Week 5of my adventures,
 I know it has been a few weeks but I have the perfect excuse I have been a bit busy with work, training and simply experiencing the sites cultures and people i work with.
In my first week I thought I should acclimatize as quickly as possible, to so I figured a couple of bike rides are just the thing to do. My first ride was up the side of some mountain, the road turned from a gravel road to a rough Logging road to a trekking trail. I suppose the fact that I saw more and more herders with their life stock and fewer tracks made by cars or trucks or even some other crazy biker should have told me that this trek is getting a little remote. The walks over obstacles and boulders became also more frequent and of course the thing air was starting to take its toll. A quick check on my bike computer told me I was at 3100 meter above sea level, a good time to turn around and enjoy a very bumpy and challenging down-hill ride.

The next day's ride took me past small villages and farms with traditional Bhutanese houses toward the Tibetan boarder, it ended at the gates to an Indian Army camp, about 15 km from the boarder, the Indian army helps to patrol the area between Bhutan and China. It was a much easier ride but yet still brought me all the way up to 2900 meters.
      
In the meantime I started the training with the pastry staff at the Paro lodge. A real eye opener for sure, being used to high tech equipment and of course endless supplies of materials and ingredients had me scratch my head for the first little while but with the help of the ever so cooperative and willing employees it did not take me too long to make sense of it and find my groove. We started up with some simple breads and how to use preferments and sour dough to enhance the flavor as well as help with the quality of the flour. It took a few tries to get used to the altitude and of course the flour which is of rather poor quality.

Next up were the desserts and some useful techniques which they will be able to apply long after I am gone. I helped them do make some positive changes to the existing menu and provided guidance with the plating aspects, using things that are readily available and easy to make.  
        
Of course we had some creative fun too and made a dead dough show piece which every one enjoyed contributing towards. I learned an interesting fact that very few kids learn to draw or are getting any type of arts classes in school, so most of them were a bit apprehencive in being creative and designing something. But the end result was still very respectable and excecuted with great pride. The show piece ended up being dslayed in the lodge’s living room.

I did do a few more rides during the 3 weeks in Paro, one of them or actually twice, was up to Chele La an almost 4000 meter high pass and the highest paved road pass in Bhutan. Another very scenic ride was a 200 km ride over Chele La pass down to Ha Valley and to Chuzom and back to Paro, which ended up being an almost 10 hour ride and incredibly stunning.
 

My time in Paro has come to an end and I have moved on to the next lodge Thimphu for 6 days. I will post some update a bit later , hopefully not another 5 weeks I promise>

My trip to Bhutan

July 6, 2014, Calgary - Tokyo - Bangkok - Paro Bhutan. My trip starts by checking in my tow bags and Mountain bike. Trying to check in an over sized piece of luggage at the over sized luggage counter outfitted with a regular sized baggage scanner was rather comical and set the journey up on light and joyous mood as we all got a chuckle out of it. Just imagine me and the guy operating the scanner, trying to shove this big bike box into this small scanner meant for hand bags, if we would have tried any harder we would have broken it.
The 11 hour none stop flight to Tokyo was uneventful and seemed to have passed rather quickly, it gave me the opportunity to work on some ground work for my assignment in Bhutan.
After a short layover in Tokyo I was ready to board for the next leg of my journey when all of a sudden my name was called out on the intercom system, I was asked to report to the gate agent. The lack of the proper size scanner has caught up with me in Tokyo, or should I say with my bike. A scan of the bike box has raised some concerns and i was informed that they would bring the bike box to the gate for me to open it and for them to inspect. The issue was over the suspension of the bike and that it contained some sort of gas. I had no idea what they were talking about. I quick look inside the box satisfied all parties and I was on my way, bike and all.
The leg to Bangkok was going to be exciting as I was about to board an Airbus 380 for my first time, what an impressive aircraft that is. But was even more impressive was the service of the crew, we were greeted by colorfully dressed flight attendants that showed each guest to their seat. Hot towels were handed out and beverages served before the flight took off. Shortly after being airborne more drinks, including wine or any other alcoholic beverages made the rounds, to my astonishment they were served in glasses. Not long after leveling out at cruising altitude dinner was served; and yet again I was astounded, there still is good and enjoyable airplane food out there, and of course all served with plentiful wine. The in-flight service was capped off with some refreshing green tea ice cream just before descending into Bangkok.
It is now Monday July 7^th.  11 PM in Bangkok, gathering my huge load of luggage was easy and most efficient at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport, the airport reminds me of the one in Zurich, well laid out and easy to navigate considering its size. I found a place where I could leave my luggage overnight, so as not to have to cart it all the way to the hotel, where I would try to get a couple of hours of sleep before heading back to the airport at 4:30 AM.
Tuesday July 8^th 4:30 AM I am back at Suvarnabhumi Airport to get on my last flight to Paro Bhutan. I got dinged yet another $275 for my bike, I am thinking I should have bought one over there, I was helped by some very friendly staff to make sure all is in order and my bags get to where they need to. The Bhutanese passengers waiting at the departure gate some dressed in their traditional national garb gave me a slight idea of what I was about to experience upon my arrival at Paro.  But first there is the actual flight into the mountainous region of Bhutan and the Paro International airport. The approach into Paro is nothing for the faint hearted, the city is at 2400 meter above sea level nestled between lush green mountain tops and deep valleys dotted with rice patties and ancient monasteries built onto rock ledges along the steep valley slopes. The skilled pilots guide the big Airbus 319 through the valleys over tree tops, banking to the left then the right another left in very quick successions before another sharp right bank and a fast drop down to the air strip, just barely missing the rooftops of the houses that skirt the air strip. At times it seemed one could touch the valley slopes and tree tops. There are only 8 pilots that are licensed to fly these jets into this airport. To give you a better idea of the real experience, here are a couple of videos I found on-line. This is my first day in Bhutan, time to get some rest and get ready for my next 8 weeks here in this beautiful unspoiled piece of paradise.
More posts to follow soon.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmGy7qcDwQU , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMEviAW2pOU&index=13&list=PLE096CF6FC5D0F1BD , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBPRmDFbaP4&index=1&list=PLE096CF6FC5D0F1BD

Almost all packed, just have to get the bike boxed up

The count down is on, 2 weeks to go!