Destination Europe X: London

"To London and Paris, 

I may not be able to take you,

But to all Bhutans sacred heritages,

I would take you on a pilgrimage." 

A Bhutanese song resonates in my mind whenever I travel around. Not that I am taking my beloved one to wonderous places but because of some fate and fortune, I could make the travels. Studying in Europe is full of opportunities and choices; the opportunities to intricately blend with the rich culture, explore the most historic civilizations, tour the cities and contemplate on the wonderful architecture and clean environments, learn new languages, meet new friends and of course immerse in the pool of knowledge. The choice is all ours as visiting places even as a backpacker is not so cheap. Staying idle in the school and totally immersing in our academics would not only enhance my knowledge but also help save some penny but then won't I regret once I get back to my home for not having seen Europe? I decided to explore on. Having visited Paris the year before, in December 2017, I could visit London. 

The Thames River and Tower Bridge

22. London: Because London cant be traveled on Schengen visa, its difficult to obtain the UK visa without a valid reason. I am glad to have come across a wonderful course on conservation at Cambridge and more glad, I got an assistance from Friends of Bhutan in Germany to pay the course Fee, which gives me the ticket to visit the UK. Yet unfortunate, the Visa application center in Berlin was closed and had to travel to Dusseldorf, a city which is 8 hours by train from my place, making it costlier. The UK visit visa costs 170 Euro processing fee and 30 more to ship the passport after processing. Travel and a night logistics in Dusseldorf cost 100 so its already 300 Euro expense before I got my visa in hand. However, the airfare to London was cheap as I could book the tickets much earlier in Ryan airlines, which flew me in less than 40 Euros. 

So 7th December 2017, my winter trip for 2017 started with the much-awaited travel to London. London, the capital city of UK is the most populous city and ranks 5th in the costliest city to live in Europe. Berlin, on the other hand, is ranked 38, no wonder how we are sustaining with a 750 Euro monthly stipend, and making numerous travels in between. Consumer price in Berlin is 18% lower than London. So, my embarking a 10 days journey to London and Cambridge will cost me a fortune as compared to my stay in Greifswald and visiting other cities in Europe. I flew from Shonefeld to Stansted and took a bus from Stansted to London which costs 10 pounds for the 1-hour journey. A three-hour journey in Germany costs only 11 Euros so I saw the aforementioned sharp contrast at first glance. Then followed the costs of city transports, hostels, and of course food. 

I planned two days sightseeing trip in London before I move to Cambridge so I am glad to have visited all the major points of interests in the two days. It was also an awesome feeling to see the snow falling while I was in London, but later realized it badly disrupted the transport services as my bus to Cambridge from London was delayed by 3 hours. However, here are some of the beautiful glimpses fo London through my Lens.

Buckingham Palace

House Guard Parade

The Street and Buildings

Trafalgar Square

Palace of Westminster

Westminster Abbey

London Eye

Madame Tussauds 

Kings College, Cambridge University

River Cam

Travellers Note: If the interiors of the monuments are not visited, a majority of the place of interests can be covered in a single day provided you take an Oyster card for city transport. Oyster card costs 5 pounds and one can recharge it with 10-20 pounds and use the card in all public transport services. If not a single journey will cost nearly 5 Pounds and it is expensive. For a backpacker and solo traveler like me, I save lots of time and don't leave the sites unvisited. My trip to Cambridge is covered through the post on the training that I attended there. The last two images are from Cambridge. 

A Promising Journey for 2018

The 2018 has kicked off and a week has already passed by. And if a new year resolution was set, it should be clear by now, whether we are in the right direction in achieving the goals of the year. I don't have resolutions as such for 2018 but as I look forward into 2018, there are lots I have to accomplish and it will definitely keep me busy most of the time. It is a peaceful beginning for 2018 for me and as I take up the further journey, I look forward a peaceful ride, but of course with challenges that will alter me into better form. 

As u set into wilderness, appease the deities.
(Towards Black Mountains in 2015)

This is my third semester of my M.Sc programme and I am quite relieved to have completed majority of the electives in the first two semesters. This leaves me with more time for completing a basic module and planning for my final semester, that is exclusively for Master Thesis Works. So basically I don't have to prepare for exams this semester but have to present my Research Internship Protocol, which is in line to my Master Thesis Works. I aspire to complete the presentation by end of this month or early February and leave some free time for myself to aptly plan my field work. 

Being Landscape Ecology student, I wanted to do my thesis research on a title encompassing landscape conservation and I am glad to be doing on a title "Assessing structural connectivity of Biological Corridor for tiger movement between National Parks in Bhutan." With support from my mentors and professional guardians at home and my supervisor here in the University, I am glad to have secured the Early Career Grant from National Geographic Society, which puts me in a safer side without having to worry about research funding. But more than the fund, I am glad to be amongst the few NatGeo Explorers from Bhutan. Being DAAD scholar, I am also glad to have my proposal and travel plans accepted by DAAD and got the travel grant approved well in advance. I am already set to fly back to Bhutan by Mid march for the following three months. 

So, I see a switch in my travelling this year unlike in 2017 where I traveled extensively in Europe during my free times. 2018 will pull me back to wilderness and I am already excited, firstly because I have been away from home for over one and a half year and secondly, I am quite excited with my field work to have some interesting findings. Unlike my solo trips of 2017, my trips into wilderness for 2018 will require the support from various offices of the Department of Forests and Park Services, and I am being optimistic that right field colleagues would be in my wild expeditions to gather some good data for writing my thesis, and of course contributing little efforts towards conservation in Bhutan. 

Each year, I have been trying to attend one international conference for all the benefits that it gives. The Global Landscape Forum 2017 at Bonn was a gratifying experience and for 2018, I am trying to attend the 10th World Dendro Conference in Thimphu. I have already planned such that I can attend in full and then return back to Germany and I really look forward it after tiring field days. 

That will leave me with limited time to complete the requirements of my Master Thesis as I plan to graduate by Mid September and safely land back home to rejoin my service at JSWNP. Hush! that's going to be a fast race but I will be glad because I would have achieved the Master of Science from University of Greifswald. And I hope that JSWNP welcomes me back in good spirit so that I can contribute to the great works that my colleagues are already doing, and may be add some extra impetus. But definitely, the future is going to be an opportunity. 

Well, 2018 is yet again going to be a remarkable year for Bhutan. We are progressing into the Third Parliamentary Elections and Bhutan will definitely have more talks on politics than ever. I am glad that I would be able to vote in person this time for both National Council and National Assembly elections and that in itself is a great responsibility for me. We would be probably having our NC elections in April and NA elections in September-October. This years NA elections seems to become more competitive based on the current flow of news on social media but I should be mindful in voting for a party that will best benefit the country with innovative current developments and long-term sustainable policies. My conscience should be able to judge the parties well and should vote intelligently. As a civil servant, we should remain apolitical but I feel civil servants should also raise their voices with regards to party politics for the betterment of the nation because Civil Service is the biggest pool with educated lots who, if not swayed by corrupt practices can think better for the country. Any way, who ever wins, I would be striving my efforts towards conservation until next election and further, as deemed necessary by the bound with RCSC. But any way conservation of nature is something every human should contribute in this anthropocentric era. It is a collective responsibility. 

So 2018 looks promising and all I need now is to sail with the tide.