Blogging from Bhutan

Paro Dzong

Hi! We are currently in Trongsa, Bhutan, and this is the first internet access we've had since our trip began. Everything is wonderful. We have a great guide named Dorji and we are really bonding with him.

Our dear friend Dorji

We started out in Paro and went to a dzong (monastery) and an incredible medieval fortress-turned-museum. Then it was off to the capital city of Thimpu where we visited another even more spectacular dzong (they have so many adornments - almost every square inch is elaborately painted, there are awe-inspiring brightly colored wood carvings, butter sculptures, musical instruments, gorgeous silk textiles, a 30 foot golden Buddha statue...you could spend hours and hours in every dzong, and there is one in every district of the country).

Dzong in Thimpu

We went to an artisan school where high school students were learning traditional arts (painting, weaving, sculpting, carving, sewing, etc). We went to the "zoo", which is really just a fenced-in area for the endangered national animal, the takin. There is a legend that the second Buddha (Guru Rinpoche) created it with the head of a goat and body of a cow. Even taxonomists have given up trying to classify it and have put it in a category all its own.


View of capital city Thimpu

We were supposed to hike over a very high (14,400 foot) mountain pass to get to the village of Shelmakha for their yearly festival, but the altitude was really getting to Craig. When he felt disoriented and dizzy, needing to lay down before lunch on the first day, we decided a change in plans was in order. Sometimes things happen for a reason. We ended up camping right next to the hostel for a local boarding school. The students immediately befriended us and won our hearts. they took us up to show us their rooms and how they live. We carry a little album of photos from home and they wanted to keep pictures of us. They were really sweet and we were so glad to have met them. They brought down their photo albums for us and presented us with a photo to keep.


Our friends from Genekha Lower Secondary School - Passang Dem (Class 7) and Phub Dem (Class 8 school captain)

We decided we were still determined to get to Shelmakha on foot, so we "hiked" and camped along the mostly dirt roads. When we finally reached Shelmakha, it was goreous. We arrived a day early and got to see festival preparations.


Dasho Karma Dorjee and one of the festival dancers in Shelmakha


Here we met (Dasho) Karma Dorjee, the Bhutanese Secretary of Industry and Tourism. He is a very important man who was raised in Shelmakha and returned for the festival. It was raining lightly the day prior to the festival and he was carrying a Today Show umbrella that he got from Matt Lauer's crew when the NBC show was here earlier this year. He took us under his wing for the next two days and explained everything to us and treated us like dignitaries.


"The Peekaboo Crew" - who kept us entertained while watching the festival

The weather cleared up for the festival for the first time in 3 years. We met a lot of wonderful people including children who were so generous and were always presenting us with gifts of food. The dancing and singing at the festival were amazing.


"Angel Dance" at Shelmakha Festival

At night they had a campfire and taught us some dances (and yes, Craig even danced! When the Secretary asked, he jumped right in. You don't say no to Dasho!) They insisted that we teach them "one of our cultural dances". Ummm...we were put on the spot and all the kids kept encouraging us. They wanted to learn a dance from the USA. What were we to do? The Electric Slide to the rescue (I never thought I would ever use those words together!) The kids LOVED it.


Our friend Phub Lham (affectionately known as "Apple") and her friend in Shelmakha, who shared various foods with us

We camped for 3 nights in Shelmakha and then stayed in a farmhouse for two nights with a local family. We attened a community HIV-awareness comedy/musical show (2 hours and 45 minutes of live entertainment for $1.50 - you can't beat that) and everyone seemed totally happy that we stayed in town for a couple of days.


HIV Awareness show at the school auditorium

On our free day in Shelmakha we brought a Frisbee and played with the kids for hours. It was a big success. We presented the Frisbee to the family we stayed with and the young boy held it to his heart and gave it a kiss. We were then invited into someone's home for tea and a movie ("Enter the Dragon" with Bruce Lee). It was sad to leave the village, but we had to move on.


Out host family in their altar room


Next we went to Punakha, our guide Dorji's hometown. We met his twin brother and his little 12 year old brother. We went to his mother's house and she prepared an authentic Bhutanese meal for us. The chilies and cheese are so delicious but talk about hot! Almost as hot as the weather!


Dorji Pelzang, his mother Tashi Choden, younger brother Pema Rabgay, and twin brother Dawa Dorji

We went to Punakha dzong and the temple of the Divine Madman (who is famous for having subdued a demon with his phallus). We hiked up to a gorgeous Buddhist stupa (aka chorten) which is a momument containing holy statues and texts. We climbed to the top and had a gorgeous view of the valley and river below. Today we drove through WhangduePhodrang and visited their dzong, and then continued on our 5 hour car journey to Trongsa.


View from the top of the Khamsum Yuly Namgyal Chorten

Painting Detail in Punakha Dzong Courtyard

Now, here we are, in a really beautiful hotel. Our room overlooks Trongsa Dzong and the valley below. We even saw golden langur monkeys on the side of the road. We have dinner in about an hour and a half (it's 5:30 PM here now) and then a nice long sleep. We'll be up early tomorrow to head to the National Library, Trongsa Dzong, and then on to Bumthang Valley.


View of Tronsga Dzong from our hotel room

We have already taken over 2100 photos. Luckily we still have lots of memory cards left. We have about 6 more days in Bhutan and then we are off to the Taj Mahal. Home on the 26th.

I don't know if we'll have another chance to write (I kind of doubt it) but please know that we are safe and having the time of our lives!

Love,
Steph & Craig

PS Sorry for any typos!

Off to Bhutan and India

Tomorrow we head off on our longest trip yet (and our first foray into Asia): Bhutan and India. Myths and Mountains has set up a great custom itinerary for us. Bhutan is a Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas which measures its wealth in Gross National Happiness. We will be touring Bhutan from west to east, including a multi-day hike to a remote village named Shelmakha which has only had around 20 Western visitors ever. We will be staying with a family in the village (in their farmhouse) for 3 nights, and while we are there, they will be celebrating an annual festival. We will be at some high elevations (one night we will be camping at 14,000+ feet). Bhutan is very isolated, and has the only capital city in the world which doesn’t have a single traffic light.

We fly in and out of New Delhi, India, on our trip. On the way back we will be staying in India for several days, going to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. We are treating ourselves on our last night to a stay at the Oberoi Amarvilas, a hotel in which all rooms have views of the Taj. It will be near the full moon while we are there, which should afford some great night views.

Not this Taj Mahal...

We are not sure how much access to internet we may have. Bhutan only got connected to internet and TV in 1999, so we’re not sure how many opportunities we may have to update the blog or send e-mail. But we will do our best!

We return home on the 26th. We'll be in touch!

Love,

Steph & Craig

Playing Catch-Up

I’ve been remiss in updating the blog, so here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve been up to in the past year or so.

We got the remainder of our Africa trip posted on the web site:

We stayed at the beautiful Kambi ya Tembo tented camp near Sinya in Tanzania. From there, we went on wildlife drives and a bush walk. The highlight was visiting two authentic Maasai villages and being a part of their ceremonial celebrations.

This was the real deal. Craig drank some of their home-brew and we ate freshly slaughtered beef. I danced with the women. We also visited a Maasai market. We learned so much through the experience.

In Rwanda, we did some trekking to see mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. We visited Group 13 (which at the time had the youngest baby gorilla in Virungas National Park, at just 2 weeks old)

and the Sabyinyo Group, which had the largest silverback male, at 220 kg (around 450 pounds).

We got very close to the gorillas and they were amazing. A juvenile even touched me as he ran past! It was a very humbling experience.

We also visited the Kigali Memorial Centre. Through its exhibits and frank discussions with our guide Johnson, we learned a lot about the Rwandan genocide of 1994, in terms of political events and anecdotal accounts of the tragedy suffered by residents. The emotions it elicited were in stark contrast to the gorilla experience, but it was very interesting and educational. We felt that we could not in good conscience visit this country without paying respect to its recent tragic past.

At Thanksgiving, we visited our pal Marty in St Thomas for the 7^th year in a row. We all enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner made by Carly, Sean, and Ann.

We enjoyed the traditional Cap’n Marty’s Island Hop, which we hadn’t been able to do the previous year due to uncooperative weather. And Marty introduced us to the fabulous Schnitzel Haus. Mmmmm…veal!

In December of 2006, we visited St Lucia for the wedding of our dear friends Tom and Karen. The ceremony was beautiful, and we were so happy to be able to be there for their special day.

We stayed in Rodney Bay Village, and befriended some local Rastas. One of them (Ania) went on a day trip with us, showing us around the island. We really enjoyed the local flavor. Our nightly hangout was a Chinese restaurant called Double Happiness, and we capped off the trip with a scuba dive.

Over 4^th of July, 2007, we visited our friend Humberto in Panajachel, Guatemala. We stayed with him and his lovely family – his wife Paulina and their 5 daughters between the ages of 2 and 12.

Humberto took us on some tours of the villages surrounding Lake Atitlan (tours which are available to the public through his family business, Lago Aventura Tours), and we got to spend a lot of quality time with the family. They gave us the honor of asking us to be godparents to 2 year old Aracely, so we are quite happy to be going back to visit in November for her baptism.

Then, over Labor Day, we visited Tom and Karen in Fort Myers. We had a great time hanging out and visiting Sanibel Island. We haven’t had a chance to get this trip onto the site yet, but we will soon!

As always, see our main site http://www.craigandstephsvacations.com
for full details of these trips!

In Memory of Robert Lockwood Jr.

We just got back last night from our annual Thanksgiving trip to St Thomas to visit our good friends Marty and Tiffany. Details will be up on the web site soon.

When I got home and logged into my email, I had an email from our friend Francis, saying that Robert Lockwood Jr. had died at the age of 91. Craig and I first became fans of Robert Lockwood Jr when we attended the 2001 W.C. Handy Blues Awards in Memphis with our friends Kevin and Jenn. Robert Lockwood Jr was seated directly behind us, and he was wearing a very styling suit. He received an award that night, and when he went onstage to receive it, he made a cantankerous comment to the effect that "It's about time." We could tell that he was quite a character. Then, two nights later, we saw him perform at the Blues Aid concert at the New Daisy Theater. He was 86 at the time. He played a short set on a beautiful turquoise guitar. A highlight was "Stop Breaking Down Blues." He left us wanting more.



When we got home from Memphis, we started to research him. He was the real deal, and had learned to play guitar from the man whose very name is synonymous with blues: Robert Johnson. In fact, Johnson was the boyfriend of Lockwood's mother, and lived with them for a while. We started to collect Lockwood's recordings, and our favorite ones always seemed to be when he played Johnson's material. It was magic. Pure old-school blues.

Lockwood lived in Cleveland, and had a weekly gig at a nightclub called Fat Fish Blue. We wished we could travel there to see him, but his regular night was Wednesday, so that made a long weekend trip impossible.

On June 3, 2006, Robert Lockwood Jr played with David Honeyboy Edwards at the Regatta Bar in Cambridge, MA. Craig and I went to the show with Craig's brother Steve and our friend and fellow blues afficianado, Francis. Each man played two sets, just him and a guitar. Again, Lockwood looked totally styling. He played the same turquoise guitar, and put on an absolutely fabulous show. We put some photos from the show up on our web site here. We got to meet him in between sets and get his autograph. I told him that our friend Frank would have loved to have met him, maybe even did meet him at some point. Frank was one of our best friends. He had been B.B. King's bus driver for 20 years, and we took him to see some blues concerts while he was in a local nursing home. Unfortunately, Frank passed away in August 2005. I am in the process of creating a tribute page to Frank on the web site.

Anyway, I am so happy that we got to see Robert Lockwood again before he passed away. According to newspaper articles, he was doing what he loved right up until the end. He had performed on Nov 1, suffered an aneurysm on Nov 3, and then remained in the hospital until he passed away on Nov 21. On his website, his widow, Mary, invites friends and fans to attend his wake and funeral in Cleveland. We wish that we weren't so far away, or we would pay our respect.

RIP, Mr. Lockwood!

Kenya Travelogue - June 25 & 26, 2006

We finished up the Kenya portion of our travelogue last weekend. On June 25, Craig went out on a game drive with Patrick first thing in the morning. I slept in, trying to shake off the stomach troubles I had been having. Craig and Patrick saw a pair of cheetahs this morning. They thought they might get to witness a kill as a Thomson's gazelle wandered unknowingly by them, but it was not to be.

They returned from the game drive and we all ate breakfast. After that, we headed to the nearby Maasai village. James, who normally wears western clothes, dressed up in his traditional attire for the village visit. We were welcomed by the villagers with songs and dances. They immediately included us in the festivities, and we found ourselves jumping and strutting with these friendly and welcoming people. They were wearing traditional Maasai "shukas" made of brightly colored fabric, and elaborate hand-beaded adornments. We took photos and they eagerly looked at the digital images. We took some video clips of the singing and dancing and posted them on the web site.

We were invited into one of the traditional Maasai houses, a hut made of mud and dung. Inside were two platforms used as beds. I sat with a very sweet woman and her baby on the women's side, and Craig sat with her husband on the men's side. A small orange kitten (which the Maasai domesticate in order to keep rodents and snakes at bay) played at our feet. I showed photos of home to the woman and baby.

After seeing the house, we went outside and the women from the village had set up their handiwork. We picked out some of our favorite intricately beaded items and purchased them. Everyone in the tribe got a share of the money that was made. We gave the tribe a Frisbee as a gift, and taught them to play. The men were intrigued, and after a few throws, one of them actually caught it. We said our thank you's and goodbye's and got back into the Land Rover. One of the Maasai men posed with the Frisbee on his head as we pulled away.

We went back to the lodge for lunch and ran into our friend Saitoti from yesterday. We chatted with him and then went on another game drive. Patrick was determined to find this morning's cheetah, so that I too would get to see them. We found them, lounging in the grass. All that was visible were their seemingly-disembodied heads. We then continued our game drive and saw buffalo, hippos, and elephants.


We returned to the lodge for dinner. During dinner, we were serenaded by the staff with a Swahili song and a goodbye cake, as it was our last night at the lodge and our last night in Kenya. We would be sad to leave Patrick and James, they had become very good friends. But we had many laughs during our last dinner together. It was bittersweet.

The next morning they drove us to Namanga, the border town between Kenya and Tanzania. We said our goodbyes and embarked on a new phase of our journey...