Himalayas 2025 | where's your sense of adventure?

Himalayas 2025: a day in Doha, Qatar

by eric | Jun 26, 2025

Our original booking had us leaving Kathmandu at 2am, with a 4 hour layover in Doha before continuing on to the US. Not ideal, but workable. A few months later we received an email that our flight...

Himalayas 2025: Bhutan – Thimphu

by eric | Jun 26, 2025

We spent two days in Thimphu, the capital city, and home to roughly 1/3 of the population. After a week in quite rural areas it felt a little strange to be in a more developed area again. As we...

Himalayas 2025: Bhutan – Dochula Pass and Ser Bhum Brewery

by eric | Jun 25, 2025

From Punhaka we had a long winding drive west, gaining elevation. After about 45 minutes, we stopped for a roadside grilled corn that was rather starchy. Pretty soon we were in the clouds, so it...

Himalayas 2025: Bhutan – Punakha

by eandl | Jun 24, 2025

The drive from Gangtey to Punakha was similar, scenery-wise, to the previous day and as it was only about 2 hours, we took a more leisurely pace, stopping for more waterfalls and macaque photos. We...

Himalayas 2025: Bhutan – Bumthang to Gangtey

by eandl | Jun 23, 2025

Day four featured a multiple hour drive with several stops along the way. From our overnight in Jakar, we started west, heading up in elevation until we eventually hit 3400m in the Yuto La Pass. The...

Himalayas 2025: Bhutan – Tang Valley and Ura Yakchoe Festival

by leandra | Jun 21, 2025

We were hungry after arriving on our delayed flight, so after meeting our new driver, we headed directly to Sherab Dema Homestay for lunch, driving up increasingly narrow rural roads. On arrival we...

Himalayas 2025: Bhutan – Paro (first and last day)

by eric | Jun 20, 2025

We started and ended our trip in Paro, home to the international airport and the famous Tiger's Nest monastery. May 7 + arrival The Paro airport is beautiful, first due to its valley location with...

Himalayas 2025: where we stayed in Bhutan

by eric | Jun 19, 2025

As we wrote in the intro post, the Bhutan portion of our trip was organized and booked by Raven Tours Bhutan. The accommodations were generally good — we had checked reviews beforehand and our...

Himalayas 2025: Kathmandu sights

by eric | Jun 18, 2025

We arrived in Kathmandu early on a Monday morning and since our hotel room wasn't ready we left our luggage and set out to explore. The streets were bustling and chaotic, with few sidewalks and all...

Himalayas 2025: Kathmandu cooking class

by leandra | Jun 17, 2025

I choose the 2 Sisters Cooking School because they were a five minute walk from the hotel and they had tons of five star reviews. I did not regret my decision! I was collected on foot at the back...

Himalayas 2025: Kathmandu food & drink

by eric | Jun 16, 2025

On our first night we wanted to try momo dumplings, so we chose Thamel Momo Hut. We started with an order of ten chicken momos. This was our first time trying the Nepali red sauce, and it was spicy!...

Himalayas 2025: Kathmandu, where we stayed

by eric | Jun 14, 2025

While the majority of our time was spent in Bhutan, we bracketed our trip with two nights in Kathmandu before Bhutan, and one night after. For the first two nights we wanted to stay in Thamel, a...

Himalayas 2025: flights

by eric | Jun 13, 2025

On this adventure we took 8 flights during the first two weeks in May, visiting two new countries (Bhutan and Nepal) and re-visiting Doha. We also had time with Chicago family, plus our favorite...

Himalayas 2025: intro & insights

by eandl | Jun 12, 2025

About 10 years ago I saw a trip report about Bhutan and I've been fascinated ever since. With remote monasteries, mountain vistas, and lots of wildlife, it ticked a lot of photogenic boxes. Visiting...

Where’s Your Sense of Adventure?