Freak out in the adventure town…

So here’s my prescription for adding thrill to the mundane lives…head to Queenstown, Newzealand .

 Thrill for two reasons …..

1 . Any and every kind of adventure activity you’ve imagined or dreamt of is available for you to experience. You can bungy jump, ski /snowboard, para glide,white water raft,jet boat, skydive, jet ski, hang glide or drive quad bikes etc etc. Name it and you have it. 

2 . After you’re done with the trip, which leaves a big hole in your pocket, life automatically becomes a thrilling adventure for the months to follow especially if you’re an Indian and the value of rupee  embarrasses  you every other day in currency market J 

However, my thrilling experience didn’t start in Queenstown, it started as soon as I reached Singapore airport to board my connecting flight to Christchurch. Taxi left and before we could enter the airport, I realized that my bag was missing. The bag had everything important from my medicine to passport to money. All this because it was the first time we had left our son in Singapore with my sister. We were too senti  & busy rewinding the goodbye moments in our minds  to be careful about things like bag. The fate of our trip depended on the taxi driver now. 15-20 minutes of tension, a little blame game ….  and finally we traced him. The driver dutifully came back to the airport and handed over my bag.Smile came back to our faces and we looked forward to spending next few days as just the two of us .

The next morning reminded me of Switzerland, I could see snow mountains in the midst of clouds from my window seat as the plane was about to land in Queenstown. Then the white background changed colors into blue , into green  ….there was a huge lake below. Lake Wakatipu. I was smitten just by the first glimse of it.

Lake Wakatipu @ Queenstown

Snuggled in beside the lake Wakatipu,  Queenstown seemed like a paradise with snow clad mountains on top, shades of blue reflected by both the sky & the lake and awe inspiring alpine scenery. I thought , adventure in such a heavenly background is sure going to be a pure bliss.

We did try our hands at many activities including dart river safari, luge rides, segway, jetboat, horizontal bungee etc. For me there was an added adventure. It was extremely cold and I had  forgotten to check the weather report  before packing as I hardly had a day  in between my Bhutan and New Zealand trip . Newzealand, ofcourse wasn’t planned . It came as a surprise from my husband’s company for the strategy he had made for the company. Surprisingly , a good surprise from them J

Newzealand is strange…strange in a way that the country doesn’t have any snakes or dangerous wild animals. Infact when humans inhabited the island around 1300 years  ago, there were no mammals .The reason behind this is the origin and evolution of the two island the northern island and the southern island.

Infact when we went for a tour in beech wood forests, I was disappointed since national parks meant wild animals in my mind.

But ya, while on the country roads , you would find sea of domestic animals like sheeps,cows on either sides grazing on the never ending green grasslands. Animal farming !! For the sheer fun of driving on such roads, my husband kept wishing to settle in Newzealand along with cows and sheeps J

The highlight of our holiday has been the visit to Milford sound  (On the west coast of the south island) where ‘Lord of the rings’ movie besides many others was shot . Eighth wonder of the world as described by Rudyard Kipling ….Milford sound was carved by glaciers during ice ages.

We were awestruck by the journey itself .Te anue,

the mirror lake (I've not tried to add any reflection to the image,this is how it is ),

soaring mountain peaks and glaciers, water falls  and the sky in southern sphere !  ....








...absolutely God painted natural backdrop.You can't help but get bewitched by the way nature unfolds itself in these corners of the world to create such a magic that leaves one dumbfounded.

Icing on the cake was the two hour cruise at Milford. It takes you through the cliffs and peaks including the mitre peak that rises more than a kilometer straight out of the sea.
Cascading waterfalls (some as high as 1000 meters) and lush green rain forests clinging on to the rock faces create amazing visual cues around every corner.

Waterfalls at Milford sound

Besides,we did have dinner at skyline restaurant (a romantic experience) , at Spice room (to satisfy our Indian taste buds )and at an Italian restaurant (food wasn’t great !wine, sure was)

Got gifts every night, another surprise J that too good one.

 Four days and my husband had to return to India for work and I had to stay back at Singapore  to show the city to my son to compensate  before his holidays would end.

There is still lots to see in Newzealand. Ye dil maange more J  but may be , some other time and hopefully as a good surprise gift from God. For now, this trip has been long enough to come back lingering the memories of Newzealand  and short enough to not leave the company bankrupt ;-)

GRACIAS !!

To the kingdom of happiness...

At Punakaha Dzong

Its been a month since we returned from Bhutan and till date we keep singing Tandin...Tandin. The name of our driver there J . Interestingly his father's name is Phunshuk Wangdu. Difficult to forget the country (so unique) and its simple & loving people.

Me,my son in orange and Tandin

It would be unfair on my part if I don’t write about and recommend Bhutan after having experienced the raw Himalayan beauty , the architectural eloquence and the hospitality by Bhutanese.So here I'm with whatever beauty I could capture through my camera lens .....even though a camera can't really justify what eyes see.

Paro Dzong

Bhutan, deeply rooted in its culture and traditions completely distinguishes itself from other countries. In fact one may feel like being transported into another era as soon as one enters the thunder dragon Buddhist  land of north eastern Himalayas..

Taken inside Trashichhoedzong

At Thimpu

I've been asked,' Why Bhutan'?? Someone from Durgapur even said,’ Gangtok is the capital of Bhutan, right ,’?

Is it because of its(high value low volume) sustainable approach to tourism ? I wonder ! A few Indian tourists staying with us had expected Bhutan to be like Switzerland !

Wooden bridge at Punakha

We chose to visit Bhutan in May 14 because, before Mr. Modi  ,we wanted to know the secret
behind a happy nation ;-)

And ….Gangtok is not the capital of Bhutan ,my dear Durgapurwasi J… Also people ...its definitely not like Switzerland . You can’t compare Madhubala to Marilyn Monroe. Both have their own charm.

At Dochulaa Pass

Anyway…., this time we flew till Kolkata and instead of taking Druk air till Paro to save on cost and life due to many thin air pockets  ,we decided to go by road via NJP (New Jalpaiguri ) and Phuntsholing

We could do three places in our 10 days trip. Thimpu,Punakha and Paro though I would recommend the snowmen’s trek to be definitely pursued given enough time and less baggage. Bhutan is trekker’s paradise and  it makes perfect sense to leave kids behind if interested in mountaineering.

View from Gangtey Palace at Paro

Huge snow capped mountains , streams  ,water falls , deep Himalayan forests ,distinct jungle fragrance, pure oxygen ,pine cones, white yellow red and violet flowers ,Yaks &  Takins to name a few  during our travels….   Isn't it a heavenly experience?

One of the few shots tried in the forest

  

Shot in valley of flowers

Tandin knew his country well and he made sure that besides India’s national animal, bird, flower  etc  we do remember their Takin, Raven,Blue Poppy and Rhododendrons forever.

Of course, Himalayan nation has  very rich fauna and flora besides the number of dzongs and monasteries. That reminds me of the mesmerizing beauty of 'Punakha Dzong' which has become a part of our permanent memory.

Punakha Dzong ,second oldest and second largest of the Bhutan Dzongs 

The Royal wedding of the present king and queen also happened here.
Other than this my son remembers the maggi & chocolates bought for him , the pine cones collected and the Bhutan flag as parting gift….all done by his Tandin uncle. My husband who considers Reinhold Messner, one of his Gods , loved the mountains.
and I …. I remember the peaceful moment that we have had at Gangtey palace looking up at the sky & the snow and down at the Paro town from the hilltop.

View from Gangtey Palace (there were clouds however during sun one could see snow capped mountains

The only regret I have is that I couldn’t climb up the tiger’s nest (Paro Taktsang, approx 3000ft above Paro valley). My nuts and bolts need updation :-( and am proud of my husband that he could do the task in less than 4 hrs.

Tiger's nest

This is where Guru Padmasambhav also known as Rinpoche who brought Buddhism to Bhutan from Tibet, meditated.

Question still remains ...The secret of happiness in Bhutan . In my opinion it is simplicity ….being raw (in one’s true form …nothing made up) which comes by being close to nature, respecting the co existence & not just being proud of the Buddhist  culture and tradition but enjoying the same.

 I loved the fact that in the game of archery which we witnessed , all the participants danced together once any one of them hit the target.

Archery in Thimpu

Most marriages are love marriages and gender discrimination is not there .The culture is not conservative in that sense however  Bhutan wants to be careful in adopting globalization, hence shopping for clothes even at Thimpu (the capital) may not be a good idea. Handicrafts ? of course !

To my astonishment ,part of their culture is also to paint penises on walls, wooden models of those are worshiped for fertility.

Now you see…how unique Bhutan is J

Tandin asked some questions time and again during our stay. Would you come back again? Would you like to stay here forever?

Tandin belonged to this beautiful small town of Paro

Of course I would go to Bhutan again to see the middle eastern side and do the snowmen’s trek as well someday but ….staying forever??

Unfortunately the Indian part of me loves crowd and can’t imagine staying in the only house on top of the mountain as lot of Bhutanese do though I wish I could be as bold as Mr. Rinpoche to settle in one of the most unthinkable & God forsaken places to invoke God . 

So am back in my very own city Bangalore to wait at the traffic signal and spend min half an hour on road even to buy milk & Veges from the mall very near to my apartment building, for no immediate U turn planned.The cost we pay for our respective comfort zones :-(