The Trek Begins

I had breakfast with Thinley,our guide, yesterday and I was asking him questins about the trek.  Bottom line:  He told me thew Snowman Trek is like punishment.  Then he added, "You asked for this.  You must complete it,"  Without knowing me, he knew the exact right thing to say!
I won't be able to post for quite a while, but I will when I can.  Thanks for all of your support!  I haven't had much luck adding pictures ( the connection's too slow), but if I have time after packing I'l try again.

Torrential downpours yesterday.  Snow on the mountain caps.  A chill in the air.  It must be time for the punishment to begin............................

Bhutan

Below, the Paro Valley was shrouded in a thick blanket of clouds.  The mystery of Bhutan was not going to be unveiled easily.  Circling the airport, you  could see glimpses of the remarkably carved landscape.  The plane descended sharply and before we knew it, we were on the ground.
Bhutan is really magical- the landscape, the architecture, the people, the spirit.  In the afternoon, the sun peaked out between raindrops and a few of us went for a walk.  There are flowers everywhere, colorful buildings, skinny dogs and cows and lots of happy and inquisitive kids.   On the way back, we spotted a prayer wheel.  As I walked around and spun each wheel, I prayed for Sam to be happy, and I prayed for myself to feel lighter and rediscover a sense of wonder about the world.  I believe that will happen here.

update

Like Billy Pilgrim, I have become unstuck in time.  Nothing like being hurled through time and space for 22 hrs to make you feel unglued.  Your old life is shed like a snake skin and you are left feeling a little raw and vulnerable.  Did I say I liked that about travel?  Did I lie or does that only become true in retrospect?  I was lucky to have made it with no complications.  Apparently, a typhoon delayed many flights around the Pacific, but mine was only delayed about an hour.  Still, arriving in a foreign country after 22hrs. in the air is a bit unsettling and exhausting.  I woke up at 7 am, roused by the third world alarm clock of barking dogs and quickening traffic.  Three cups of coffe later, I was ready to make my way into Bangkok.  I took a tuk-tuk to the river boat-very fun!  You have to be quick on the boats because you are likely to be left behind if you prevaricate.  OSHA would have a field day here.
Bangkok has a rapid pulse that's hard to adjust to after living in Michigan.  Totally different vibe......  I would find it exhausting if I had to live here more than a day or two.  Several times today I made a mental note to never take my life for granted!
I visited the Grand Palace at Wat Pho (I think)  I found Bangkok hard to navigate- so frenetic!  Jet-lagged, I decided to head back to my hotel around 4pm.  I took the sky train-no problem- but got a little turned around when I took a tuk-tuk to my hotel.  As we were driving, the heavy sky finally opened up and just poured!!!   As the plastic was rolled down on the sides of the tuk-tuk, I couldn't see a thing!  The driver had mercy on me and transferred me to another driver....but by this time, I had no clue where I was.  I asked so many Thais- all very helpful and all with different directions!  At one point, I was so tired I wanted to cry.  I knew I was close, but since I had arrived in the dark, I didn't recognize a thing.  I asked an old lady and her daughter and they pointed in the right direction.  A few minutes later, between the rain drops, here comes the woman on an old motor bike!  I climb on the back for a hair raising drive (against traffic) and she dropped me at the doorstep of my hotel.  We laughed and hugged and I vowed ALWAYS to be nice to foreigners.  People here are so patient-- we could learn a lesson from that.  Like my waiter told me this morning- after recounting this sad tale- life is like a wheel- sometimes you are on the bottom and sometimes you are on the top.  Love to all of you.
Susan

I Made It!

It's a little hard to post here becasue evrything is in thai,