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
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