In early October, we finally embarked upon an encore trip to Bhutan we had been planning since 2020 and rescheduled four times due to the pandemic. We first came to Bhutan in 2005 and wanted to see it again. We started with a flight to Bangkok via Tokyo on ANA. We stayed a day in Bangok at the Penninsula, then flew into Paro, Bhutan and drove to Thimpu for two days (three nights) at the Six Senses Thimpu Resort. We then began a hike on the Druk Track. The hike was supposed to be 5 days and 4 nights but we stopped after 4 days because we were in almost constant rain. We then went to Paro for four nights at the Six Senses Paro Resort. On my 66th birthday (Oct 15th) we flew to Singapore and stayed at the canonic Raffles Hotel for three nights before heading back home.
Bangkok, Thailand
The first leg of our trip was SFO to Bangkok, Thailand via Tokyo on ANA. ANA is a Japanese airline and everybody was strictly masked. We went to Bangkok bacause it is one of the few cities offering direct flights to Paro, Bhutan. We had a day in Bangkok, staying at The Penninsula. We have stayed there before. It is a very nice hotel right on the Chao Praya river. Unfortunately the hotel's riverside restaurant was undergoing renovation, but we had a couple of very good meals We walked to a shopping mall near the hotel - it was packed. There is nothing like an urban shopping mall in Asia to bring out the shoppers.
Paro Airport, Bhutan
After Bangkok, we flew Druk Airlines to Paro, Bhutan. Paro is reputed to be one of the most difficult airports to fly into - because it is in a deep mountain valley at 7,300' elevation surrounded by 18,000' mountains. The airport is frequently fogged in. There are only a handful of pilots qualified to fly into Paro. Some claim that it is a VFR only airport, but there is a complex RNP "cloud break" procedure to fly into Paro. While it is instrument approach, much of it is still visual since the decision height is 3000' above the runway threshold. I missed the opportunity to get my gopro out and film the approach from a passenger's perspective, but there are lots of Youtube videos of the approaches available. Below are a couple of videos to show what it is like to land on runway 15.
Thimpu, Bhutan
After landing, collecting our luggage, and clearing immigration, we met our guide for the hour long drive to Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan. In Thimpu we stayed way up on the side of the mountain at a new resort - the Six Senses Thimpu. Six Senses is a Thai-based wellness-themed resort. It was nicely designed and appointed - and we had a great view of the Thimpu valley and a new Golden Buddha on the mountainside opposite the hotel. We sayed at the Six Senses for three nights while we enjoyed Thimpu and prepared for the Druk Trek.
Our first day in Thimpu, we went to the Thimpu Tshechu Festival. The festival was huge - thousands of people and was held at the Tashichho Dzong, the seat of Bhutan's government. We caught the tail end of the festival and saw some of the dances and costumes.
After the festival, we walked across a bridge over a creek, had a picnic in a nearby park, and looked around Thimpu. The market was full of chiles - a favorite food in Bhutan, and we got a rare opportunity to photograph inside a Buddhist temple.
Our second day in Thimpu, we did a 4-mile hike to the Great Buddha Dordenma, a giant golden Buddha statue we could see from our hotel. The hike was about five miles and good preparation for our trek.
Druk Trek
The third day in Thimpu, we began the Druk Trek. We began with a huge uphill of about 4 miles. We hiked to Phajoding - were we camped at 11,600' in the vicinity of some monestaries and temples. The view of Thimpu was breathtaking. The next two days we hiked and camped along the Druk trail but it was rainy and foggy so we could not see the scenery as much as we would like. After a couple of days of rain, at our guide's suggestion, we took a shortcut out and did not finish the trek, but hiked down a beautiful river valley to a trailhead between Thimpu and Paro and went a day early to Paro. The hike was beautiful and challenging but the constant rain caused us to cut it short. Overall we hiked about 20 miles and reached almost 13,000' elevation.
Paro, Bhutan
After exiting from the Trek we went to Paro and stayed at the Six Senses Paro. We got cleaned and cleaned our gear. After a day of rest we drove up to the Chele La pass connecting Paro and the Haa valley and did a hike down to a Buddhist nunnery.
Our last day in Paro was beautiful and we hiked up to Tiger's Nest, the classic hike that everyone who visits Bhutan has to do.
Singapore
On Jon's birthday, October 15, we flew from Paro to Singapore. We stayed at Raffles Hotel where we enjoyed a very central location and easy access to the Long Bar where we could drink Singapore Slings. We were last in Singapore at the end of our 2020 sabbatical, and it was fun to be back. The night we arrived, we celebrated Jon's birthday at the Cocanut Club.
Our first day in Singapore we did a New Generation's Hawker food tour which took us to a number of narkets and foodie locations. It was really fun and we got to see parts of Singapore we had not seen. Our guide took us to food hawkder courts in Singapore public housing and in Chinatown. The food was great and it was a fun cultural experince.
Our last day in Singapore we did a Crazy Rich Asians motorcycle sidecar tour with Singapore Sidecars. We had, of course, seen the Crazy Rich Asians movie but had no ideas where all of those big estates shown in the movie are. Singapore is so dense it was hard to imagine finding big houses on large lots. We had a couple of guys on mopeds with side cars show us. It was a lot of fun. The houses do exist, but the camera angles made them look a lot more isolated than than they are in real life. It was fun to see residential areas that were not all high-rise condos. The tour was a fun morning and we got to expand our knowledge of Singapore and its geography. The videos below are kind of long but give you the Sidecar experience and tour discussion. Best experienced in VR with sound.
