Street Culture

Spoilt for choice!

Although Vietnam is not the first South Asian country that I have visited, it is the only place where I felt that life really thrives on busy city roads. From gold fish to meat to flowers to fruits to food to clothes, you can get it all, on a sidewalk. As part of Tet traditions, I saw many Vietnamese even burning paper goods on the road side.

Burning paper - Tet traditions

The variety of food and sweets' options that you can get on the side of the road are plenty and delicious. I tried mango cakes, doughnuts, sweet garlic bread, the famous bahn mi (sandwich) and other dishes that I cannot remember the names for, from street sellers/ vendors while travelling through the country. In fact, I went overboard and slightly over budget because of this.

Chicken feet!

The eating spree continued in Cambodia. There were road side food stalls here and there but not as many as Vietnam. Seeing meat being sold openly in a vegetable market was an unusual sight. That would never happen in India. Perhaps, the vegetarians there were a lot more relaxed or never ventured to such local markets. Barbequed beef was being sold on a few busy road corners next to the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. 

My favourite road side treat was nutella pan cakes from a street vendor on the busy intersection of the vibrant Night market street and Pub street. I went and had those every night while I was in Siem Reap.  Highly recommended!

Given the high temperatures and humidity some of these places experience and how the meats are kept outside for a long duration, the food was impeccable. I did not fall sick even once. 

Now back in India, I see plenty of road side vendors selling eatables every day. The irony is that while growing up, I was told not to eat from any of them for fear of falling ill.

In the Land of Happiness: Bhutan Diaries

Day 1

I had been wanting to go to Bhutan since a while now. Had heard innumerable tales from people about the hermit kingdom’s untouched beauty. Luckily, Bhutanese laws allow Indians a free visa on arrival without a minimum daily tariff (which is $250 for foreigners). After getting my work leave sanctioned, booking flights and preparing a rough travel itinerary, I decided to book hotels. For the first time I found it difficult to find much if any information about hotels there. It was not possible to book anything online as no website had such an option. I spent a lot of time trying to find hotels there, but could barely find much information. To top it all, you couldn’t book anything online. The only way to contact a hotel was by calling them or sending an email, most of which bounced back. I booked Sonam Trophel Hotel in Paro after getting a response via email, albeit over budget. I didn’t want to land in a foreign country and then go hotel hopping to find an appropriate one.

View from the cockpit

The flight from Delhi to Paro is a little under two hours. It is definitely one of the most scenic flights you will ever take in your lifetime. You get an eagle’s eye view of the world’s three highest mountains - K2, Kanchenjunga and Mount Everest. Lucky for me, I got a great shot of Mount Everest from the cockpit! 

Up close with Mount Everest

                  Hello Kanchenjunga!

Paro Valley

Needless to say the holiday got off to a great start; having entered Bhutan’s airspace we were flying low over thickly forested misty mountains, deep valleys and houses dotted all over lush green fields. 

The plane descended low into a narrow valley, took a U turn; the wings of the plane dangerously close to the mountain on my side. I made a silent prayer, hoping we would make a safe landing. I think I was paranoid as my father and brother had told me that it is one of the most difficult aircraft landings in the world. Dad being a passionate flier, had seen videos about most dangerous landings in the world - Paro being one of them. It was a small airport with a grand entrance with colourful, Buddhist deities welcoming us to Bhutan. A large billboard of the smiling royal couple welcomed us as well.

After completing legalities, I got myself a local SIM so that I could keep in touch with family back home. Once I walked out of the airport, the quietness around me overwhelming - No horns, traffic, barely any people; quite a pleasant change from my home in Gurgaon, India. 

When you are in Bhutan, you automatically feel calmer, much more at peace and happy. It is true that Bhutan is one of the happiest countries on earth, you will feel it once there. It is one of the poorest countries, yet, people are happy. In fact, I asked almost every local I met about whether they were happy living there. I got a resounding ‘Yes’ every time.

  

                            

Paro Tso 

Paro is a very small, picturesque town (city, according to the Bhutanese). There is one main road with lots of overly priced souvenir shops, convenience stores, cafes and hotels. It took a little over an hour to go through wander through the market. I bought presents for friends and family, Bhutanese snacks for workmates and some wine to indulge myself with. I had Chicken Chowmein for dinner as I wasn’t feeling particularly adventurous to try out Bhutanese dishes. I was in bed by 9 30 pm as everything shuts early there, besides a few dance bars, one of which was in the adjoining building. The music beat resonated through the thin walls of the hotel. The Simpsons movie was on and I enjoyed watching it till I fell asleep. 

I was planning to trek up to Takhtang Monastry, also known as Tiger’s Nest, the next day.