Travel, Theatre, Music, Cricket, Tennis, Writing, Life
In response to an article in Kuensel, see headline and image above, I wrote the following:
Here is the article, to which I was responding, reproduced in full:
Wrote to Kuensel about risk reward and financial exchanges. Set off via water purchase and Kuensel offices in direction of Punakha.
Went to Dochula – couldn’t see Himalayas through mist. On through Thinleygang Valley and then on through Punakha Chuu.
The vistas on that part of the journey, through the valleys, were stunning. The above a mere smattering of the pictures we took.
Then lunch at Punakha Hotel. Okay. On to Punakha Zhong – no photos inside and somewhat disturbing take the forced labour to complete the works. Very beautiful nonetheless.
On to Dechen Cottages…
…which we have been told are rustic, but the lack of electricity (we’ve been warned) plus lack of stone bath (which was why we have chosen the place) and lack of hot water (ouch, it was cold) induced us to seek a little more comfort elsewhere.
Fell on our feet by checking out a new hotel we passed on the way, Meri Puensum Resort, with a much nicer look than Punakha Hotel. We ate Chinese style (garlic chicken, pork with mushroom, mixed veg) – early night.
Our photos from this day are 093 to 096 from the first album and 001 to 018 from the second – click album links below:
“Are you takin the mick?”
Breakfast of stuffed paratha (ate little as squitty)…
…then set off on trip to Tango monastery. Saw Queen Mother’s house, Royal Guards Training Centre and villages along the way.
Pema told us that the climb to Cheri might take 2 1/2 hours – in fact we did it in just over one hour including no rest. He must have thought that we were really feeble.
So were we visiting Tango or were we visiting Cheri? It’s so unclear from my notes. But it turns out, the monastery we visited is known as Tango Cheri. Sounds like a soft drink that wouldn’t appeal to my taste, but let’s leave that aspect to one side.
Tango is truly beautiful although we were only permitted to see outside the buildings as a venerable visitor was about to leave.
Our bonus was to walk down with and befriend the farewell party.
Back to Thimpu for lunch at [Hotel] 89 – tried Momos and other stuff (did Ged eat too much?). On to visit takins in semi captivity. (Ged felt strange affinity with them).
Back to hotel for squits and short meeting with Pema’s boss. Spent evening squitting and reading.
All the pictures from this day can be found in the following Flickr album – Nos 62 to 92:
First stop, Memorial Chorten – stupa with pretty prayer wheels – walked around and couldn’t go in.
“Walked around but couldn’t go in” was a recurring theme when we toured Bhutan at that time. Given the high level of per capita per diem tax that we tourists had to pay to visit Bhutan at that time, it seemed a little churlish also to deny those visitors access to the very things they might have gone there to see.
Some places were less restrictive than others and I recall Pema blagging us in to one or two places where we thought we were going to be denied entry. For example:
Second stop Changangkha Lhakhang Monastery (not usually available to the public), where the monks chanted and let us look around
Then on to the indigenous hospital, where we had an audience with the registrar of the hospital. We had a look around the grounds…
…then onto painting school – sculptures, carvings, thangkas…
…and then on to library – being renovated.
The post office, then lunch at Pema’s house. Chime cooked us dried pork, phasha ba, potatoes & cheese, and red rice. We also tried salt butter tea (no ta!) and Arra [Bhutanese rice wine] (OK).
It was an unusual but not unique experience for us to receive generous hospitality in the homes of our guides while on our travels. Visiting Abdel & his family in Aleppo three years earlier springs to mind…
But one aspect of our home visit to Pema’s house was especially memorable. In Bhutanese culture, visiting friends homes for meals is relatively common, but the custom is to leave immediately after eating the last mouthful of food. We were aware of that. Indeed, Pema had told us about that.
As we ate our last mouthful, I said to Pema, “shouldn’t we now go?”, to which Pema said, “oh no, we follow Western customs in our house. Stay and try some arra”, which we did.
The expression on Chime’s face, however, suggested that she was a little discombobulated by this more western custom:
The other lesson I learnt that day, and have learnt over again on the several but rare occasions that I have taken alcohol during the day…is, in my case, don’t!
One final point about Pema’s house and Bhutanese cultural mores. It is traditional for homes to be emblazoned with particular images. Pema’s house was no exception, which Janie ensured she captured for posterity in this photo:
Then [after a quick stop at a paper factory] on to Dechen Phodrang Monastery full of novices (bit cold)
…then saw the King [while we were] on a short photo stop! Then home – out again shopping (got some mats and toego jacket this time). Special order supper of pork, chicken, beans in cheese and red rice.
Red rice really is “the thing” in Bhutan. It is said to have the highest nutritional value of all rice species. Don’t all rush out and buy some at once, readers.
All of the photos from this day are contained in the following Flickr album – Nos 33 to 61:
We arrived in Bhutan on half the air fleet
Crack of dawn start – brought toast and bacon to our room – off at 5:30 for airport. After excess baggage debacle, said goodbye temporarily to Delhi and flew off to Paro via Kathmandu.
A neurotic American woman got off at Kathmandu and then returned flustered and apologetic. She turned out to be the tour guide from American group!
Drove from Paro to Thimpu – not an especially spectacular drive. We were driven by our guide Pema, as our driver is ill.
Pema Gyalpo was a wonderful guide for our week in Bhutan. I have a feeling he ended up being our driver and guide throughout the week. We’re still in touch, 25 years later (as I write) and I’ll write more on him as the story of our journey unfolds.
Had lunch at Plums (pork, noodles, potato cheese, rice) then checked into hotel before heading off to shops.
Farce at handicraft emporium where our chosen goods got lost between the ticketing and the payment booth!
Found a small shop with a wacky lady, Tsering Dolkar, who will hopefully make Janie a Toego.
Back to hotel for rest, supper and early night.
The re are other pictures from this day, within the Flickr album below – Nos 21 to 32:
Delhi Imperial Hotel – with doormen, our guide Harmahindra Singh and driver Gurcharin Singh
We didn’t hang around in those days – our itineraries were not for the faint-hearted. We landed at midday, dropped our bags and did a quick change at the Delhi Imperial, then went out touring for the afternoon. That was our Delhi slot and by gosh we filled it.
Arrived on time (early). Picked up by Harmahindra Singh and Gurcharin Singh. Did a quick change and then went off touring with them.
Went to see sites – New Delhi including presidents house, India Gate and Parliament House. Old Delhi (through Lahore Gate) to see Jamamasjid Mosque, Red Fort & bazaars in Old Delhi. Tried but found nothing to buy.
Back to hotel for wash/rest and then mild Indian meal of Tikka and kebabs and daal and rice. Early night.
If you want to see all the pictures from this day, they are on the following Flickr album – Nos 1 to 20 – just click the pic.
Janie says goodbye to Nobby at Ruislip Honda
We had a fascinating set of adventures in Asia that spring. The good news is that we have a plethora of photographs and a pretty detailed travel journal from which to construct these Ogblog pieces.
The not such good news is that I seem to have mislaid my Steppes East Itinerary for this trip. Mind you, the itinerary would be uninformative for much of the Bhutan leg of the trip, as we ended up staying in different places than those originally listed in all locations, other than in Thimphu, where we stayed at the Druk Hotel as planned. The journal and stories that follow will explain.
I found it, misplaced, at the flat. I have scanned the document. Here is a link to it.
I recorded very little about the outbound travel day:
Rose early to pack and prepare to leave. Put car in for service and bought a feast of raw fish for our lunch. Event free journey.
It seems most strange that I took Nobby in for service on the day we were leaving. I can only surmise that Mac Small, the lovely manager at Ruislip Honda who used to look after us so nicely, agreed to give Nobby forecourt space for the duration of our holiday. Perhaps they thought he was so beautiful that he would attract interest and therefore act as an advertising model of their showroom.
Also a slightly unusual choice of food ahead of a long journey, but perhaps we had a crazy craving for some sashimi and surmised, quite rightly, that such dining would be denied us on our trip to (mostly landlocked) Asian countries.
We would have bought the fish from Atari-Ya in West Acton – then not too far from Janie’s place and now (25 years later) just a three minute walk from our Noddyland residence.
In those days, the owner, Mr Sakai, would no doubt have served us our sashimi himself.
Pictures from the whole journey are on Flickr in four albums. If you just want to ogle pictures and read picture captions, they might be all you need, rather than the several Ogblog articles that will follow. Each of the images below is a Flickr album link.
This was the first of two Krapps that Janie and I had in the early part of the century, as it were. The second was Harold Pinter’s Krapp at The Royal Court, which I shall Ogblog in the fullness of time.
I really liked this one, John Hurt’s, while marginally preferring the Pinter. Janie only got on with Harold’s Krapp.
This one included the mime show intro, whereas Harold’s didn’t. I expect it was the mime show and banana business that put Janie off a bit.
I had long rated John Hurt as an actor and felt he did justice to this difficult part…and that it did justice to him.
Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.
The critics got very excited at the idea of John Hurt bringing his acclaimed Gate Theatre Dublin performance of Krapp to London. Here’s Maureen Paton in The Telegraph a couple of weeks before the show landed in London:
Paton Krapp Telegraph 13 Jan 2000, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Actually, we got wind of this production late and ended up booking seats for the very last night of the run, in order to score decent ones. Janie’s diary note reads “Row C – four rows back”.
Here is Patrick Marmion’s review from The Standard:
Krapp Marmion Standard 28 Jan 2000, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Charles Spencer waxed lyrical about both play and production in the Telegraph:
Krapp Spencer Telegraph 31 Jan 2000, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Janie and I had been blown away by The Weir, the previous year…
…and were very keen to see Conor McPherson’s next one.
Further, as members who had been loyal through the years of “exile” while The Royal Court was being redone, we were invited that Friday afternoon to a “guided tour” of the revamped building. Janie and I were both motivated to take a Friday afternoon off work and “go see” before the show.
It was on that tour that Janie and I spotted the little nook seat in a recess of the stairway just before you get to the upstairs bar…latterly the library. We took a shine to that nook and for many years took great pleasure in having a pre-show or interval drink in there.
As for Dublin Carol, we really liked it and it cemented our view that Conor McPherson was a writer to watch. It didn’t quite pack the punch of The Weir, but that play was always going to be a tough act to follow.
Brian Cox played the lead in Dublin Carol, with great charisma. Andrew Scott, & Bronagh Gallagher were also excellent in support. Ian Rickson directed.
I’m not sure what the critics made of it at the time…let’s find out.
I’d forgotten this bit, but because of delays to the finishing of The Royal Court, Dublin Carol previewed at The Old Vic for a while. Susannah Clapp reviewed it, with great enthusiasm, there…
Dublin Carol Clapp Observer 23 Jan 2000, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
…as did Michael Billington in The Guardian…
Dublin Carol, Billington Guardian 22 Jan 2000, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
But most of the subsequent reviews seemed to want to talk about the grand opening of the newly refurbished Royal Court than the play/production that graced it, doing McPherson, Cox et. al. no favours. Please note, the grand opening was two or three weeks before the hoi polloi tour that we enjoyed in March.
Royal Court Independent 18 Feb 2000, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Royal Court Standard 23 Feb 2000, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
At least Charles Spencer had the good grace to laud both the Champagne-swilling opening and the production:
Dublin Carol Spencer Telegraph 24 Feb 2000, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
