We were sitting on a tram in Melbourne 2011, when a lady boarded and sat directly opposite Rob and myself… we knew each other from our previous jobs. Her name was Celeste and she hadn’t changed, full of enthusiasm and energy and soon we were all in discussion about our current activities and travel came up.
“Bhutan, I have been to Bhutan 3 times now and going again with my husband later this year!” Celeste told us. “Why Bhutan?” Rob asked and the floodgates of animated discussion flowed from Celeste along with being showed numerous great photos on her phone.
So here we are 9 years later, having completed a trip to the the very interesting country of Bhutan, but before we get into that, a few background details about Bhutan.
First off, where is Bhutan actually located?
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| Bhutan nestled next to the Himalayas |
Now for a few fun facts about Bhutan:
- Bhutan is not a big country, its about half the size of Tasmania
- It is regarded as one of the most isolated countries in the world sandwiched next to the eastern Himalayas between Tibet and India.
- The population is ~800,000
- First road was built in 1961 and only 60% of Bhutan’s roads are paved
- Bhutan is a democracy with a Parliament but it has also had 5 Kings from 1907 until the current King whose reign started in 2006 after his father abdicated the throne
- They drive on the left side of the road, their national sport is archery and by law, 60% of their country must remain naturally forested
- Bhutan is the first carbon negative country in the World, due to both the forests and their main export of hydro electric power sold to India
The Bhutan flag is very symbolic of Bhutan the nation
The upper yellow half signifies the secular power and authority of the King while the lower saffron-orange symbolises the practice of religion and the power of Buddhism. The dragon signifies the name and purity of the country while the jewels in its claws stand for the wealth and perfection of the country.
We had flown via Singapore to Delhi, India for an overnight stop before boarding a flight to Paro, Bhutan aboard Druk Air, the national airline and the only one which flies into the country. The 2hr flight followed eastward along Himalayas passing over Kathmandu and was very uneventful until the Captain advised us we were about to land.
“Please do not be concerned when you see mountains close by outside both windows, this is quite normal”. Mountains and close by were not words we had expected to hear as being ‘quite normal’ when landing a plane. It was indeed an interesting landing as we twisted our way amongst mountains and valleys then dropped reasonably sharply to reach the ground.
We later learned there are between 7-10 pilots who are certified to fly and land into Paro, Bhutan and the high mountains of Bhutan would be with us for the rest of our trip.
Whilst waiting to clear customs, we asked someone about the long queue of people waiting at the ‘Something To Declare’ exit, all with trolleys stacked with large LED TVs on them. “They are people who have just returned from Bangkok”, she said, “they buy TVs there and will then sell them here in Bhutan”.
Some people had 3 TV sets to declare, even though there was no duty to pay on them we believe, and Bhutan was the last country in the world to legalise TV in 1999.
Tourism into Bhutan only started in 1974 when there were 287 tourists who visited and now here we were being greeted very warmly by our guide Sonam and driver Byjay for the short drive from Paro to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. Sonam and Byjay would be looking after us for our entire 7 days in Bhutan.
If you’re considering visiting Bhutan, their government has placed a minimum fee of around $200 USD per day per person in low season and $250 USD per day per person during high season. This covers your accomodation, most entrance fees, the tour and food and is designed to help protect Bhutan's culture and environment. Does make a trip here quite expensive… but it was worth it.
Sonam soon had us out of the car before reaching the capital and started telling some stories about important events and people in Bhutan’s history as we walked down a dirt path towards the 14th century chain bridge spanning a river, one of many built by Thangtong Gyalpo.
Chain bridges were crucial centuries ago to enable the residents to move around their very hilly country and cross its snow fed rivers Nearby we were also introduced to the first of many prayer wheels and views across the river to some ‘stupas’ or Buddhist shrines in Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan styles.
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| One of hundreds of 14th century chain bridges built by Thangtong Gyalpo |
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| 3 stupas near chain bridge built in Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan styles |
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| First of many prayer wheels we saw and rotated |
During the next 7 days, this is where we travelled within Bhutan with the primary towns/cities shown on the map.
Driving within Bhutan for us was a mix of experiences, especially since we were visiting during their winter, which meant we did have some snow and ice to contend with. There were some good roads and some downright rough roads, especially as we went further east.
ALL the roads were in mountains, at times very high mountains with lots of bends, slow speeds and sheer drop offs at the sides of the unmade sections as we manoeuvred amongst the construction equipment and massive boulders.
Unlike Australia there weren’t any road safety barriers or signs or flag people or anything actually. Evidence of rock slides was reasonably frequent, especially where roads were still being constructed, so all in all it was quite exciting.
A major component of the sites you visit in Bhutan are usually related in some way to Buddhism, so let’s kick off our Buddhist immersion with Kuenselphodrang at 54 metres or 177 ft high, actually the largest sitting Buddha in the world.
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| Kuenselphodrang - the largest sitting Buddha in the world |
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| View of Thimphu from the Buddha |
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| Rob and Sonam looking at the local shops in Thimphu |
Prior to Bhutan emerging as a nation from about 1634, amongst other leaders, it was ruled for a period by an Indian King until Tibet forced him out, but without doing much with the country it obtained. Bhutan became a nation in its own right, fundamentally as a result of turmoil in Tibet with many refugees heading into what is now Bhutan.
After its founding it was invaded especially by Tibet, the Mongols and British. This stimulated the building of more forts or Dzhongs which are still being used with a split between the country’s administration and as monasteries.
Please note… we were not allowed to take any photographs inside any temple or monastery.
The forts we visited from youngest to oldest were...
Tashichhodzhong - built in 1770
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| This shows the location and relative size of the fort |
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| Views are from outside the entrance and inside the main courtyard with all the very ornate and hand painted decoration |
TrongsaDzhong or the CheokhorRabdentse - constructed in 1643
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| One of the largest and most impressive Dzongs in Bhutan |
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| Rob and Sonam inside the CheokhorRabdentse Dzong |
Punahka Dzong - constructed in 1638
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| This Dzong was built on the fork of 2 rivers as prophesied 800 years earlier |
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| Inside the huge interior of Punahka Dzong and note the men repainting the decoration on photo above to give sense of size of the buildings |
SangakZabhonPhodrang - constructed in 1629
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| This Dzong was built to protect the capital Thimphu |
ALL the forts and temples are very decorative as were many of the homes we saw, especially away from the capital. All the houses whether built from timber or brick/concrete are highly decorative on the outside and Sonam told us all these decorations are hand painted after construction is finished
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| Home nearing end of construction with all the decorations to be finished by hand |
Multi story homes or commercial builds with concrete floors are built using bamboo poles holding up the next floor to be poured with concrete and left there until it cures.
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| Bamboo poles used to support under each floor being constructed |
You can’t really talk about Bhutan without talking about happiness because Bhutan is often referred to the ‘land of happiness’, but there is a story to its origins.
In the early 1970s when the 4th Kin of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck ascended the throne he expressed his policy as ensuring happiness for Bhutan’s people, also a long held belief of Buddhism.
In 1979 when being questioned in the USA about Bhutan’s gross domestic product or GDP, the King coined the phrase, ‘gross national happiness’ or GNH which was reported in the New York Times.
The King was trying to say that for him, GNH was far more important than GDP, in other words, the happiness of Bhutan’s women and men was more important than solely economic-centric growth or growth for growth sake.
The 5th King has continued with this philosophy in conjunction with the Government and reputedly, economic development decisions in Bhutan must have a defined ‘happiness’ dividend for its people in order to proceed.
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| These men were very happy to have their photos taken |
Whilst visiting Thimphu, Sonam showed a few things not on our formal itinerary including a small local cultural centre where we watched locals performing traditional dances, making mud bricks, tried some archery and saw how they collected and dried the chillies they enjoy in their food. There was also a group of ladies hand weaving some beautiful patterns into material.
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| Singing whilst they make traditional mud bricks |
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| The Bhutanese LOVE using chillies in their food |
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| Patiently weaving traditional patterns |
We also visited a hand made paper making factory, not paper as we know, more like a very thin, traditional light parchment used for centuries in the libraries in their monasteries.
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| The hand made paper process |
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| Making the pulp from specific bark |
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| Beginning to produce paper sheets after screening the soaked pulp |
In Bhutan there are temples and Chortens, the latter being Buddhist memorial structures. In Thimphu is the National Memorial Chorten sometimes called a stupa which was designed in the Tibetan style.
It was built in 1974 as a memorial to the third king, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (1928–72) and in memory to his vision about peace. For Bhutanese it is now a site of pilgrimage with many people walking around it clockwise at least 3 times, preferably 108, with some people outside of it prostrating themselves on the ground in either Tibetan or Bhutan style.
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| National Memorial Chorten in Thimphu |
There are other temples in Bhutan, one especially called ChimmiLhakhang, a buddhist monastery standing on a small hill close to the village of Lobesa, constructed in 1449 by the “Divine Madman,” the eccentric Yogi and saint Drukpa Kunley.
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| ChimmiLhakhang temple on the hill above the village of Lobesa |
It is a temple dedicated to fertility and Rob and I received an unexpected blessing from a monk by being gently hit on ours heads by a 10” timber phallus (penis) and an ancient bow & arrow to ward off evil. There was a visitors book where foreigners especially had written back to the temple advising they had had children after receiving a similar blessing during their visits.
There are phallus symbols throughout the temple and after our visit we walked back down the hill through the village and there were timber phalluses everywhere, on sides of buildings, restroom signs, colourful ones in windows for sale and even a huge one Rob took a shining to where we had lunch.
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| There are no words... |
Other highlights included visiting the small Motithangtakin Preserve to see a very rare animal only found in a small part of the country called a Takin and it is their national animal. This animal looks a little like a mix between a goat and cow.
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| The rare Takin |
Bhutan also has various deer species including the barking deer, Red Panda can be found in the country along with bears and even leopards.
Another rare animal which visits Bhutan during its annual migration between Tibet and India is the black necked crane, and we were lucky enough to see some feeding and resting in paddocks in front of one of our more remote hotels.
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| Black necked cranes are highly revered and protected in Bhutan |
Whats special about these birds is that they are the only ones known to fly over the Himalayas in order to undertake their migration to warmer climates during winter in Tibet.
We also saw monkeys as we wound our way around those very narrow mountainous roads and plenty of yaks grazing in open lands.
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| Yak |
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| Monkeys on the side of the road was fairly common |
We had an interesting experience in our hotel in Gangtey in the east of Bhutan. The hotel was away from the town overlooking a valley and all day the temperature had been dropping with misty cloud building up over the ever present mountains.
When we were checked in, a person accompanied us to the room to explain a few crucial things to us. Our only heating as temperatures neared 0c was a small enclosed combustion wood fire already burning furiously thanks to the abundant cypress timber here.
“You will need to add timber every 30 minutes” we were told then shown. She could see the looks on our face and quickly said, “when would you like your fire re-lit in the morning?” she asked. After agreeing a time, then she said, “before you go to sleep, can you please make sure you leave your shower and sink taps running just a little to stop the pipes freezing overnight”.
In the morning and after a cozy, warm sleep, right on time someone arrived to re-light our fire. They had a container of kerosene soaked sawdust and soon the fire was producing lots of heat again in our now below freezing room.
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| Waiting for the fire to warm up our room next morning |
Indeed there had been a light dusting of snow as we retraced our steps towards Paro with the valleys and mountains looking quite stunning.
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| Nice dusting of snow as we retraced our travels back towards Paro |
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| Got a great view of the Himalayas as we crossed one of the passes in the mountains |
It was a national holiday in Bhutan as we neared Paro and it was very good to see large groups of family and friends sitting in paddocks enjoying picnics and relaxing. “There!” Sonam suddenly exclaimed and Byjay soon stopped the car. “Would you like to see something different?” Sonam asked whilst looking at a group of excited and traditionally dressed men.
“Sure” we said so out we got and walked into a paddock. The reason for the excitement was because the men were having a dart competition with the families watching from a safe distance. These darts however were about 20 cms long and about half a wrist thick with feathers one end and a large spike at the other.
Their target was a small bullseye about 15 mtrs away standing on the ground. They took it in turns to throw and the closest to the target for each round was given a piece of coloured cloth to tuck into their pants. After so many rounds, the person with the highest number of cloths was the winner. Fascinating to watch their techniques and the competitive passion they all had.
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| The dart competition Bhutan style was passionate and fierce |
With only one full day left in Bhutan, the time had come to try reaching THE most visited location in Bhutan, Paro Taktsang otherwise known as the ‘Tigers Nest’.
The Tigers Nest is a Buddhist temple and sacred site built in 1692 and reputed to be the location where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours in the 8th century. Padmasambhava introduced Buddhism to Bhutan and legend has it he fled to this lofty site on the back of a tigress… hence its name.
The only challenge was reaching it because its located on the side of a cliff at an altitude of over 3,000 metres or 10,000+ feet or 1,000 metres higher in altitude from where you start trekking to it.
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| The little white building on the middle mountain is where we had to trek to... the Tigers Nest |
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| Getting a little closer to our goal |
We could have rented horses to take us half way up which was considered but we decided not to do this, despite Rob’s issues with her hip.
Rob actually handled it pretty well, it was me who struggled a bit trying to get air into my lungs, maybe due to the altitude, we don’t know but the legs were fine. The short story is we took 5+ hrs for the return journey, our friendly guide Sonam casually strolling along with us until we reached a point where we were level with the Tigers Nest in the distance.
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| This is where we learned about the steps to climb before reaching the Tigers Nest... the smiles did not last long |
Out of Sonam’s mouth almost in slow motion came these words, “you only have 1,000 steps to go, 500 down and 500 up”. This was just to reach our destination and then we would have to repeat those 1,000 steps so off we went with lots of others making the climb.
We were also advised when we reached the bottom of the first 500 steps there is a waterfall falling from above us but warned not hang around there. Being winter, at the top of the waterfall is snow and ice which frequently breaks off and rains down on the track which it did just after we got past this point.
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| The waterfall at the bottom of the steps and ice that has fallen from the top |
We had to surrender cameras once we reached the Tigers Nest’s labyrinth of structures, so unfortunately no photos, but it was fascinating to climb through and visit the various small temples before commencing the return journey. First off we were very pleased to have achieved our goal and especially proud of Rob, then truly enjoyed a few last celebratory drinks that night in Bhutan and dulled the pain.
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| The Tigers Nest in all its glory |
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| Celebrating after visiting such an incredible location |
All that was left was to farewell Sonam and Byjay who had looked after us really well and taught us lot about their delightful and very calm country, then board our flight back through the mountains, bound again for Delhi, India… our next destination.
Bhutan had something exciting for us to finish off with as we reached cruising altitude… the Himalayas. During check-in we had asked to sit at a window on the right side of the plane behind the wing hoping to get a few views of this amazing mountain range.
With clear blue skies for most of our flight, we had more spectacular views than we could have hoped, especially when the pilot announced, “for those of you on the right side of the plane, we are now passing Mount Everest!”.
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| Flying alongside the Himalayas for about 40 minutes |
There she stood along with her mountain friends, THE highest mountain on the planet with the rest of the Himalayan Mountains keeping her company.
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| Mt Everest and 'friends' |
Bhutan is a small and fascinating country nestled up next to the mountains of the Himalayas. Its people are warm, friendly and very hospitable and they are devoutly invested in Buddhism. Sonam was always impeccably dressed in their national uniform, but as interestingly, so were large numbers of both the men and women we saw going about their everyday lives.
Our tour through Bhutan had gone off without any issues or fuss, thanks to the organising of a small tour itinerary specialist based in Adelaide called Please Yourself Travel, the company they used on the ground, Sonam and Byjay for which we were very thankful.
Now it was time to visit a part of India but that will have to wait until the next post.
Until then… go well!
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