Kuzuzangpola, Butan!

“The land of the thunder dragon”

After falling in love with Tibet whilst traveling in the Himalayan region two years ago, my dream has been to visit the even more mysterious Buddhist country Bhutan. Tourism is more restricted in Bhutan compared to Tibet, and the government controls it through high daily rates and obligating visitors to hire a local guide in order to obtain a visa. This ensures that the country is free of touristy traps and commercialization and it´s unique cultural and religious heritage are very well preserved.

Even now, after visiting Bhutan, I still haven´t figure out how they have managed becoming such a structured, peaceful and clean country compared to their neighbours. Mashed in between the chaotic and poorer India and China, Bhutan seems to have found some secret key that the other countries totally missed out on.

It´s a monarchy with a fairly ”well-working” democracy. Rickshaws are illegal. Tobacco and smoking is prohibited. You´re not allowed to cut down trees without a permission from the government, no fishing allowed, and obviously no killing of animals. What a dream for the nature and animal-loving Anne Karin! The king has introduced the expression ”gross national happiness”, and already at the age of 34, he is known as ”the peoples king” because of his compassion for the poorer ones. 

Stepping of the plane between massive forest-dressed mountains, the first breath of Bhutan consists of cold fresh air. Our awesome guide Bull meets us outside the airport, and we are ready for 6 days of road tripping in search of the thunder dragon! 

View over the capital Thimpu 

At farmers marked, Thimpu

Tea-break on the road to Punakha 

White flags in memory of the lost loved ones. 

Doma chewing little old lady.

108 stupas at Dochula pass, the way to Punakha.

"If I had to name the biggest difference between Bhutan and the rest of the world, I could do it in one word: civility"  

(Linda Leaming, author of "Married to Bhutan"). 

More adventures from Bhutan coming up as soon as Calcutta (where I´m in this moment eating a sweet and very needed chocolate pancake) can give me a decent WiFi.

Klem til deg, 

AK.

Nepal: river rafting, slippery edge and a cold swim.

Nepal is famous for it´s wild rivers and awesome rafting. You can camp along the riverbanks and paddle the white river rapids for 8 - 10 days if you are a real adrenalin lover. This time a year the air is pretty cold, and the water even colder, so the so-called Vikings from the north were happy with a one-day trip. As you feel the need of letting your lungs have a break from polluted Kathmandu, putting on a life-west and jumping into a raft is a great way to breathe some fresh air and to get the adrenalin pumping through your veins. 

The young Nepalese on the raft were finishing of the trip with some backflips into the water, and as I HATE not being as tough as the others, I obviously had to do the same. This ended up in me slipping on the raft edge, and a rather elegant splash with my big fat Norwegian ass into the freezing water.

I’m so stupid, I know.

Hugs, 

clumsy ninja.

AK

NAMASTÉ, KATHMANDU

Last time I visited Nepal, it welcomed me by giving me a broken ancle and crutches. Kathmandu is definitely not the place to wander around with one leg, so when the travels for 2014 was planned, Nepals crazy capital had to be on the list.

Kathmandu is a bipolar city. It´s packed with trekkers and backpackers in yoga pants - and along with that come the commercialization of the city. Thamel is the "backpacker district", filled with western bakeries, fancy restaurants, colorful shops and travelers looking for a good WiFi connection to update their instagram. It´s both good and bad. Bad because it washes away the soul of the city, and good because it offers a "time-out" zone for those who are traveling in more rural parts of Nepal.

If you walk outside the streets of Thamel, Kathmandu shows its real face. The streets are still noisy and crazy, but the shops are a bit less touristy and the people definitely less annoying. The contrast from Thamel is huge, and it is obviously worth stepping out of the comfort zone to explore these streets.

Apart from strolling around in the streets of Kathmandu we had the pleasure of visiting some Nepalese friends and to make home-made food with this awesome family living in the suburbs. Nepals capital gave me a better impression this time, and even though the time spent in this wonderful Himalayan country was too short, it made me want to come back for more adventures in the future.

The adventure continues in Bhutan, the land of the thunder dragon and gross national happiness. 

"You think the only people who are people, 

are the people who look and think like you, 

but if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, 

you´ll learn things you never knew you never knew"

- Pocahontas 

Klem, AK