“Reign of Love”

Bar-headed Geese: These are the highest flying birds in our planet who go through one of the toughest migrations witnessed by nature, having to fly over the Everest (8,842m).

They fly at a 9,000m elevation, where oxygen is nearly non-existent and temperatures reach – 59 ° C; covering a distance of approximately 1,000 miles per day at a speed of 50 miles an hour. Their trick: Having thick feathers, a large wingspan and to hyperventilate while flying. Other than that, they have little sacs that store the inhaled air for a while and then send it back to the lungs one more time before having to exhale it. In other words with one inhalation they breath twice!

July 3rd, 1819: “I want a brighter word than bright, a fairer word than fair..” is what the British romantic poet John Keats, writes to express his feelings in a love letter. But while Keats wrote love letters, years later, Irish poet and writer Oscar Wilde answered questions. In one of his books -“What is a cynic?”- a person asks; and then he answers -“Someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. And a sentimentalist, my dear, is someone who sees an absurd value in everything, and doesn’t know the market place of any single thing”-. 

September of last year if I’m not wrong I ‘ran into’ the Bar-headed Geese’s migration story in a documentary (can’t remember which one though). It must not have been more than 3 minutes in which they mentioned the country which up to that moment for me was completely non-existent: Bhutan.

After the short description they gave about this Kingdom I couldn’t help but search its location on the map: Little Bhutan ‘sandwiched’ in between two big countries! After reading more about it I couldn’t help but feeling that this was it; and that I had to go there! At that moment I saw it as the perfect internship destination.

Of course, it was India instead… but as Bhutan was the inspiration for coming to this side of the world and one of the inspirations for choosing the type of internship I chose; there was no way I would allow myself to leave without setting foot on the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon. And I knew that I had to do it on my own, at least this first time…

Thank you Bar-headed Goose!

Now that I’m back in India I am facing a struggle, just like Keats, for finding words to describe this wonderful, beautiful place as well as its people. Because I too, would need a ‘more wonderful word than wonderful, a ‘more beautiful word than beautiful’… This was a very special trip. It was unbelievable, but true. By the end of each day I couldn’t wait for the next one to start.

Every day you would wake up to see Mother Earth’s work of art in the fullest and most majestic of expressions, and what made it even more special was sharing all of it with a good company. Even though it was a short stay, it was long enough for making me feel sad at the moment when I had to leave… We had fun.

So, as at times there are things that go beyond written and verbal descriptions; here you go – the trip through Paro, Thimphu and Punakha summarized with pictures (then again, this is limited by my not so advanced photographic abilities… but I tried!).

 

Paro - Thimphu VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

 

Thimphu VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Thimphu - Punakha VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Punakha VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Paro (Tigers Nest hike) VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The day after hiking the Tigers Nest the trip was over (…if I could have stayed I would have! :D). In the airport though a man, a local from Bhutan who was traveling to Bangladesh, came towards me and a conversation started. Somehow he had picked up that I was a Spanish speaker and he himself spoke also some Spanish, as he had traveled a lot to Costa Rica before.

So we talked while waiting for the airplane’s departure and on the airplane we were sitting all the way in the front, so even a flight attendant that was around my age joined the conversation. Thing is, that by the end I received a ‘lecture’ on what Bhutan’s philosophy of Gross National Happiness is all about and most important what their people think of it.      

He asked one question like: “Imagine you want to have a lot of money, or you want something(s) very much… but at the cost of what?”

-

“SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING AND THE VALUE OF NOTHING…” (if you’ve watched the movie ‘The Rum Diary’ this quote may sound familiar). It was what came to mind after all of it.

I must say that I have no other choice but to ‘take my hat off’ to this small country; which is taking up the great role of being a good example for the rest of the world… A treasure with no price; but infinite value!

-

The flight was over and the flight attendant didn’t say goodbye, but just: “Do come to Bhutan again!”; and later on in Kolkata’s airport the man also didn’t say goodbye but “hasta la próxima!”. There is no ‘goodbye’ word in The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon!

And so, as long as I’m alive and kicking, it is and will be an: Hasta la próxima!

Hope you enjoyed the ‘picture trip’ dear readers.

PEACE
Your writer,
Maria 

   

 

THE WHEEL OF LIFE..

It is real. It seems so surreal though, but this is it! Bhutan…

From the flight (spotting the great Everest!) and the landing; the views, the food and… the people; from the seconds to the minutes; I’ve been here not more than a day, but you need no more than a second to appreciate this place. It has been incredible.

There are moments when you have to even pinch yourself, just to ‘confirm’ it is not a dream! Haha!

I’ve been searching for this! And, I know I’m so ridiculous with my romantic moments; but as far as I can recall, I have never been so in love with life in my whole life!

  

I’m eternally grateful.

And speaking of life, I think I have never, ever paid so much attention to what I’ve heard (except maybe with some horse-related things), as I did today for the whole day.

Now, I will share with you something my guide taught me today about the “Buddhist Wheel of Life”…

So it is said that…

The Lord of death holds the ‘Wheel of Life’, to remind us that every living thing in this world is not able to escape perishing.

The circle in the center holds the three poisons: A chicken representing ‘desire’; a snake representing ‘hatred’ and a pig representing ‘ignorance’.

On the outer part of this circle, which shows the ‘three poisons’, you find the path of light (left side) and the dark path (right side).

Surrounding these, you find the six different lives. The three on top (looking at it in a clockwise direction) show the ‘demi god’ life, ‘heaven’ and ‘human’. While the three on the bottom (again, looking at it in a clockwise direction) show the ‘hungry ghosts’, ‘hell’ and lastly the ‘animal’ life.

The demi god life – Men are ugly, the women beautiful; and this life is characterized by having a lot of conflict with the heavenly gods, due to the fact that these gods eat the fruits of the tree which has been grown by the demi gods (as shown in the picture).

On top the Buddha holds an armor.

Heaven – Place for the gods and goddesses. These enjoy all the good things of life, but this tends to make them forget the path of light. Therefore, the Buddha holds a Bhutanese guitar (I forgot the name), so the gods do not forget following the path of light.

Human – This is us. And being born as a human is considered a very lucky thing here in Bhutan, as we are able to distinguish right from wrong.

In this image, Buddha holds a begging bowl.

Hungry ghosts – Their mouths, extremely small. Their neck, as thin a horse’s tale hair. Their bellies are huge and their legs as thin as grass. This is the place for the greedy and the cunning.

They cannot eat, because of their small mouths. Even if they do eat, the food won’t pass through their thin neck. Even if the food passes, their bellies are so full that they won’t feel satisfied; and the food will make them spit fire.

Here, the Buddha holds a flask with holy water.

Hell – Again, where the Lord of Death Rules; and beneath him lay two other gods (the white and black one) who each hold a basket full of papers (white and black papers).

It is said that we all carry the dark god on our left shoulder and the white one on our right shoulder.

Every time we do a good thing, the white god will put a white paper in its basket. Each time we do a bad thing, the dark god will put a black one into his.

At the time of our death, they both count the papers in front of the Lord of Death and it is decided in what part of the Wheel of Life we are reincarnated into.

Animal – (Can’t remember this one actually! Sorry, I’m guessing my brain reached its memory capacity!)

Surrounding these 6 lives, are the attachments (1st picture above). Whoever frees itself from the three poisons and the attachments in life, is that one who reaches enlightenment!

Hope you liked the explanation/story!

Tomorrow, Follow mE hikes all the way up to a monastery, then visits a painting school, the National Memorial Chorten, a small wildlife reserve and the Buddha Point! So, I’ll bring these stories back to you!

I’ll also make sure to upload more pictures later. At the moment I’m too lazy + tired.

Greetings to all and tale care!

PEACE
Your writer,
Maria

'Adventures in Solitude'

Mission no. 1: Succesfully accomplished!

A 34 hour train trip crossing “the world’s largest democracy” = DONE

It was kind of funny, because I took the train with the aim of looking out at India’s “views”. Then, first thing I notice when I get up in the train and find my seat is the scratched, old, blurry window… Haha!

I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

Of course I had to laugh… what else can you do? That’s just ‘India’s way’ of messing up with you!

Despite this, it was a nice trip. Half the way I shared the cabin with a couple of Indian grandparents who were travelling from Pune with 3 big boxes of wedding invitations, because their son is about to get married; and a tennis player who was on his way to a tournament. The other half I pretty much had the cabin all for myself, except for the last couple of hours.

The train was delayed for 1 and ½ hours, which was good because I arrived at 5:30am when the sun was starting to come out, rather than right in the middle of the night; which I was a bit not so comfortable with.

Everything went quite good. I’m just exhausted, because I slept 4 hours; and completely dirty (…and I think stinky!) because I haven’t taken a shower yet… 

Don’t judge me, I’ve been preparing a surprise for you that’s the reason (…to spoil my readers). I had to finish 'it' before taking a shower; otherwise I would have slept until early tomorrow!

SO- here you go (put your speakers on) and ENJOY a 34 hour trip summarized in 6 minutes and with ‘Bollywood’ background music! What else do you want?

Hope you like/d it! Now ME GOTTA GO! Tomorrow is the big day – flying to the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon!

…still can’t believe it J

Take care dear readers.

PEACE
Your writer,   
Maria  

‘Title-less post’

Dear readers, it is time: All packed up and ready to GO! I’m a bit nervous to be honest. Excited, but nervous! (That’s why I couldn’t think about a good title for this post, sorry 'bout that..)

Now a long train ride ahead of us (33 to 36 hours); Pune to Kolkata -

In a map, the way would look something like this –

SO, your writer leaves ‘bag packer style’… In reality is more of like a ‘food Santa Claus’, because I’m carrying ‘food supply’ for the whole train ride; as everyone recommends to not eat/drink anything from the train (unless you want to have a 30 hour ‘toilet-train ride’ afterwards! Haha).

I eat too much, for my size is too much, I don’t understand… why I don’t grow up a little bit more?! :D

Ok! I’ve got to leave you now dear readers, I’ll write again when I reach my next destination… Wish me good luck!

Have a nice weekend and greetings from your writer,
Maria

Mountain of the gods: ‘DRUK YUL’ (Kingdom of Bhutan)

Remember what I told you last time about how you did not want to get a cold with a fever while being in India? Well, you can go ahead and also add: “Not ever wanting to go to an Indian hospital and having to get a blood test” to your ‘NEVER TO DO LIST’.

Ah! HORRIBLE. 

I don’t know where were you last Tuesday dear reader, but even if you had a bad day I hope it wasn’t as bad as going to this Indian hospital. It was the hospital version of the ‘bedded bus’ (“HELL DRIVE”) I wrote about a few months ago.

But what exactly happens if you ever end up in a place like this?

Ok. First, you would have to go into this laboratory which is full of people (sick people) waiting; and then there is this other room (not so clean… It is India after all) on the back  where they collect your blood (nurses wearing no gloves at all) with three other people right there getting their blood collected at the same time.

So, then what do you do?

If by any chance you read the OSHO Meditation Center post (“Zorba the Buddha”) from a few weeks ago; maybe you will remember that there was this ‘Dynamic Meditation’ in which, during the second stage, you are supposed to go “consciously insane”. Well, chances are that in the OSHO Center you wont achieve this, but by setting foot in an Indian hospital.. piece of cake! And this is exactly what you want to do!

[I think mentioned in the last post that I am not exactly a fan of doctors… guess it’s not so necessary to point out that with hospitals it doesn’t get any better.]

So, basically (I went a little bit crazy and..)  refused to get the blood test after taking a look at the whole scene (no way a needle was coming close to me in that place!);  but they wouldn’t let you do that unless you would get the doctor’s permission. Minutes later I was in the main lab (as a patient you are not even allowed there I think) getting the blood test in the lab’s doctor office; she probably saw me like a ‘lost kid’ and I became the ‘spoiled patient of the day’. Of course, the nurses (nurses with gloves!) were laughing at me.. Probably the ‘funniest blood test’ of the day; no lollipop afterwards though… Haha.

It was a private hospital, so then you can imagine how a public one looks… You hear stories and really it sounds completely terrifying.

Everything’s good now though. Hopefully this never repeats again! 

Unlike your ‘coward writer’ though, the four-legged hairball I told you about some time ago (“BAD HAIR everyDAY”) is quite the opposite. No tail between the legs! She’s a brave little hairball, who’s got all her vaccines now and also a home; which is good… India is no good place for most street dogs, you can see some terrible stuff. The day before yesterday we said our goodbyes which is kind of sad, but hopefully she’ll be good and healthy. A street dog friend, that I will miss.

Ok, but this post is about something else: It has been some tough 3 weeks the ones which just past; and now there are less than 3 more weeks to go here in India. But no one’s going anywhere before stepping the ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’! And I hope you are ready, because in a few days we leave for what I reckon will be a very exciting ‘journey’.

The final destination: BHUTAN

“In the beginning there was a great sea. Legend tells that the god Vishnu swallowed up the sea and so released mother earth. But as Vishnu slept, a demon leapt upon the earth and ravished her with such force that her limbs were thrown up into the sky… and so were born the Himalayas”; the mountains of the Gods.

Bhutan, also known as Druk Yul, is one of the Himalayan kingdoms that would appear later on. Even though it is located in between huge China and huge India, when you read about this little country you feel as if you have ‘found Neverland’. Amazing!

It is a Bhuddhist country free of class and/or caste system, and people’s practices and way of living revolve around the ideas of impermanence, detachment and change. The country was actually isolated/separated from the world until 1975, when it was finally opened to tourists. Yet, now a days the tourism as well as the country’s development is controlled by the government, a democratic monarchy.

And so Bhutan has 65% of forest area and 26% of protected areas, which makes it pretty much an untouched land. It is home to the Himalayan Black Bear, the Golden Languor, Red Panda, Clouded Leopard, the great Royal Bengal Tiger, the very, VERY beautiful Snow Leopard and I’m guessing many more! They also have many Hydropower projects and actually export the electricity here to India.

Another very distinctive aspect about Bhutan is their philosophy of “Gross National Happiness (GDH)”. Unlike pretty much the rest of the countries in this world, which have put the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in a pedestal, in Bhutan they embrace the idea that “true development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development occur side by side to complement and reinforce each other”. The fourth king, fourth ‘Druk Gyalpo’, emphasized the importance of Gross National Happiness over the one of Gross Domestic product and said “that the rich are not always happy, while the happy generally consider themselves rich”.

Equitable and equal socio-economic development; preservation and promotion of cultural and spiritual heritage; conservation of the environment and a good governance are the four pillars which are “interwoven, complimentary and consistent”, and make up the GDH.

…Coming from a country where they have no problem with putting a bullet in your head just for a simple mobile phone; this is it! Perfection.

NOW…THE ADVENTURE

It has been 2 months already since planning this trip. To be honest I thought going there wouldn’t be possible, because of the whole government-controlled tourism thing, but it did work out in the end. It is not as complicated as it might sound. 

In Bhutan you are actually just allowed to travel with a guide/travel agency; so they will prepare an itinerary for you (you just let them know your ‘interests’) and then during the trip your guides will take you everywhere, which is pretty much the perfect thing if travelling on your own (…like me :D ).. The travel agency which I found is a Bhutanese-local one and the people will help you with practically everything! It is like another ‘human being species’… Incredible.  

Ok, but this is THE PLAN(ARE YOU READY?)

The flight to Bhutan leaves this Sunday the 2nd from Kolkata (on the other side of India), SO it all starts with crossing India: West to East!

But how do we cross India? Haha! …By train!

Yes. A 33-36 hour train ride! Leaving on Thursday afternoon and arriving Saturday morning.

(A friend from the office said it is a really nice train ride, because you are able to basically see West–East India on the way. I haven’t had the chance to get to know much of it, so I thought it was the ideal opportunity. Hopefully it is a good experience!)

After a day of ‘recharging batteries’ in Kolkata, we take the plane early Sunday in the morning “on the wings of the dragon” – Drukair; the only airline flying to Bhutan.

And in Bhutan we go to Paro, Timphu and Punakha; located in Western Bhutan. It will be a nature/spiritual tour, with a lot of hiking and monasteries visiting.

Friday the 7th we return (this time in an airplane!). Bhutan-Kolkata; Kolkata-Delhi; Delhi-Pune! …With completely EMPTY POCKETS haha!

Then, 1 week later - BYE, BYE INDIA! For the first time in a long, long time ‘your writer’ really feels like needing: HOME! I must confess, I really do.

But before this, we hike all the way up to here (picture below)! To ‘TIGERS NEST’.

 

Ok, dearest readers! I will be writing before the train ride and when arriving to Kolkata (and if I have internet I will also while in Bhutan) to keep you up with this trip! And I’ll do my best to give you all the insights and every possible detail from this great, little country.

“How often we make our history the story of the great conquerors, the man of violence? Alexander, Napoleon, Hitler… That’s what we teach children in their history books, isn’t it? But here is one man who sits under a tree thinking; and changes the world… But this is an Indian story.”

(Buddha)

‘Saludos’ from your writer y hasta la próxima!

PEACE

Maria

 

  

“Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon”

August 1942: Cristóbal Colón departs West with its three ships/caravels- 'La Niña, La Pinta and La Santa María; under the orders of the Catholic King and Queen of Spain, aiming a shorter route to India in search of the spices, gold and pearls of the ‘mysterious subcontinent’. After a long and tiring journey, in October of that same year, Colón spots in the horizon what he had been dreaming all along: “Land”.

For his surprise though, he had not reached the ‘mysterious subcontinent', but instead: ‘The Americas’! From then on, the Spanish start claiming the lands as “theirs”; including 'your writer’s’ country: Guatemala…

Because if Cristobal Colón would have found India, his first scene would have probably been something like this: 

I mean who wants this?

OR this?

When you can have this:

Haha… many would probably disagree!

Unfortunately, for Guatemala an earthquake didn’t bring good news last week; and if I’m not wrong another one just happened in México. Uhhh, the world’s getting angry… the Mayas are playing with us - 2012! I’m just kidding. I’m just not in a good ‘state’ right now neither, because India has also managed to ‘creep the hell out of me’ in the past few days…

It was Diwali festival, the ‘festival of lights’, here in India this week. Unfortunately “happy Diwali” was “UNhappy Diwali” for me, as I had to change a 2 day trip to Mumbai for 5 days in bed and doctor visiting.

One thing you do NOT want to get when you are in India: A cold with a fever. Specially when you are ‘home alone’ and late at night! Yes. Two nights ago I had a night I don’t want to ever repeat. Never. Ever, again.

So, since I came back from the field around a month and 1/2 ago I got a ‘warning’ that if I had a fever I should immediately go to the doctor; basically because it was a place where there have been cases of malaria, I got ‘quite some few’ mosquito bites; and you should take your precautions with this disease.

The problem with malaria is that it is difficult to detect, as you get symptoms as if you were having a normal cold; but then the issue is that if it is not this ‘normal cold’, it can go ahead and put you in a comma or even worse. And who wants to play with that? The period of incubation is from a few days to several months, to even a year! Meaning that I am basically condemned going to a doctor every time I get a fever for a whole year. How fun is that!

It is good though that I got this ‘warning’, because I am the ‘doctor avoider # 1’…I really hate going to the doctor, you have no idea.

Whatever, after the ‘nightmare night’ my temperature was lowered. Next day I went to the doctor and everything was ok. Got medicine and now it seems as if everything’s alright; still looking like a ‘zombie' though, but the fever was gone pretty fast at least.

…Oh this little devils-

But this is a short post, with the purpose of letting you know the answer to the ‘clue’ I gave you during the last post. It was pretty easy c’mon!

So the question was- What happens when you ‘mix’ a kingdom, a thunder and a dragon?

Of course you get the “Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon”; beautiful Bhutan! “Earth’s last Shangri La”, that’s where we’ll be heading soon, just before having to leave India!  

But I’ll be writing more about this in a few days, because now I’ll be trying to not sneeze or cough my lungs out of my system!

Have a nice weekend dear readers and take care.

‘till next time,

your writer

Maria

Clue

Mrs. Peacock, Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlet…

Fun board game/nice memories; but today’s “Clue” does not involve a ‘wrench’, a ‘candlestick’, a ‘revolver’ or a ‘rope’.  

Dear reader, by the end of the post before the last (‘BADHAIR everyDAY’) I told you I had a surprise for you, right? Well, I won’t exactly tell you what this surprise is all about just yet; but I will give you the ‘pieces of the puzzle’, so you get an idea of what’s about to come.

If you ever wondered why ‘your writer’ decided to come to India (I was asked this question a few times before coming here) there were many different factors that played a role and then lead to making this decision. There was one ‘factor’ though, THE ONE, which I consider as the inspiration that really started this whole adventure.

So –

Here you go, the ‘clue’:  

What exactly do you get when you ‘mix’

• A kingdom
• A thunder and…
• A dragon  

Google makes it too easy to figure it out… but, whatever.

Hasta la próxima!
Greetings from ‘your writer’,  
Maria