My Other Worlds - eastern Bhutan -

On Saturday I am leaving for eastern Bhutan. Getting there will involve a long flight to Bangkok, an overnight at the Nov Suvarnabhumi Hotel, then a flight to Calcutta with an 8 hour layover - I''ll have time for a quick inspection trip of a new hotel property in town - then it's back to the airport for a short flight to Guwahati, Assam. The next morning at dawn on Tuesday, I'll make my way north to Samdrup Jongkhar, the Bhutanese border town with Assam. After visa formalities, I'll join Karchung my long-standing friend and research assistant for a short drive to Pema Gatshel in the southeast. Bhutan is not easy to get to but it's certainly easier traveling from Assam into Bhutan, than flying from Bangkok to Paro, then driving three days to get to the far east!

It's the beginning of the monsoon season in Bhutan. So aside from the salt I'm taking for leeches (it's not a question of whether they will bite me, but when and where ) I've got a practical see-through mosquito tent by Long Road (Berkeley) that will keep out the creepy crawlers, mosquitoes, and buzzing beetles at night. I brought a rain cape for my video camera and a waterproof case for my computer. We'll be staying in farmhouses as guests of Karchung's friends who are kind to open their homes to a westerner for a few nights. During the day we'll be hiking to hamlets for our research using the pack pony trails and returning to our farmhouse at night, where we'll sip some ara and listen to tales of the yetis.

Yours in Travel,

Kathleen Zurich Fung