL all by myself, and all the way down, and daddy carried me only some of the way. Everybody I met was so impressed that I made it up the hill and I’m only 3 and a quarter years old… And I only fell down and cried 3 times! Mummy and Daddy were so proud!!! Even a monk was so proud that he gave me a packet of enlightened chips from an altar which was an offering.

Actually I made it up quite easily, and Mummy and Dad’s friend Noela also made it up quite easily, but Daddy was breathing really REALLY HARD! He said he is normally fit and probably the altitude affected him worse since he has more muscle to get oxygen to, but Noela and Mummy said it wasn’t altitude, it was attitude and really Daddy is a bit of a LAMEARSE!

It was also lucky that we did many walks for many hours before we got to Tiger’s Nest so that we could get fitter at the high altitude. We walked up hills around a place called Punakha, a Gangtay Nature trail and even a place called Bumthang which made me giggle because it is a funny word and made me want to shake my Bum Thing.

 

 

We saw lots and lots and LOTS of Buddhas! We saw SOOOOOO many Buddhas that our Karma Chameleon is sorted for life… except I took an old lady’s prayer wheel and spun it the wrong way which probably was quite bad and dad says she might now drop dead and be reincarnated as a fat person’s armpit.

 

 

We saw lots and lots of monasteries too which were really cool since the Bhutan people have to build houses in a special Bhutan way which all look really cool. The only weird thing is that the Bhutan people like painting big hairy peeeeenises with yucky stuff shooting out, onto their houses. Mum says it is because they like fertility and I shouldn’t giggle, but Dad says that’s a lot of cock and ball.

 

 

And we even hung out at a primary school which was cool since they taught me how to hop on 1 leg.

 

 

We also saw a cool funny creature called a Takin which like a mix of a moose, a goat and a cow but sounds like a dinosaur. And we saw lots of monkeys but Bhutan has a LOT of stray dogs which sucked since I REALLY HATE dogs. But luckily I got my rabies shots.

 

 

But we really liked Bhutan! And our company Bhutan Rebirth who we booked with were awesome and our Guide Robin and driver Sangay really looked after us well.

The people in Bhutan were soooo peaceful and everyone spoke English really well. Buddhism seems to be a good way to run a country. They have really awesome culture and have held onto it really well. The people still even wear traditional dress all the time.

Our friend Noela said Bhutan seems to be like Nepal but cleaner, like Tibet but happier and like India but less crowded. She’s travelled almost as much as my parents.

When we get home Dad is going to write up some proper trip notes and tips to post on the Lonely Planet Thorntree and Tripadvisor, so if anyone is keen on going to Bhutan, you can find it on our website www.cedavril.com

Dad has uploaded our Bhutan photos to Flickr on this link if you are bored. There’s lots of hiking pictures and monasteries, but also lots of peeenises on houses pictures so don’t look if you aren’t allowed that stuff at work.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cedavril/sets/72157644438335072/

We are off to Bangkok now and then Malaysia to hang around on a beach and eat lots of yummy food and stay with Dad’s uni friend May Hong Cheah.

We’ll write again soon

Luv you all
Kitson

PS. Thanks to Noela Kwan for putting up with travelling with us as a family and helping us look after Kitson. You ROCK!