Of Flowers and New Beginnings

Bringing in 2017 with roses

Vietnam has a unique way of bringing in the New Year, ushering it in with flowers. It is also one of those few countries in the world where there is a complete shutdown for a week around this time. 

I was advised against travelling around Tet, the Vietnamese New Year because of this. Restaurants, tourist attractions, shops, transport - everything comes to a halt as people go home to celebrate with their loved ones. In hindsight, it is THE best time to visit the country. 

Of course, I would still advise making your travel plans in advance for the two days leading up to Tet and a couple of days following it. Prices for everything including transport shoot up at this time.

The festivities, lights and bright flowers draw you in. Flower markets pop up everywhere, roads are lit up (similar to the Western countries around Christmas), Christmas trees stand tall with their decoration in late January which is a very rare sight, peach blossom trees in the north and apricot blossom trees in the south are lined up for sale pretty much everywhere.  As soon as I headed out of Hanoi airport, I saw this pink flowered, lean tree being carried by people on their bikes, trucks transporting them and each shop and house having it at the entrance. I was curious and asked my driver in sign language and a few words in English about the tree's significance. He told me that they believe that the peach blossom tree keeps evil spirits away.

Flowers to be planted in the city centre

Later in the day, I walked around the city centre visiting a couple of tourist sites, spotting this gorgeous tree many times. While sipping into delicious coconut coffee at Cong Caphe, I met Irma, a chemist from Holland. We got talking and decided to explore the bustling city together. 

Flowers around Hoan Kiem lake

Hoan Kiem lake is situated in the heart of the city. It was beautifully lit; the pagoda in the middle bursting with colourful hues of light from a distance. We walked around the length of the lake taking in the sights and sounds along the way. We even came across five different newlywed couples getting clicked at various points along the lake. Was that a sign? Irma and I joked. We could not get enough of the blanket of flowers along the length of the lake. It was a spectacular sight.

Wedding season or so it seemed

Another newly wed couple

When I arrived in the otherworldly town of Hoi An, the flowers welcomed us.  Apricot blossom trees were lined up on both sides of the road along with many other varieties, up for sale. I cycled through the flower market, breathing in their sweet aroma, a welcome relief from the motorbike smoke.

Passing through the flower market

Paul Theroux has recommended the train journey from Hoi An to Hue in one of his books. This is the only reason I went to Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam. The flowers on my way from the train station brightened up the otherwise dreary day. After a cruise down Perfume river, I went over to the ancient town. There was a huge flower market right outside the citadel full of hustle and bustle.

The citadel in Hue

While we tend to bring in the new year with parties and get together's involving a lot of booze and food, the Vietnamese add these pretty flowers to the mix. Keeping away evil spirits or not, they definitely do brighten up the day which would inevitably lead to a good start to the year.

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.