After nearly 80 days of highlights, scenic wonders, cultural sight and blow-your-mind experiences across Asia, we still had one amazing sight left to see: the legendary Taktshang Lakhang, or better known as Tiger’s Nest Monastry. Bhutan’s most iconic landmark. Tiger’s Nest Monastery is believed to be the birthplace of Buddhism in Bhutan, making it the most sacred … [Read more…]
Today we were driving from Thimphu to Punakha to visit one of the most sacred monasteries in the country. We had several stops along the way which made for a very interesting journey. Our morning started with an unexpected surprise – an archery match. But this was no ordinary archery match. Archery is the national sport of Bhutan, … [Read more…]
We were on our way to our final stop in Asia: Bhutan. We wanted to get to the airport early this morning because 1) we wanted to miss the traffic and 2) we wanted seats on the left hand side of the aircraft to see Everest. Unfortunately we only managed to do one of the … [Read more…]
I woke up early this morning and wanted to take a few dawn shots of Everest and the stars. Sadly, a thick mist had descended down the valley so I couldn’t see any Everest nor any stars. We wished Chomolungma (the Nepali name for Mt. Everest meaning “Goddess of the Valley”) farewell and hit the … [Read more…]
In addition to seeing Lhasa, the main aim of our trip was to go to Everest Base Camp. Unlike the Nepali side, where you need to hike for eight days to get to base camp, on the Tibetan side you drive until about 3km from the camp, then walk the last bit to the mountain. … [Read more…]
Even though we were technically on our way to the west of China, in our minds we were leaving the country and could not be happier. Destination: Lhasa, Tibet. I have been wanting to come to Tibet for longer than I care to remember and have attempted to enter twice before but, for whatever reason, I was turned … [Read more…]
Getting to our hotel in Xi’an ended up being quite a mission… from the cab driver in Beijing who tried to double-charge us, to the lack of information at Xi’an airport about public transport, to a further struggle to get a cab for the last part few kilometres to our hotel. And all the while it was raining. Bleugh. But … [Read more…]
We were on our way to China. My first time; Derek’s second (one too many, according to him). Of all the places we would visit, this was the one he was least looking forward to. He visited China about eight years ago and loved it, but really struggled with the people and the food. While … [Read more…]
When visiting Japan, one has to eat Kobe beef. And where better than in Kobe itself. We hopped on the shinkansen for the short trip to Kobe. I say “short” but I really mean “quick”. It is 250km between Hiroshima and Kobe but it took us just over an hour on the train. I don’t understand … [Read more…]
Our next destination was Hiroshima. No matter who you talk to or where you are in the world, the name Hiroshima will forever be associated with death and destruction. But the city we found had almost no trace of that. The streets are tree-lined and beautiful, pretty shops and lush bakeries are everywhere and the people are the friendliest … [Read more…]